Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 85

December 15, 2013

Shameless, albeit much appreciated, Elaine Short "enjoying it immensely" You Can Make Him Like You Tweet hype. And big thanks to the Elaine Short for that.

@BenTanzer picked up You Can Make Him Like You from @UnchartedBooks and am enjoying it immensely! Catching all those hold steady references.

— elaine short (@ink_teef) December 15, 2013
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Published on December 15, 2013 17:47

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All Technological. And full of Okehi.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live, and we are thrilled to have new fiction, Technological Laser by Uzodinma Okehi, and (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and budget deal, really, maybe prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more of you will submit comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, Jay Cutler, yes, maybe?
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Published on December 15, 2013 12:59

December 14, 2013

December 13, 2013

Wherein we are Lost In Space interview at the Curbside Splendor.


Very interview indeed. Excerpt? Word.

Do you hope your sons grow up to be artists as well?
First and foremost, I hope they move out, that would rock, and they should come back after they do, endlessly, for dinner, and for hugs, asking for cash, and wanting to travel with us, but just not be here all the time, which will one day suck I know. All that said, I would love for them to be artists, but what I would really love them to be is kind, to have purpose and be curious, be passionate about things, everything, and do what excites them. And if that involves them being an artist I love that, but if it's being Rhodes Scholars, Senators, Jewish Popes or Presidents, documentary filmmakers, or some combination of all of that, as well as, kind, happy, excited, passionate, and living elsewhere, even down the hall, yes, that would rock.
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Published on December 13, 2013 14:46

December 12, 2013

Orphans is The Our Town Holiday Gift Guide. And big thanks to the Sarah-Terez Rosenblum for that.

We may even be talking massive thanks. Okay, we are, for sure, and drinks Rosenblum, on us, many, soon, yes? Word. Also, we were asked to vouch for our gift, so we did, and said vouch is below. Enjoy.

"Because The Martian Chronicles, Glengarry Glen Ross, and robot hand jobs are your jam."
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Published on December 12, 2013 14:51

December 11, 2013

Orphans is The Page 69 Test and most appreciative for that we are.

We are. For real. So big thanks to the Marshal Zeringue and the whole The Page 69 Test crew. And drinks, many, on us, for sure. Yes. Excerpt? Cool.

"To open Orphans to Page 69 is to land in the middle of a dream fraught with confusion and loss, and the desire to make sense of what our memories mean to us in the present."
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Published on December 11, 2013 09:13

December 10, 2013

I AM is like totally Kindle, yo.

Totally? Totally.
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Published on December 10, 2013 18:39

December 9, 2013

This Book Will Change Your Life - Gigantic Failures by Mark Cronin.

Are we talking gigantic failures when we talk Gigantic Failures by Mark Cronin, or something else? Small failures that pile-up on one another: fucked relationships, ill spouses, overbearing parents, suicidal friends, and on and on? Ostensibly, the world of Cronin's stories is that of small town America with its chain restaurants, dead-end jobs, and plastic pools, but where these stories ultimately reside is in the quotidian fuckedness of every day life, and in that world, truly gigantic failures aren't required for everything to go to shit. They will anyway, moment to moment and day to day, with no clear way to stop the march towards the gigantic because when it's all done, when the relationships are over and the friends are dead, it all really does feel gigantic. It also seems unavoidable, and it is Cronin's great gift to write the unavoidable with a sense of respect and empathy that is otherwise lacking in the lives of his destined to be destitute characters.
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Published on December 09, 2013 18:49

December 8, 2013

"An imaginative, entertaining, and beautiful read." Orphans gets Amazon'd. And likes it. A lot.

It does. We do. And we are most thankful to the Steve Mihalopolous for that. Excerpt? Cool.

"Ben Tanzer is among my favorite writers. His stories are witty, colorful and always heartfelt with a uniquely Tanzer style."
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Published on December 08, 2013 06:16

December 7, 2013

We are The Revenge of the Scammed Anthology: An Edward J Rathke Benefit Extravaganza.

And you can be too. So please do hit it. While it just might change your life, it will definitely change Edward J Rathke's.
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Published on December 07, 2013 08:16