Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 90

There is Largehearted Boy Orphans Book Notes essay.

So Largehearted we are. And so Boy. We are also most appreciative. Excerpt? Cool.


"Orphans" - BeckWith my earlier books, and how pretentious does that sound, I tended at some point during the writing process to fixate on a song that would accompany me in terms of lyrics or mood, but in the case of  Orphans , I fixated on this title, and the idea that we are all orphaned eventually, by family, work, or community, and that in this story, it's not just eventual, but a day-to-day reality. I then looked to see if there were any songs named Orphans whose lyrics and tone matched the mood and aesthetic I was aiming for. I came across the song "Orphans" by Beck, and lyrics like these, "Think I'm stranded but I don't know where - got this diamond I don't know how to shine - In the sun where the dark winds wail - And these children leave their rulers behind," which resonated with me, and continued to resonate with me as I played the song on repeat for days at a time as I honed the language, structure, and vibe of the book.

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Last Good Halloween by the Giano Cromley.

And what could be more appropriate than that? Nothing much yo. Except maybe a blurb? Because we are blurb. So please do hit The Last Good Halloween, all post-haste and such, it just might change your life.

"With nods to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Giano Cromley's The Last Good Halloween artfully reminds us what it's like to be young and angry, and raging against a universe we can't possibly yet understand."

This Book Will Change Your Life - Sightings by the B.J. Hollars.

Travel. Read. More read. On planes, trains, and automobiles we read. Many things. PowerPoint presentations, newspapers, magazine, galleys, and Sightings by the B.J. Hollars, a collection of absurdist, at times, speculative, stories which traffics in a loosely connected midwest vibe. In fact, it is the midwest connective tissue that would appear to be a marketing hook for the collection. But as we read about Hollars' basketball playing Sasquatches, pervy football coaches, time travelers, and Oregon trail re-enactors, not to mention the dead or missing siblings, daughters, and sons; absent parents, and the loss, or lack of friends; we couldn't help but think that the real connective tissue in these stories, is how Hollars' characters are all learning how to live as outsiders, also-rans, and lost souls. We also couldn't help but think, that when an author takes an absurdist bent, said author not only elevates the enjoyment factor of otherwise potentially bleak stories, but allows the pain, fear and isolation lurking in their stories to creep-up on the reader slowly, and more insidiously, than they otherwise might have. Which is certainly the case with Sightings, until the final story "Missing Mary" anyway, where all that is bleak and sad, is laid-out from the start, with nothing absurdist or speculative in sight, just the feeling that while Hollars' stories will certainly change your life, life itself is profoundly sad and populated by damaged people seeking any kind of connection they can find.

Lost in Space galleys yo.

Joseph Goosey. Stupid Ache. Beautious.

More here. Tons. Really. So do hit it. It just might change your life.

Dang. R.I.P. Lou Reed.

"I always believed that I have something important to say and I said it." Lou Reed (1942-2013)

"It is Blade Runner directed by Terrence Malick." Orphans gets some Amazon love. And big thanks to old friend Ryan W. Bradley for that.

Awesomely big thanks. And love. Much. Excerpt? Cool.

"If you've read Ben Tanzer's work you will understand, perhaps more than you would otherwise, what a marvel this book is. It is very much a work of science fiction, but it is Ben Tanzer above all things. The way some bands become their own genre after decades of making music and evolving their sound, Tanzer is himself irregardless of the window dressings."

Don't Start Me Talkin'. Yes. Part II.

The Desert Places. Yes. Part I.

"Unprecedented in the context of Ben's earlier work." Orphans gets Pete Lit'd. And likes it. A lot.

Quite a lot, and so big thanks to the Pete Lit for that. And drinks, many, on us, when next we meet. Excerpt? Cool.

"In this dystopia, Ben's usual preoccupations are dramatically amped up, transformed from a state of simple existential angst to the very survival of his protagonist. The stakes here are so much higher than his realist fiction, and the outcome much more emphatic."