Columns – Page 6 – Vol. 1 Brooklyn

#tobyreads: Trauma, Daily Routine, and Decisive Observations

May 9, 2014 No Comments

Reading the first few pages of Roxane Gay’s An Untamed State, the reader might get a certain set of expectations; its narrator, Mireille, begins to recount the moment in which she was kidnapped from outside of her family’s home in Haiti. Her voice in these passages is lucid, controlled; that it’s at a remove, that it’s being told from an unspecified moment in the future, offers the prospect of rescue, the idea that her abduction will be a temporary condition.

Columns, The Zinophile

The Zinophile: The Origins of Two Poetry Chapbooks

May 8, 2014 No Comments

Good writing can take its inspiration from almost anything, from true-life experiences to speculation to riffs on objects and scenarios encountered in passing to the culture we encounter every day. The two chapbooks covered in today’s column take inspiration from wildly disparate topics. One is written in a reflexive voice, surrounding its point of origin and corresponding with it in numerous ways; the other takes the stuff of classical works — seasons, romance — and channels it through an abrupt, […]

Columns, The Reading Life

The Reading Life: The Necessary Hassle

May 6, 2014 No Comments

For a while I have been thinking about writing a column about Michel Houellebecq. I was going to talk about how I came to Houellebecq’s work while working as an intern at a French magazine that ran GQ-ish features and creatively softcore photos of women. I was going to tie together something about voyeurism and objectification, both in Houellebecq’s novels and in my life at the time. To wrap up I was going to mention a party I attended a […]

Columns, tobyreads

#tobyreads: Impressions of Culture, Delivered With Style

May 2, 2014 No Comments

Reading the right book–or essay, or story, or interview–can help point you in the direction of other notable work, either through deft writing about the work of another writer or through an acknowledged influence or homage. It might go without saying that, after reading What Would Lynne Tillman Do?, Lynne Tillman’s new collection of nonfiction, my to-read list increased exponentially. As did, come to think of it, my to-reread list.

Columns, Poetry in Motion

Poetry in Motion: It Bothers Me When You Hang Out with Racist Billionaires

April 28, 2014 No Comments

It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with racist billionaires. For what cavalcade of reasons? To begin: you’re probably better than this. You are, after all, an “artist, lover, writer, chef, poet, stylist, and philanthropist.” These are gigs that seemingly no one in world history has managed to balance. Most chefs are lousy lovers, unless your idea of passion is a sweaty Vivance addict who smells like lamb entrails withering on top of you […]

Columns, tobyreads

#tobyreads: Harrowing Stories, Powerfully Told

April 25, 2014 No Comments

The three books up for discussion this week are all, to one extent or another, abrasive. These are not always pleasant reads: whether recounting actual events or delving into the world of fiction, there are scenes to be found that can only be described as harrowing. Sean Madigan Hoen first landed on my radar over a decade ago, when I was editing a zine and reviewing a whole lot of hardcore records. His band at the time, Thoughts of Ionesco, […]

Columns, The Zinophile

The Zinophile: Reading “Stereotype Threat” and Unraveling Intellectual Histories

April 24, 2014 No Comments

Late last year, I read Imogen Binnie’s novel Nevada after reading an excellent interview with the author conducted by Sarah McCarry. From there, I ended up ordering several issues of Binnie‘s zine Stereotype Threat; its subtitle, “Trying to frame graduate school as a radical // queer // punk endeavor,” gives a pretty solid idea of what to expect from the words inside the cover.

Columns, The Reading Life

The Reading Life: Fewer Things to Make Fun Of

April 21, 2014 3 Comments

One long weekend, a few months after I had turned 21, my best friend and I took a trip. We wanted to see a lake or a forest, maybe some needlepoint hanging on a wall. We drove for a long time, crossing bridges that all looked the same. At one point, on a Massachusetts radio station we recognized a very recognizable song, and my friend asked me not to change it. I was surprised; usually we listened to much cooler […]