In our morning reading: talking music with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, talking books with William Boyle, and more.
Rhizomatic Reading: John Madera’s “Nervosities”
In John Madera’s debut fiction collection, Nervosities, heavy concepts—diaspora, transversalism, the over-saturated and over-stimulated post-industrialized world Herbert Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man could only have dreamed about—are woven by Madera into human stories with such subtle, virtuoso touches, that Nervosities becomes much more than an objet conceptual.
Morning Bites: Lindsay Drager’s Playlist, Interviewing Helen Garner, Revisiting Benjamin Percy, and More
In our morning reading: a playlist from Lindsay Drager, an interview with Helen Garner, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Danez Smith’s Recommendations, Poetry at BAM, Ian Frazier on NYC, and More
In our afternoon reading: book suggestions from Danez Smith, an interview with Ian Frazier, and more.
VCO: Chapter 34
Chapter 34
The failed blood sibling episode was one of the first videos we ever took down.
It fell within our criteria of obscene. Although, it is a public discourtesy to obscure any information, so we had to do a shitload of covering our tracks to avoid any public outrage.
Only on special occasions and this was a very special occasion.
I Came Out to the Dirt
I Came Out to the Dirt
by William Swift
“Dear Grandad,” I told the dirt, “I am gay.” I sat in the yard, making up songs to my favorite tree. I didn’t understand death. What I did understand was that my grandparents had all died young. Therefore, I did not have any. Death, for me, was an abstract loss marking something others had and I had never possessed. I was not raised with religion; instead, I believed what I had heard somewhere along the way: when we die our bodies become dirt.
Morning Bites: Rosie Schaap’s Memoir, Chris La Tray on Publication, Joshua Chaplinsky Interviewed, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on Rosie Schaap’s memoir, an interview with Joshua Chaplinsky, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Eric LaRocca’s Latest, Brandon Taylor on Tennis, Sofia Samatar on Publishing, and More
In our afternoon reading: Gabino Iglesias on Eric LaRocca’s new book, an interview with Sofia Samatar, and more.