Bites: On Herzog, Smut Saves Publishing, Sampsell’s Playlist, Bob Dylan the Phony and More

Ploughshares on Herzog. Einstein the agnostic. Publishing is going to be okay, thanks to smut. Kevin Sampsell gives Largehearted Boy a chapbooks worth of music he likes. Read about somebody listening to music in Montreal over at the McSweeney’s. If the “voice of the generation” turned out to be a phony, what would that mean?   Joni Mitchell accused Bob Dylan of plagiarism and The Daily Beast discusses it. Coffee House Press to put out another winner:  Big Other tells you […]

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Flash Forward to Jan. 1 2011: Harper Perennial Named Label of the Year for 2010

I received a copy of Ben Greenman’s forthcoming book of stories, What He’s Poised to Do, and found myself excited for two reasons: 1.  Ben Greenman is awesome. 2.  Anytime I get a Harper Perennial galley, I hold a little celebration inside my head. They’ve already put out books by Justin Taylor, Kevin Sampsell, the good tell-all book about somebodies relationship with Norman Mailer (opposed to the creepy one) and have Blake Butler’s book on the horizon. Harper Perennial =’s […]

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Kevin Sampsell/Justin Taylor: 2 Birds With One Blog Post

Over at The Faster Times, I reviewed Kevin Sampsell’s memoir, A Common Pornography.  You should read the review, and then go buy the book.   In case my review isn’t enough, and you haven’t read anything by Mr. Sampsell, he has a story up at Fifty-Two Stories which is presented by Harper Perennial, the publisher who put out his book. I’ll go ahead and spoil the review and tell you I absolutely loved the book, and read it back-to-back with another […]

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Bites: Taylor on Sampsell, Jersey Shore Vs. Joshua Ferris, Iggy Pop Writes a Letter, and More

Justin Taylor pens a “peer review” of Kevin Sampsell’s wonderful book, A Common Pornography. “Some of it’s funny, and some of it’s touching, and some of it’s sad–and a lot of it is two or more of these things at once–but I think what it really succeeds at doing is creating an atmosphere that encompasses all of those states without forcing the reader to choose one” Boston Globe reviews a new Gabriel García Márquez biography. Jersey Shore vs. Joshua Ferris: […]

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Bites: Philip Marlowe, Kevin Sampsell Picks, “Literary Hipsters”, Titus Andronicus on The Awl, and More

An essay on Raymond Chandler’s iconic character, Philip Marlowe. (Thanks 3:AM Magazine) Kevin Sampsell picks 9 of the best books from indie publishers. “Literary hipsters” Blake Butler, Tao Lin, Stephen Elliott, and Miranda July’s favorite books of the year. One of those “literary hipsters” wants you to donate his book. T.S. Eliot wrote a letter. The Awl meets Titus Andronicus.

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