In our morning reading: thoughts on Kristen Millares Young’s new novel, an interview with Adam Wilson, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Meredith Talusan Interviewed, Ilana Masad, Tracy O’Neill’s Playlist, Kurt Baumeister, and More
In our afternoon reading: interviews with Meredith Talusan and Ilana Masad, new nonfiction from Justin Taylor, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Jami Attenberg on Bookshelves, Amber Sparks, David Berman Remembered, Corporate Dystopias, and More
In our afternoon reading: new nonfiction by Jami Attenberg, a review of Amber Sparks’s new collection, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Lucy Ellmann Interviewed, Leland Cheuk, T Fleischmann’s Latest, Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Lucy Ellmann, reviews of books by Leland Cheuk and T Fleischmann, and more.
Morning Bites: Hanne Ørstavik, Touré on Arthur Ashe, Constance Squires Interviewed, Lesley Blanch, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on books by Hanne Ørstavik and Touré, Constance Squires and Kurt Baumeister in conversation, and more.
Sunday Stories: “The Arena of Love”
The Arena of Love by Kurt Baumeister 1 The Little, Blue Gumshoe Reginald Van Meter wasn’t blue, but he looked it. And not euphemistically, in some down-in-the-mouth, bummed-out-pumpkin sense. Reg didn’t look blue because his wife, kids, and beloved dog, Sinatra, had left him. Though they had.
Afternoon Bites: Mike Watt, Hot Snakes Interviewed, William Boyle, David Leo Rice Fiction, and More
In our afternoon reading: interviews with Mike Watt and Daniel Mallory Ortberg, new fiction by David Leo Rice and Kurt Baumeister, and more.
Pop Culture Tropes and Chilling Satire: A Review of Kurt Baumeister’s “Pax Americana”
These are dark times for black comedy, especially if a humorist takes on American politics. A mere novel, it would seem, can never match the Real World. The problem clearly occurred to Kurt Baumeister, because he took his nasty jibes to another world. The title of his bleak yet bubbly Pax Americana smacks of satire, but also sketches a power structure that doesn’t quite match up with our own. Obama never happened, in Americana; rather, 2009 saw the Third […]