Afternoon Bites: New Order’s “Elegia,” Roxane Gay on The Hunger Games, Jack Kirby, And More

New Order’s 18-minute-long Ian Curtis tribute “Elegia” is coming to vinyl. One of Vol.1’s editors is so excited about this that he accidentally bought two copies. Edward Champion reports on a Behind the Book reading featuring Tom Perrotta, Jurgen Fauth, and Mark Leyner. A Roxane Gay essay on The Hunger Games? Yes, we will read that essay. At Hero Complex, Neal Kirby remembers his father. (Who happens to be one Jack Kirby.) Henry Stewart is not enamored with Rex Reed’s approach […]

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Unlikely Gods And “Post-Pop-Fiction”: On Mark Leyner’s “The Sugar Frosted Nutsack”

The Sugar Frosted Nutsack by Mark Leyner Little, Brown and Company; 256 p.  Mark Leyner. Once grouped with heavyweights like David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen, he became more of a third wheel discarded on the side of the highway. This was my first Leyner story, though I will probably pick up Et Tu Babe next, based solely on the reviews and critical appreciation of that book and not really on anything I see in The Sugar Frosted Nutsack.

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Afternoon Bites: Hari Kunzru, Writers’ Letterheads, Leyner’s Influences, And More

“As inspiration, Kunzru cited David Lynch’s movies, which “refuse a certain kind of sense,” and Roberto Bolaño’s magnum opus, 2666. Gaps, möbius strips of logic, parallel plots, unanswerable questions—Kunzru’s remarks recalled, for me, an essay he wrote for The Guardian in September 2011 about a postmodernism exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum.” Jacob Silverman chats with Hari Kunzru for Capital New York. Retronaut has posted a selection of famous writers’ letterheads. (via MobyLives) Mark Leyner tells The Believer about his influences. Chad Prevost on […]

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Michael Chabon In Hollywood

It’s funny how things changes when you learn one of your favorite writers is behind a project you were initially skeptical of.  In this case it’s finding out about Michael Chabon’s involvement with the upcoming Disney film, John Carter, has made me quite curious after seeing commercials for the film and muttering an “Ehhhh…”  Chabon co-wrote the screenplay for the film, and coupled with his upcoming work with HBO, it would seem he’s finally getting on the right track when it comes to getting […]

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