Rick Moody is a man of many talents. One of those talents, is putting out a fine album with his band The Wingdale Community Singers. Tobias Carroll asked him a few questions about that album. Besides the addition of a new member, how did the process of writing and recording Spirit Duplicator differ from the making of the first album? We took our time with the writing more, so Hannah Marcus didn’t feel overburdened as much. I wrote lyrics more […]
Junot Díaz Steals From Rick Moody
No, seriously, he admits it over at Book Bench. Each of the family members is explicitly linked to one of the Four—Oscar is the Thing, Abelard is Mr. Fantastic, Belicia is the Invisible Woman, and Lola is the Human Torch—something I stole from Rick Moody’s incomparable novel “The Ice Storm.” Who else “steals”?
The Week in Moody
In case you aren’t keeping track of the exploits of Rick Moody, rest assured that for some reason, I am. Today Mr. Moody gave us another installment of his “Swinging Modern Sounds” column on The Rumpus. A few days back, Moody talked about his repulsion/attraction of the Kindle. Because of Rick Moody, this guy will listen to Metal Machine Music. Good luck bro.
Reviewed: The Ticking Is the Bomb by Nick Flynn
(W.W. Norton, 2010) 281 p. Reviewed by Tobias Carroll Nick Flynn’s first memoir bore a brutal title: Another Bullshit Night In Suck City. It earned it, unwinding the story of Flynn’s suicidal mother and transient father, the latter of whom would eventually cross paths with Flynn at a homeless shelter in Boston. Flynn told an oftentimes harrowing story with a poet’s precision, and made a deeply personal account resonate across progressively larger canvases. The struggles of one father and son […]
Sunday Podcast: Moody and Hearst’s 18:59, Freakanomics Talk Death & Glenn Beck, and Noise on EVR
“Shame is embarrassment on Ritalin.” Rick Moody and Michael Hearst admit to slacking by doing only ten episodes in about three years, which might explain why the newest episode of their 18:59 podcast is titled, “Shame”. On this episode, they talk to psychologist Tara Goodrich, and funny guy Eugene Mirman all in just under 19 minutes. On a personal note, I personally feel a hint of shame for not mentioning the podcast when I interviewed Hearst a few weeks. Freakanomics […]
Bites: Rick Moody’s Band, Bookstore Cat Needs a Home, Lit Zombies Invade Iowa, A Modern Lover to Tour, and More
Rick Moody and his band, Wingdale Community Singers, play live for Bomb. Adopt this bookstore cat! Albert Camus: thinking mans goalkeep. Lit zombies take over Iowa. Elif Batuman loves Russians. Sana Krasikov interviews Alicia Jo Rabins of Girls in Trouble Vermilion Sands sorta rule. Spoon get written up in the New York Times. Jonathan Richman is going on tour!
Bites: The Dantean inferno of Brooklyn, Dickens Christmas Bummer, Granta Picks, Todd P in Mexico, Best Metal, and More
I loved this Gawker quote about the “ironic trailer park” they are building in Bushwick: “Every year they add a new level to the Dantean inferno that is artistic living in Brooklyn.” Lit. “What a wonderful thing it is, that such a great success should occasion me such intolerable anxiety and disappointment!” Charles Dickens on A Christmas Carol. The Guardian discusses why the book didn’t give the writer a surplus of holiday cash. Taschen will bring you back to the […]
Bites: San Francisco Panorama, Fictonaut for the Holidays, Dawkins Getting Soft, Attenberg’s Blurbs, Orrin Hatch Ruins Hanukkah, and More
Panorama is out! “It is everything that your basic wretched and vapid Sunday SF Chronicle is not.” “Dave Eggers doesn’t look like a newspaper baron“ I think this San Fran food blog is excited. The people at Green Apple Books say the Panorama will “most certainly provide a bit of breathing room away from the vapid smog that seems to have engulfed much of the world of modern journalism.” They link to here when mentioning “vapid smog”. Indichik is hating. […]