Hello, February. We’ve had a lot on our minds over here at Vol. 1 Brooklyn HQ, as is the case (we suspect) for many of you. It’s a complicated time, and our recommended books for the month reflect that. These books cover everything from the challenges of the creative life to a satirical look at society; perhaps one (or more) of them will give you a new vantage point on the world.
In our afternoon reading: Messthetics return, exploring Bennett Sims’s fiction, and more.
SHANE JESSE CHRISTMASS is the author of The Sex Shops of Sherman Oaks (Amphetamine Sulphate, 2021), Latex, Texas (Self Fuck, 2021), Xerox Over Manhattan (Apocalypse Party, 2019), Belfie Hell (Inside The Castle, 2018), Yeezus In Furs (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2018), Napalm Recipe: Volume One (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2017), Police Force As A Corrupt Breeze (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2016) and Acid Shottas (The Ledatape Organisation, 2014). He was a member of the band Mattress Grave and is currently a member in Snake Milker.
In our afternoon reading: a literary award for Lucy Ellmann, an interview with Susan Choi, and more.
In our morning reading: interviews with Sady Doyle and Kira Jane Buxton, new writing by Shane Jesse Christmass, and more.
The guiding principle of Six Ridiculous Questions is that life is filled with ridiculousness. And questions. That only by giving in to these truths may we hope to slip the surly bonds of reality and attain the higher consciousness we all crave. (Eh, not really, but it sounded good there for a minute.) It’s just. Who knows? The ridiculousness and question bits, I guess. Why six? Assonance, baby, assonance.