In our morning reading: thoughts on Dubravka Ugrešić’s nonfiction, Neutral Milk Hotel-inspired short stories, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Revisiting GauZ’, Jarvis Cocker on Film, Revisiting J.G. Ballard, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on a novel by GauZ’, an interview with Tsunami, and more.
“Y2K,” “Austin Powers,” and the Art of Retro Comedy
The trailer for the new film Y2K gives viewers a pretty good idea of the structure of the film it’s promoting: what begins as a high school comedy abruptly shifts gears into horror — a mash-up of American Pie and Maximum Overdrive, maybe. When I went to the Alamo Drafthouse on Tuesday to watch it, I thought about another point of comparison during much of the film: Attack the Block, another movie that effectively blends comedy, horror, and science fiction. But it wasn’t until Y2K’s climax that I realized that the best point of comparison wasn’t any of these films. Instead, it was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
Morning Bites: Interviewing Tony Tulathimutte, Sun Ra Live, Weike Wang’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Tony Tulathimutte, exploring the year in comics, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Remembering Nikki Giovanni, Great SF Books, “Brooklyn Dreams” Returns, and More
In our afternoon reading: remembering the life of Nikki Giovanni, The Strand’s booksellers strike, and more.
Hey, It’s the Trailer for Kevin Maloney’s “Horse Girl Fever”!
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the work Kevin Maloney is doing these days. We’ve published his fiction and interviewed him multiple times. And now, his bibliography is about to get a bit larger with the forthcoming release of his collection Horse Girl Fever.
Morning Bites: Eugene Lim Fiction, 2024’s Best Horror, Robert Kloss Interviewed, and More
In our morning reading: fiction from Eugene Lim, an interview with Robert Kloss, and more.
Sunday Stories: “The Lifespan of a Long Fuse”
The Lifespan of a Long Fuse
by Ben Bird
I’m staring at the baby blue paint peeling off the back of our house, daydreaming about blowing up the neighbor’s pool. Fat John and I have been going to the library once a week, reading up on how to build pipe bombs. Truth is, it’s not that hard, but we’ve never been able to get enough firepower to do any real damage. We tried putting one under Fat John’s stepdad’s car after he ran over Fat John’s foot and didn’t even apologize. All it did was mess up the tire a little bit and get Fat John a nice belting. He showed me at school the next day, his big, bruised ass spilling out over his pants as he pulled them down. We got in real big trouble for that. When I met Fat John, in second grade, he was a skinny little kid, just like me, but even more thin, even more wiry. That’s how he got his name. People could see right through him. They thought it would be funny. As we got older, Fat John filled out a little bit more each year. Almost like he had to catch up to his name.