In our weekend reading: thoughts on the writing of Andrey Kurkov, thoughts on the music of Cecil Taylor, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Tajja Isen Interviewed, Joan of Arc Collected, Revisiting “Incognito,” and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Tajja Isen, a look at online literary communities, and more.
Journey Into the Self: On Vincent Czyz’s “Sun Eye Moon Eye”
Vincent Czyz’s novel Sun Eye Moon Eye traces the post-genocidal, and by extension post-apocalyptic, journey of Logan Blackfeather, a Hopi “of mixed descent.” On the surface, Logan’s story revolves around coming to terms with his father’s death; the suicide of the abusive uncle who replaced him (as titular father only); the knifing of a racist truck driver for which he is sent to prison and then a psychiatric facility; and his slow reemergence into the world via the therapeutic trinity of love—his relationship with Shawna, a woman he meets on the lam in Manhattan—art—his return to composing the music he’d given up on in the midst of trauma—and ethnic reconciliation—reclaiming his heritage from the legacy of colonialism and settlement. On a deeper level, Logan’s journey is really about his dwelling along the margin of where the waking world—one of broken families, addiction, poverty, deracination, violence—meets an animist dreamscape—southwestern geography fused to a Hopi mythography.
Morning Bites: Jessica Pratt Interviewed, Garrard Conley Reading, Pierre La Police on Comics, and More
In our morning reading: interviews with Jessica Pratt and Pierre La Police, a reading from Garrard Conley, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Revisiting Roland Barthes, Locus Awards Finalists, qntm’s Short Stories, and More
In our afternoon reading: responding to the work of Roland Barthes, great Steve Albini-related albums, and more.
VCO: Chapter 19
Chapter 19
The cabin was no bigger than a two-bedroom cube from the outside.
Morgen knocked on the door, cleared her throat, and the door opened itself.
Once inside I started feeling ill. The interior of the cabin extended many directions much farther than the exterior led on. From the outside it looked like a shack, but we were inside a mansion with multiple levels.
Morning Bites: Remembering Steve Albini, Ángel Bonomini’s Fiction, Broadcast’s Demos, and More
In our morning reading: a remembrance of Steve Albini, news of a new Brooklyn bookstore, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Rita Bullwinkel’s Novel, Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements, Peter Schjeldahl on Art, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on novels by Rita Bullwinkel and Nicholas Rombes, a playlist by Charlie Huston, and more.