In our afternoon reading: where Octavia E. Butler’s work and art converge, fiction by Laird Barron, and more.
Writing As Restoration: Paula Whyman On “Bad Naturalist”
The title of Paula Whyman’s Bad Naturalist says a lot. It’s a memoir by a person bonded with plants and animals who wants to restore a meadow on recently acquired property in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. What could go wrong? Just about everything. What could go right? Just about everything. The book embraces “failure” with abundant, self-deprecating humor. Along the way, readers get an education in all kinds of natural phenomena, replete with strange facts and curious discoveries. Whyman weaves her personal story in with the history of the region, and the indigenous people whose footprints long preceded white settlers. Through tragedy, mishap, and triumph, Whyman covers the gamut in delightful prose. I caught up with her by email.
Morning Bites: Translating Osamu Dazai, Evan Dorkin on Comics, Chido Muchemwa’s Fiction, and More
In our morning reading: translating Osamu Dazai, Evan Dorkin on comics, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Charlie Jane Anders on Hope, Ali Smith’s Latest, Sara Gran Interviewed, and More
In our afternoon reading: nonfiction by Charlie Jane Anders, an interview with Sara Gran, and more.
Tricksters vs. Fascists: On Kurt Baumeister’s “Twilight of the Gods”
Billed by its publisher as a “a radical reinterpretation of the Loki myth,” Kurt Baumeister’s second novel Twilight of the Gods is a comic noir about a 21st century Ragnarok in a world where fascism is politically ascendant. The point of view belongs to the Norse god of mischief, rendered cleverly and affectionately by Baumeister as a devastatingly handsome pansexual Black man who sees his current incarnation as carrying implications for his adversarial relationship with top Norse god Odin, who turns out here to be friendly with Nazis, both historical and contemporary.
Morning Bites: Adapting Colson Whitehead, Ágota Kristóf’s Stories, Rebe Huntman’s Playlist, and More
In our morning reading: adapting a Colson Whitehead novel for the screen, a playlist from Rebe Huntman, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Lucy Sante’s Soundtrack, John Wyndham on TV, Miles Klee Nonfiction, and More
In our afternoon reading: soundtracking a Lucy Sante memoir, new writing by Miles Klee, and more.
Six Ridiculous Questions: Alice Kaltman
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.