In our morning reading: Ernest J. Gaines’s birthday, new fiction from Jami Attenberg and John McManus, a new David Mitchell novel will be out later this year, and more.
In our morning reading: Michael Faber on his last novel, an interview with Megan Stielstra, Adrian Van Young on horror, new writing from Ben Tanzer, and more.
Interviews with Patricia Lockwood and Wendy C. Ortiz, thoughts on new albums from Neil Young and Richard Reed Parry, reviews of books by Ben Tanzer and Brandon Hobson, and more.
Orphans by Ben Tanzer Switchgrass Books; 164 p. In the past few years, Ben Tanzer has established himself as an adept chronicler of a particular type of middle-class male anxiety. Fathers figure prominently into his work, as do cities — most especially, Tanzer’s home of Chicago. Orphans, his latest novel, shares many characteristics with Tanzer’s body of work, but ventures into the realm of science fiction. Orphans zeroes in on the fears and frustrations of its protagonist: his new job, which […]
Blake Butler interviewed Alissa Nutting, Richard Melo’s new novel gets reviewed, new music from William Basinski, A.S. Byatt on Neil Gaiman’s new novel, and more.
There is a sequel to the bizarre adventure comic Far Arden? Excellent. Vanessa Veselka’s “The Truck Stop Killer” may fill your daily required dosage of excellent nonfiction. Douglas Wolk explores the world of very, very long songs. Jason Rice on Marie-Helene Bertino’s “Free Ham.” Nightmare Magazine has published the first part of a lengthy interview with Peter Straub. Ben Tanzer has new fiction up at Hobart. Hyperallergic has some art world-themed costume suggestions for your young’uns. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and […]
“I am drawn to confusion: how we try to make sense of things, relationships, work, our family history, and how we cope, both in healthy and unhealthy ways, as well as compulsions, how we get stuck, and our desire to be unstuck, mostly, but not entirely, because those compulsions are part of our worldview.” Chicago’s Ben Tanzer is interviewed at Big Other. (We reviewed his Hold Steady-inspired novel You Can Make Him Like You last year.) A John Zorn-directed film […]
The 2011 edition of the Best Music Writing anthology is out now, with readings to follow next week in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Michaelangelo Matos has compiled links to nearly all of the pieces listed as honorable mentions in this year’s volume. The next pick for Chuck Palahniuk’s book club? Ben Tanzer’s You Can Make Him Like You. (Our review is here.) When Richard Yates met Larry David… In today’s “Vol.1 editors linking things they’ve written” department, may we present Tobias Carroll’s […]