Category: readings

  • CHRIS CONNELLY READS FROM ED ROYAL

    ED ROYAL COVER

    Ed Royal is Connelly’s third book and first work of fiction. In this new book, Connelly has written a coming of age story for the criminally insane, a passionate romance for the sociopath-at-heart, set in early 1980’s Edinburgh, through deserted streets and up ancient hills, straddling the silent divide between the polite silence of the middle class and the stark violence of the working class, navigated crudely and clumsily with hallucinogens around enough twists to keep you reading ravenously until the stunning conclusion.

    Chris Connelly is the author of the books Confessions of the Highest Bidder and Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible & Fried. He grew up in Edinburgh where he formed his first band THE FINI TRIBE in 1980, before fleeing Thatcher’s Britain for gainful employment as the lead singer for The Revolting Cocks and countless other hedonistic rock bands. He now divides his time between writing fiction, making solo albums, and playing in his band The High Confessions.

    For more info: www.ed-royal.com / www.chrisconnelly.com

  • Michael O’Flaherty Reads Shiny Shiny

    ShinyShiny

    Shiny, Shiny: A Novel by Michael O’Flaherty is a retooled, rocket-fueled Alice In Wonderland for the grandchildren of Marx and Coca-Cola.

    In his critical essays on rock and roll for The Baffler, Michael O’Flaherty investigated the complex attempts of human subjectivity and imagination to transcend the political and social constraints of everyday life. Now, in his novel Shiny Shiny, that exploration broadens and deepens into the realm of dreams and possible worlds. The narrative tracks the protagonist, Jane, as her quest for a place to open up and become one takes her from memories of her ‘70s/‘80s girlhood, to exurban family life, to armed communist revolution, only to end in the one destination she never expected….

    When put on the spot, O’Flaherty will cite writers like Jane Bowles, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jean Rhys, and Eduardo Galeano as having influenced his work.  But comic books, punk rock, and the wide world of TV (sometimes observed while semi-conscious) have played an equally important role in his writing.

    For more info: http://www.goodbaitbooks.com/index.htm

  • Jean-Christophe Valtat Reads From Aurorarama

    Aurorarama

    Info about the book: Set in the glittering Arctic city of “New Venice,” Jean-Christoph Valtat’s Aurorarama imagines an intricate “steampunk” society populated with anarchists, hypnotists, rock stars, drug-addled bohemians, dapper secret police, and a secret society of subterranean garbage collectors. French author Jean-Christophe Valtat has drawn on a wealth of research about Arctic exploration, Victorian mysticism, and 19th-century technology to create a truly unforgettable literary adventure tale that calls to mind Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the graphic-novel classics of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, and such genre-bending literary sensations as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell or Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series.  Smart, playful, sexy, and surreal, Aurorarama marks the first book in an enchanting new trilogy.

    So whether you’re into science fiction/fantasy or just fiction, whether you’re into steampunk or neo-Victorian, or you just want to come out and support an independent bookstore, you should come. And! Wine will be served. At least one french accent will be there for your enchantment. And of course there will probably at least one person with brass goggles. Come wearing your steampunk gear, and the best costume gets a prize! Need some help with understanding what steampunk is? Here’s some helpful info:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

    [Valtat] has a magical sense of shape, and a gift for lyrical prose that are rare in modern writing.

    —La Croix

    Jean-Christophe Valtat is a writer of “beautiful energy.”

    —Le Monde

    Nabokovian.

    —Words Without Borders


    For more info: http://mhpbooks.com

  • A Night With Continuum’s 33 1/3 Book Series

    33.3 Series

    33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music.  The series now spans over 70 titles, covering a wide range of albums, from Public Enemy and Slayer to ABBA and Celine Dion. Indeed, this event is probably the only time in history that AC/DC and Belle and Sebastian will share a bill. Three writers, three albums. One event.

    Joe Bonomo – AC/DC’s Highway to Hell

    Joe Bonomo strikes a three-chord essay on the power of adolescence, the durability of rock & roll fandom, and the transformative properties of memory. Why does Highway To Hell matter to anyone beyond non-ironic teenagers?  Blending interviews, analysis, and memoir with a fan’s perspective, Highway To Hell dramatizes and celebrates a timeless album that one critic said makes “disaster sound like the best fun in the world.”

    Joe Bonomo teaches in the English Department of Northern Illinois University. He is the author of Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band (Continuum 2007), and Installations (Penguin), a collection of prose poems.  His personal essays and prose poems have appeared in numerous literary journals.

    * * * * *

    Mark Richardson – Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka

    “[A] wildly accessible, entertaining, and thoughtful book about the importance of an album that nobody talks about much anymore.” –The Stranger

    The Flaming Lips’ 1997 album Zaireeka is one of the most peculiar albums ever recorded, consisting of four CDs meant to be played simultaneously on four CD players. Approaching this powerful and complex art-rock masterpiece from multiple angles, Mark Richardson’s prismatic study of Zaireeka mirrors the structure the work itself. Thoughts on communal listening and the “death of the album” are interspersed with the story of the Zaireeka’s creation (with assistance from Wayne Coyne) and an in-depth analysis of the music, leading to a complete picture of a record that proved to be a watershed for both the band and adventurous music fans alike.

    Mark Richardson is the managing editor of Pitchfork. He was a contributing editor to The Pitchfork 500 and his writing on music has appeared in publications including the Village Voice, LA Weekly, and Metro Times Detroit.

    * * * * *

    Scott Plagenhoef – Belle and Sebastian’s If You’re Feeling Sinister

    If You’re Feeling Sinister shows how Belle & Sebastian transformed themselves over the space of a decade, from a slightly shambolic cult secret into a polished, highly entertaining, mainstream pop group. Along the way, the book shows how the internet has revolutionized how we discover new music—often at the cost of romance and mystery.

    Scott Plagenhoef is Editor-in-Chief for Pitchfork Media.

    * * * * *

    For more info: http://33third.blogspot.com/

  • Matthew Gavin Frank Reads From Barolo

    Barolo

    After a childhood of microwaved meat and saturated fat, Matthew Gavin Frank got serious about food. His “research” ultimately led him to Barolo, Italy (pop. 646), where, living out of a tent in the garden of a local farmhouse, he resolved to learn about Italian food from the ground up. Barolo is Frank’s account of those six months.  At once an intimate travelogue and a memoir of a culinary education, the book details the adventures of a not-so-innocent abroad in Barolo, a region known for its food and wine (also called Barolo). Along the way we meet the region’s families and the many eccentric vintners, butchers, bakers, and restaurateurs who call Barolo home. Rich with details of real Italian small-town life, local foodstuffs, strange markets, and a circuslike atmosphere, Frank’s story also offers a wealth of historical and culinary information, and musings on foreign travel, all filtered through food and wine.

    Matthew Gavin Frank worked for over fifteen years in the food and restaurant industry in positions ranging from dishwasher to sous-chef, server to sommelier, menu consultant to catering-business owner, farmhand to janitor. A visiting assistant professor of writing at Grand Valley State University, he has published essays in Gastronomica, Creative Nonfiction, and Best Food Writing 2006.

    “Aaahhh . . . ! Here are all the joys of being young and exuberant and passionate and in love with women, and life, and better yet . . . in Barolo. This remarkable and enchanting tale makes me want to set the clock back many years and to book passage to Italy and to the sips of the world’s greatest wine, and to be inspired by all the things that make life such a wonderful journey! Kudos to Matthew Gavin Frank for reminding us what really makes life worth living!”—Charlie Trotter, chef, author, and host of PBS’s The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter

    “Suddenly you are in Italy, suddenly you are in love, suddenly you are picking the delicate Nebbiolo grape under a burning sun—and in a moment Matthew Gavin Frank has captured your unwavering attention, with a firm grasp that continues for all three hundred pages of this delightful and incisive book.”—Lee Gutkind, editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine and author of Almost Human: Making Robots Think

    For more info: http:// www.matthewgfrank.com

  • William Upski Wimsatt discusses PLEASE DON’T BOMB THE SUBURBS

    PleaseDontBomb

    In PLEASE DON’T BOMB THE SUBURBS, William Upski Wimsatt weaves a first-person tour of America’s cultural and political movements from 1985-2010. It-s a story about love, growing up, a generation coming of age, and a vision for the movement young people will create in the new decade. With humorous story-telling and historical insight, Wimsatt lays out a provocative vision for the next twenty-five years of personal and historical transformation.
    Social entrepreneur, philanthropic consultant, journalist, and political organizer, Mr. Wimsatt published five books including Bomb the Suburbs, and No More Prisons. He has written for Vibe, Chicago Tribune and is also the winner of the 1999 Firecracker Book Award for Political Non-Fiction. He has spoken at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and was named by Utne Magazine as “Utne Visionary” and to The Source Magazine’s “Power 30”.

    As a 2010 Fellow at Movement Strategy Center, Mr. Wimsatt runs The Field 3.0 Project, a community dialogue and documentation effort to envision the future and drive innovation in movement building. He also runs ALL HANDS ON DECK: WIN AGAIN 2010, a voter engagement program targeting likely drop-off voters, focused in key battleground states and coordinates a 12 Week Plan to organize volunteers in the lead up the mid-term elections. Previously, Wimsatt founded and ran the League of Young Voters (2003-2008) which organized 3000+ youth to create 300+ voter guides and impacted 29 state and local elections or pieces of legislation. In 2005, Wimsatt co-founded Generational Alliance. Over his career as a funder and fundraiser he has helped move more than eight million dollars to social change. In 2008, he created and ran the Ohio Youth Corps program for the Ohio Democratic Party/Obama For America, which trained and deployed 50 staff throughout Ohio. Wimsatt has worked for Green For All, consulted for Rock The Vote, MoveOn.org, Hull Family Foundation, The DC Project, The Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing, and completed Rockwood’s year-long course for executive leaders.

    For more info: http://www.akashicbooks.com/pleasedont.htm

  • Tao Lin Reads From Richard Yates

    RichardYatesTaoLin

    Richard Yates is a startling change of direction for Lin: his trademark minimalism takes on a much darker edge as he narrates the story of a young man dealing with the consequences of an affair with an underage girl.  But buried within Lin’s work is a more troubling question—what exactly constitutes illicit sex for a generation with no rules?  Tao Lin’s second novel tracks the relationship between writer Haley Joel Osment, a New Yorker in his early twenties, and Dakota Fanning, his 16-year-old lover.  Moving between Fanning’s suburban home and Osment’s Wall Street apartment, the couple increasingly shuns the outside world as they work to navigate the moral ambiguity of their love. But as they grow more obsessive and become more intimately involved, Fanning reveals her increasingly self-destructive personality.  Osment’s own guilt and anger entrap him as they find the relationship—and their lives—hurtling out of control. 

    “Richard Yates is hilarious, menacing, and hugely intelligent. Tao Lin is a Kafka for the iPhone generation. He has that most important gift: it’s impossible to imagine anyone else writing like he does and sounding authentic. Yet he has already spawned a huge school of Lin imitators. As precocious and prolific as he is, every book surpasses the last. Tao Lin may well be the most important writer under thirty working today.”
    —Clancy Martin, author of How to Sell

    For more info: http://www.mhpbooks.com and http://richardyates.info

  • Joe Janes and Friends Read From 365 Sketches

    365 Sketches

    Joe Janes does not believe in writer’s block. To prove the point, he wrote a full comedy sketch a day for a year and posted them live on his blog for everyone to read and comment on. Pretty brave for a teacher at the famed Second City and Columbia College. Many of his best friends tried to talk him out of doing 365 Sketches, but Joe decided to put his butt on the line. The general quality of the scenes were so high and the topic and styles so varied, all 365 sketches were performed at Strawdog Theater in a WNEP production earlier this year over the course of eleven nights with 26 directors and over 175 actors. The book is being lauded for not only being a fun read, but also a primer for comedy writers.

    Joining Joe Janes will be some of Chicago’s finest comedic actors; Kevin Gladish, Chloé Ditzel, Bernie Balbot and Heath Cordts. They will be performing some of the most popular comic monologues from 365 Sketches.

    For more info: http://365sketchesbyjoejanes.blogspot.com

  • Zines On Toast Show at Quimby's

    RadIllustrRumLSSR2ZineOnToast1

    An evening of entertainment and information with zine writers from the UK (Rumlad, Last Hours, Hey Monkey Riot and Morgenmuffel) on tour with Portland’s Alex Wrekk (Brainscan zine and Stolen Sharpie Revolution). Join them for accounts of UK zine culture including stories from Alex’s trip to the UK last year, plus tales of the London zine symposium, vegan mass catering, UK social centres, revolution, punk rock, anarchy and more! For more info: http://zinesontoast.org

    Alex Wrekk “Author of the popular how-to guide of zine-making, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, over fifteen years of zine-making under her belt, and the most intimate details of her life photocopied, stapled, and mailed around the world, this is a woman committed to taking her experiences in life and putting them on display in a way that is not for ratings or profit. Rather, she does it for the love of writing, creating, and sharing.” (Feminist Review) www.smallworldbuttons.com

    Isy Morgenmuffel “For the past ten years Morgenmuffel comic zine has been documenting the world that Isy inhabits. A world of riots in the city of London, cooking for hundreds of punks, starting housing co-ops, local social centres, or simply hanging out with friends and drinking. Through it all Isy’s love of life, and humour, is at the heart of the stories.” (Last Hours)  www.morgenmuffel.co.uk

    Edd Baldry, a radical illustrator and editor of Last Hours, and creator of Hey Monkey Riot: “Edd’s perhaps one of the few people drawing autobio comics who actually does interesting stuff, … with an angle on activism which is celebratory rather than polemical, yet also unafraid to point out absurdities.” (Lucid Frenzy) www.eddbaldry.co.uk

    Steve Larder “Rum Lad is part comic, part scene report, part diary but all with a subtle positivity that works to remind you that being a punk is fucking awesome.” (Pete Willis)  www.stevelarder.co.uk

    Tom Fiction and Natalie of Last Hours magazine and resource for creative resistance, and the London Zine Symposium, an annual event now in its 6th year.  www.lasthours.org.uk

  • Susan Slaviero and Kristina Marie Darling

    When asked about her influences, Susan Slaviero points to three enduring sources: popular culture, feminist theory, and a fascination with the lyric tradition. Not a likely combination for a poet, but one that has brought forth Cyborgia (Mayapple Press), a stunning debut collection that explores the intersection of female identity, technology, and the body.  Filled zombies, robots, “nickel marionettes,” and “electric women,” Slaviero’s book presents physical reality alongside the artificial and constructed, skillfully blurring the boundaries between the two.
    CyborgiaNightSongs
    “Melding the language of sci-fi and sensuality, Cyborgia wallows delightfully in its rhythm and vocabulary, yet remains sharp and meticulous, slicing through the barriers of mechanism and the female body, of systems and viscera, where the women are filled with milk and smoke, rainwater and wristwatches, fractals and fish”—Kristy Bowen

    Also reading is Kristina Marie Darling, a St. Louis author whose first book of poems, Night Songs, was just released by Gold Wake Press.  Kristina is the author of several chapbooks, which include Fevers and Clocks (March Street Press) and The Traffic in Women (Dancing Girl Press).  Awards include residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, and Ragdale.