They’re rolling in:
- Michelle Richmond on the sex panel.
- Kassia on the book digitization panel.
- Incriminating evidence and a brief report from Pinky’s Paperhaus.
- Ron Hogan’s report.
- Matt Cheney with his nonrealist fiction panel presentation and a lengthy report.
- Jeff VanderMeer’s initial thoughts.
- The Happy Booker has not one, but two reports: Christy Zink and Chris Meeks and Christy Zink again.
- Tony Tost relays a “‘hick comes to the bigtop’ giddiness.”
- C. Dale Young uncovers blog prejudice.
- Some posts to come from Mikeyblog.
- Collin Kelley looks at the AWP from the poetry perspective.
- Robert Archambeau praises the lawn behind the Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse.
- Some photos from Laurel Synder.
- Simmons B. Buntin offers Austin photos and an exhaustive report: Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
- Amy Braziller takes umbrage with the cell phones.
- Reports from Fade Theory: Part I and Part II.
- And did anyone talk shit about Jim Behrle?
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (
Not to sound uppity (though I know I will), I did not rip off anything from Michelle Richmond. If you look at the bottom of Michelle’s page, you’ll see that it’s a WordPress theme designed by Carol (http://oh-dear.org/archives) that anyone can use. Both Michelle and I modified the theme to suit our purposes. Thanks for the mention, though. Oh, and I’ll have more on AWP during the coming week. So much to cover.
Yo, Theorist. Sorry.
I think this can be construed as talking shit about me. You’re toast, whoever you are.
xxxjimmy