"A fast-paced, suspenseful dystopian picaresque, part Huck Finn and part bizarro-world Swiss Family Robinson..."
---Kirkus
Long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and finalist for the Crawford Award. Title short story listed for the 2000 O. Henry award.
Hey folks, the novel — eek, the novel! It’s coming out in November, which is, like a blink. So things are continuing apace in preparation of its release. I’ve set up a Twitter “news” feed set in the world of the novel. Highly apocryphal, but would you expect anything less from Jack Anubis Enterprises? Anything [...]
Sat, August 22 2009 » Total Oblivion » 1 Comment
Really, really thrilled about this. Rabid Transit Press is pleased to announce the publication of Under in the Mere, a novella by Catherynne M. Valente, in the December of 2009. What damosel is this? What damosel is this? Perhaps I am nothing but a white arm. Perhaps the body which is me diffuses at the [...]
Tue, August 11 2009 » Rabid Transit Press » No Comments
Alrightey, Twilight. A hobby of Edward’s is collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60 R and an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish as a “special occasion” car. I’m just trying to put down my thoughts about it because when the later books get filmed it’s going to get far far worse before it gets any better. [...]
Tue, July 28 2009 » Movies/TV » No Comments
This quote made me laugh, and made me think of what the sf/f genre is like sometimes: Let’s say you have three guys, all of whom love pigs. One loves to eat them, one loves to race them against one another for prizes in the annual Pigathon, one loves to name them and pet them [...]
Mon, July 6 2009 » Fiction » 1 Comment
1. What kinds of flowers do the men of each culture put in their hair? 2. Grieving, forms of. 3. Are dreams seen but not heard? Heard but not seen? Felt only by the sense of touch at night? 4. How do people like to get wasted? Choose at least six social classes. 5. When [...]
Wed, June 24 2009 » Fiction » 3 Comments
“I’m just saying give me the weight. That’s all I’m saying. I’m here. Let me take it.” –Mitch, episode 10 One of the best shows I’ve ever seen, even though the last few truncated episodes (out of only ten) definitely have the echoes of the HBO executives screaming off screen: “Pencils DOWN! Pencils DOWN! Uh…You [...]
Fri, June 5 2009 » Movies/TV, Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead » No Comments
So much of this simply boggles the mind. I’ll reiterate what I said over here… # I haven’t read the book in question. But I’ve always found her craft and pedagogy references, partic. to fantasy worldbuilding, to be really paint-by-numbers (and way over-referenced as some sort of canonical source for worldbuilding 101–hey, it’s on the [...]
Sun, May 17 2009 » Fiction » 1 Comment
I nearly drove off the road when I heard this on NPR. Just listen to the whole thing. Bryce Lefever, ladies and gentlemen. Complete with a “sit down, shut up, watch what you say” warning to the American people who dare question his espousal of torture. And I really wonder–the fact that many of the [...]
Mon, May 4 2009 » Polis » 4 Comments
Let’s talk about the persona. Which is nothing new. The face I present to you isn’t my own face. How close? It’s hard to say. What the writer in the 21st century networked economy offers is “face time.” Access and ease of use with the materials of one’s life. A small door, like the one [...]
Sun, April 19 2009 » Fiction, Life Studies » No Comments
I should be able to get in the spirit of Van Vogt blogging once I get the novel handed in, but I wanted to blog a bit about THRU YOU by Kutiman. I’m sure a lot of you have come across this already. Aside from the amazing music mashed up from various YouTube sources, which [...]
Sat, April 11 2009 » Music » No Comments
Hmm, I’m getting a strong sensation that someone is about to send me the manuscript of the Bachmannomicon. Don’t you?
Fri, March 27 2009 » Polis » 1 Comment
More stories soon. Until then, “fans are Slans” interant archon Claude Degler: In the weeekly sheets the Cosmic Circle program reached full form: Don Rogers [his pseudonym] answered a positive “Yes!” to the old question, “Are fans slans?” He proposed to contact cosmic-minded mutants everywhere, using radio prograns and other publicity to this end. The [...]
Thu, March 26 2009 » Fiction » 1 Comment
1. The intro has this: Spinrad seriously believes that the dissidents of the 1960s–presumably including the LSD and marijuana imbibers–are the only individuals on our planet who are living meaningful lives. And we’re off! 2. The first story, “Don’t Hold Your Breath”, has to be one of the most disjointed, disturbing (bad disturbing, not good [...]
Tue, March 24 2009 » Fiction » 2 Comments
Mon, March 23 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Research on weird maps led me to this: “…wood was, and is, the most distinctive medium used by the Greenland Eskimos in mapmaking. Blocks are carved in relief to represent the rugged coastline of Greenland with its fjords, islands, nunataks and glaciers, the shapes of the various islands being linked together with rods. In order [...]
Thu, March 19 2009 » ?!?!? » 2 Comments
0. I had started to write some notes for a blog post about the political and art a few weeks ago, but after slowly catching up on Racefail09, it seems depressingly abstract. So here’s for something a little more concrete. 1. I’ve found a lot of the dismissal of the racefail discussion itself, in some [...]
Wed, March 11 2009 » Fiction, Polis » 1 Comment
I’ve had this old cigar box ever since we moved into my wife’s grandmother’s old house eight years ago (has eight years really passed? anyway), and I had happened to just now look at the label on the side: Sept. 1880 Union-Made Cigars This Certifies, that the Cigars contained in this box have been made [...]
Tue, March 3 2009 » Polis » No Comments
Throwing this out there–I have a very rough draft of an essay on Jack Spicer’s Holy Grail sequence. Is there anyone out there who would be able to take a gander at it and give me some constructive feedback? It’s been a looong time since I’ve written any poetry criticism. So if you’re familiar with [...]
Sun, March 1 2009 » Poetry » No Comments
One thing that growing up entails is learning that one, twice, three times in your life you will experience some passion–jealousy, love, lust, hate, grief–to the point where you lose it. If you happen to be in public, it doesn’t matter. You may collapse beside the park path and lie there five hours, unable to [...]
Sat, February 28 2009 » Polis » No Comments
This is what his response reminded me of…you just have to substitute “tax” with “tax cut”:
Wed, February 25 2009 » Polis » No Comments
