I am still dwelling on (and feeling condemned by) something Ben Marcus said in an interview with We Are Champion: “with a few exceptions I was writing the usual dismal stuff back then, fiction destined for compost.  People with real human bodies failing to get something they thought they wanted.  I lacked compositional authority and those forms never released any language from me that I could care about.  It wasn’t really work that was native to me.”

People with real human bodies failing to get something they thought they wanted. So funny! And also like, oops!

I have a very short piece up on his website: ”Your Body Bears Witness” and I’m looking forward to SKEIN 6 featuring Michelle Taransky, Mark Leidner, Joshua Bolton, Heather Christle, Ari Feld and Sara Blaylock, Sean Casey, Christopher DeWeese, Brad Flis, Lawrence Giffin, Seth Landman, Natalie Lyalin, Anjali Khosla Mullany, Nathaniel Otting, Emily Pettit and me with a story called PENIS IN SKY WORLD.

So happy to make the Wigleaf longlist for my Mississippi Review piece, “Boys and Girls in America Have Such a Sad Time Together“

Other thrills: graduation, The Facebook group “I want Tracy Morgan to show up to sit across from Marina Abramovic at MoMA,” The Starz show Party Down (streams on Netflix), The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell.

I’ve got a very short story (around which I am building a novel) up on the GIGANTIC website, with a very nice illustration by John Dermot Woods. I’ve also got a piece about Joseph O’Neill’s life in the Chelsea Hotel up at The Rumpus, and a review of Jason Vuic’s The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History up at The Faster Times. And how awesome is Anna Bond:

Gigantic Issue 2 looks established. I bought it at St. Mark’s last night but have not yet read one word. The paper is shiny, feels authoritative. I also bought Dorothea Lasky’s book Black Life, and another Wave book, Bluets, by Maggie Nelson. I had never heard of Nelson until we read her in Sarah Manguso’s class. We read an excerpt from the beggining of Bluets and I had a really intense reaction. I was dismissive and judgmental, but as I kept reading, which I wouldn’t have done if not for the class assignment, I felt disturbed. I felt like the project had a lot to teach me about “talky” writing (I feel this way about Dottie’s work, too) and I became very, very protective of Nelson’s book during our class discussion. It makes no sense to me. How can it be so provocative and so difficult when it has perhaps the most yuck premise I have ever encountered (she falls in love with the color blue). I also got a lovely hardback from Four Corners Books called:

It’s part of their “Familiars” series in which artists choose and illustrate a novel or short stories. It’s an exciting time for reading and writing. Lots of friends are getting published! Spring is coming! And, I’ve got some nonfiction pieces coming out in The Rumpus (on Joseph O’Neill) and The Faster Times (reviewing a book about the Yugo) in the next fews days, and this weekend I am going to make Barry Hannah’s 3 Bean Soup.

diana mini camera, skins, eat when you feel sad by zachary german, “the moors” by ben marcus (in the latest tin house), the amy bishop saga, juicer, kate zambreno’s blog, drugs: a very short introduction by leslie iversen, dottie lasky’s poem in the new yorker

2 Don’t have children.

3 Don’t read your reviews.

4 Don’t write reviews. (Your judgment’s always tainted.)

5 Don’t have arguments with your wife in the morning, or late at night.

6 Don’t drink and write at the same time.

7 Don’t write letters to the editor. (No one cares.)

8 Don’t wish ill on your colleagues.

9 Try to think of others’ good luck as encouragement to yourself.

10 Don’t take any shit if you can possibly help it.

From The Guardian, via Ed Park

Annie DeWitt

Roxane Gay

Rachel B. Glaser

Rozi Jovanovic

Dottie Lasky

Natalie Lyalin

Kendra Grant Malone

Chelsea Martin

Alexandra Sears

Anya Yurchyshyn

items I am reading slowly and recommend:

why animal suffering matters by andrew linzey, dad says he saw you at the mall by ken sparling (courtesy of sasha fletcher), mindfulness in plain english by bhante henepola gunaratana, the stories of vladimir nabokov, light boxes: a novel by shane jones.

items to physically attend, see you there?

1.) March 5-28 at the Met: Shostakovich opera of Gogol’s “The Nose.”

2.) Wednesday, February 10 at Housing Works: Harper’s hosts “Love: A Rebuke,” a reading with Colson Whitehead, Heidi Julavits, and Sam Lipsyte.

3.) Saturday, February 27 at Space Space: Poetry Time with Lawrence Giffin, Lucy Ives and Chris Martin.

objects of my virtual affection:

4.) Ben Marcus has a nice new website with his writing and other people’s.

5.) I reviewed a british history book for The Faster Times. Stand by for my review of The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History. I really enjoyed reviewing A.N. Wilson’s book. May I always review nonfiction and never review fiction. May I never be reviewer-y.

6.) My new passion: “Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group.” I threw away a lot of money my perfumes, which was really upsetting. I know it’s kinda mommy but I really like to wear perfume. I had no idea it was so toxic. Fortunately, my friend Annie came through with the best replacement: Sweet Marriage: “Scent: Joy inducing and sensual. Divine jasmine with a hint of orange. Purposes: Brings love and sensuality to a union. Refreshes love, increases intimacy and communication, strengthens commitment and promotes monogamy.” (I am getting married this summer) P.S. check out The Successful Marriage Resource.

6.) Gigantic has some new stuff up, and is asking for 300 word biographies of famous Americans!

This is what I bought Lawrence for Christmas:

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