September 30, 2009
I Been Banned By Better than You
Lee Wind posts the first installment of a discussion of book banning and challenging amongst Ellen Hopkins, E. Lockhart, Jo Knowles, Jacqui Robbins, Sarah Brannen, and me.
Also, the Girl Detective defends Andromeda Klein's occultism.
Off to the Side of the Music
I'm a sucker for personal rock and roll essays, and this one by Tony DuShane, peripherally concerning Nick Cave, is a humdinger.
(Tony's debut novel, Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, is due out in February on Soft Skull. I'm about halfway through and it rules.)
September 29, 2009
Now Appearing at these Appearances
It's been awhile since I updated my show listing info. Sometimes doing the shows gets in the way of listing the shows, which is far from ideal, I know, but then, most things are when you come right down to it. Far from ideal, I mean.
Anyway, for what it may be worth, this post sums up the state of the show situation.
Note that I'm doing a couple of appearances with Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor, whose punk rock oral history (Gimme Something Better) comes out this week. The first is a bookstore appearance at Booksmith in SF on 10/13; the second is at Gilman on 10/17. I'll be playing a solo set. It's been ages since I played there.
Also don't forget the Saturday show at 1234 Go! Records on 40th St. in Oakland. That should be a good one.
Okay, herewith the shows (if "herewith" is the word I want):
Thursday, October 1, 2009
"Banned Books" thing on the steps of the San Francisco Public Library. Larkin Street. 12 PM.Featuring me, plus: Joey Altman and the Pimentos, Jack Boulware, Ben Fong-Torres, Kathi Kamen Goldmark & Sam Barry, Penelope Houston & Patricio Johnson, Richie Unterberger, Roy Zimmerman, and Jewelle Gomez
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009:
1234 Go! Records, 423 40th St., Oakland, CA 94609. 7PM. I'm going to be playing a set with another guest to be announced and possibly and art exhibition, too. More details as they emerge.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704. 7:30 PM.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., San Francisco, CA 94117. 415 863 8688. 7:30 PM.With Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor, celebrating the release of their punk rock oral history Gimme Something Better.
Friday, October 16, 2009
San Francisco Public Library. Teenquake.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
924 Gilman, Berkeley, CA. with Schlong, Classics of Love, and others TBA.This is a launch party for Gimme Something Better by Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor. I'll be doing an acoustic set.
The Best Piece of American Literature Ever Written
King Dork, that is, according to the younger cousin of the guy who interviewed me for the Canadian music magazine Exclaim.
September 28, 2009
September 27, 2009
From the Other Side of the World
Parents object to King Dork being in a school library in Hong Kong.
Also, people still complain about "topless" photos in National Geographic, evidently.
September 26, 2009
September 25, 2009
September 24, 2009
September 23, 2009
That All You Got?
I really expected this list of "Dan Brown's 20 Worst Sentences" (from the Telegraph's Tom Chivers) to be a lot funnier and Avallone-esque than it proved to be.
I'm not saying they're not clunky sentences, or that there aren't "infelicities" in them; I'm only saying that they can't quite bear the weight of the slightly desperate-sounding scorn piled on top of them. If the writing is bad, it is a pedestrian, rather unremarkable sort of badness, found in all sorts of published writing for which people are paid lots of money.
As an example, I'll cite a bit of snide commentary from the article itself, because I hate the "show don't tell" cliché and because it's pretty funny that it occurs in the first cited example:
They say the first rule of fiction is “show, don’t tell”. This [excerpt from Angels and Demons] fails that rule.
Maybe it's different in the UK, but where I come from, rules get broken, not failed. i.e., when you break a rule, you are failing the person who made it, rather than the rule itself, which really doesn't care one way or the other. You can also fail a test, which I think is kind of what happened here. Take that, Chivers.
Raw Interviewage
A couple of interviews that popped up in the last week that I haven't had a chance to link to before now:
-- Alison Hallett of the Portland Mercury posted the entire interview upon which this article was based.
-- Billy Parker interviewed me for the Gothamist, and the result is here.
September 22, 2009
Sweet
Popcandy posts a real sweet report on Andromeda Klein night at the Housing Works on Friday. I'm honored. Thanks, Whit!
It was a good time. I'm still surprised whenever I find myself in a room full of people who sing along (and know all the words) to my songs -- even I can't do that. It was the same at the Sidewalk Cafe, with the added twist that some of the people there filled in some of the back up vox as well. That was surreal, but at the same time oddly comforting.
You know, for the last few weeks I've been asking audiences to applaud prematurely near the end of the song "Andromeda Klein" so I don't have to play the ending solo (you know, like in the Partridge Family or with the bands that would mime their songs on Twiggy's Jukebox.) But maybe, with a little effort, I could get the bookstore audiences to do all the parts so I could play the end. Someone would have to sing the flute-synth part and others could sing the vox (we'd need around five parts probably.) I know it's never gonna happen, but it's kind of funny to think about.
September 21, 2009
Sidewalk Cafe, NYC, 9/20
Jim Testa of Jersey Beat files a report on my set at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York last night (scroll down), and includes this video:
September 20, 2009
Ooh, Zsa Zsa, you look fabulous...
If you were wondering how things went at the appearance at Word Brooklyn in Greenpoint yesterday, Alex Caprio has a report on it.
I loved the format for the "show." I was asked to pick a person to interview me, and I chose Juliet Linderman, a longtime fan of my songs and such and currently the editor of the Greenpoint Gazette. She had interviewed me before, and we'd been meaning to do it again some time, so it seemed like a good pick. She showed up wearing one of those old "it's hot on MTX Island" shirts, which was fun.
So there's this little stage in the basement, just big enough for two chairs and an end table, and the interview proceeded like a TV talk show. Juliet was Frost to my Nixon, Merv to my Zsa Zsa, Tom Snyder to my Gene Simmons -- if you know what I mean. (How do you describe Merv Griffin to the post-Merv generation? I gave it a shot, but, you know, they really broke the mold on that guy.)
Anyway, it's a terrific idea for author appearances because the it breaks up the usual monotony of reading aloud plus audience questions, and because (I would imagine) every one of the events would really be quite different because of the different interviewers. Juliet really knew her stuff, too, and asked great questions, and that was way better and elicited better answers-content than if I had just done my usual spiel (which is pretty much like me interviewing myself in a way.) I'm thinking maybe I could do something similar at an event in the future. The concept could definitely work outside of the Word Brooklyn basement.
Anyway, a cool idea, and a great afternoon.
Thanks to Word Brooklyn, Juliet, Alex, and everyone else who came out.
September 19, 2009
Last Night in New York
You know how things are on these here internets. I feel like I've known Whitney Matheson of popcandy for ages, but last night was the first time I ever had a chance to meet her in person.
Same goes for mc chris for all practical purposes, though apparently -- as he said in a real sweet intro he delivered before his set -- we had met once before at a show at Wetlands ages ago when he climbed on stage after our set and asked for a pick.
Anyway, we all met in person last night, and I believe we were able to assure each other that nobody involved was a hoax or a phantasm or a chimera or anything of that nature:
A lot of stuff has been happening over the last week, but I haven't had time to mention much of it because of the schedule. But cool, weird, and notable things happened in LA, Seattle, Portland, and Chicago that I'll tell you about some time, probably.
"We want to see the famous person," said the kids of Tenafly, NJ
After I did my bookstore thing, one of them said: "you know, your songs are actually pretty good."
September 18, 2009
September 17, 2009
Signing
Aaron was at the signing thing in Clackamas, OR the other day and commemorated it thus:
If you'd like to experience the magic, and you're in Chicago, I'll be at the Oak Park Public Library tonight at 7PM. Well, I'll be there whether or not you're in Chicago, and regardless of whether you want to experience the magic. But you know what I mean, probably.
Vinyl
Yesterday was the official release date of the vinyl "Andromeda Klein" single, and Rob from Jealous Butcher Records brought some over to the show last night at Plan B in Portland, OR. We had planned to sign and number the limited red vinyl at the club, but they hadn't arrived from Lane Smith's place. But even the black ones look amazing.
Order here, or pick one up at a show (while my supply lasts...)
September 16, 2009
Wrecked on the Radio
Hey, if you want to listen to a sleep-deprived Dr. Frank being interviewed on Fearless Radio out of Chicago, here's where to go. 10 PM, CST.
September 14, 2009
September 13, 2009
September 12, 2009
It is I who thank you
Heaven drew this picture at my appearance today at Charter Oak High School in Covina:
A little tiny egg that expanded into an overflowing universe...
Alison Hallett of the Portland Mercury interviewed me about Andromeda Klein and here's the resulting article, which includes a preview of my shows in Portland on 9/15 and some kind words about the book. Thanks, Alison.
Also, here's a review from the Valet Reader.
Also also, Anastasia braved the library's copy of King Dork ("stained with a mysterious brown liquid near the top and generally smell[ing] of sweaty gym socks") along with some mysterious Chinese tea.
September 10, 2009
Linkses
-- The Girl Detective has some nice things to say about Andromeda Klein.
-- King Dork is one of 46 "essential rock reads" on this list from the LA Times.
The Literary Equivalent of Foreigner's First Album
You can listen to John Carney interviewing me on KMOX St. Louis here, if you like.
Do You Believe in High School?
Martha reports on last night's reading thing at Books, Inc. in SF.
Chuck and Stephanie stopped by, as did Tony, and a bunch of other nice people, including quite a few students from Capuchino High School, also known as "Cap." This was the putative "rival" school to Mills, the school I attended, way back when.
One of the audience questions was whether I had hated high school as much as my characters do. Well, the answer is that I probably hated high school even more than they do, if such a thing is possible. It was a miserable, miserable experience, a "clean, well-lighted place for hazing," as Tom Henderson puts it, and a near-total waste of time. I know some people who profess to have fond memories of their high school years, but I have always assumed they were lying, at least to themselves.
Anyway, things have evidently changed a bit since we got kicked out of school. None of the kids there would admit to even a mild dislike. Which, frankly, blew my mind a little.
Finally one girl raised her hand and asked: "don't you think you might have had a better time if you had gone to Cap?"
You know, I rather doubt it. But packed in that question is a world of school spiritedness utterly alien to me, and thus fascinating. Who are these contemporary high school enthusiasts? Note to self: future novel idea, kind of Stepford Wives-ish, except they are, you know, students and stuff.
(As I may have mentioned before in this space, the last time I was at "Cap" -- age sixteen or so -- it was to cover one of the doors to the gym with Elvish graffiti. Yeah, I was that kind of kid.)
September 09, 2009
September 08, 2009
It's a Little Toy Singer
I was digging around in the closet, looking for something, and I came across this mysterious box:
It was a little difficult to slide open the red front panel, but when I did here's what was inside:
It's pretty accurate, down to the precise configuration of Joel's stacked speaker cabinets and my Epiphone Coronet with the strap held on by duct tape, though I doubt we ever played anywhere with such good lighting. Judging from the clothes, it dates to c. 1997. A friend or a fan made it, clearly, but I have no recollection at the moment. Anyone?
September 07, 2009
Four and a Half Birds
A kind, thoughtful review of Andromeda Klein from the Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.
September 06, 2009
Thirteen-piece Partitioned Display Box for Single Dozens Ladies' Seaside Hair Nets
Found in the street yesterday:
A "practical and exhaustive treatise intended to meet the requirements of Manufacturers and Traders," with chapters like "Two Interesting Two-Piece Ice-Cream Brick Boxes."
September 05, 2009
Inherit the Wind
Someone made a wikipedia entry for Andromeda Klein, but its days are numbered unless someone can produce some "evidence of notability."
With those strict evidentiary standards, I don't know how this ever made it. And who's this guy Jim "Jym" Ruzicka they keep listing as the drummer? Never heard of him...
UPDATE: Unknownfemale and Entertainment Weekly to the rescue.
UPDATE II: The article got deleted anyway, in the end, not because of undocumented notability but for this reason:
(G12: Unambiguous copyright infringement of the book itself. Excepting the first sentence, it's word-for-word from the synopsis on the book's dust cover (which I'm holding in my hand right now))Is it really? I can see why quoting from a book jacket's synopsis might seem a little un-encylopedic or something, but if reproducing flap copy is really copyright infringement than the whole concept of flap copy itself is in trouble. Because, like, it's specifically intended to be reproduced.
September 04, 2009
A little too Juno-esque
The guy who took it upon himself to review King Dork for Pajiba's "Cannonball Read" (basically an attempt to review 100 books in a year) really didn't dig the book's ambiguous resolution. Pajiba honcho Dustin Rowles -- a long-standing booster of King Dork, and in fact one of the first people to write about it way back when -- chimes in with parenthetical italicized editorial comments (e.g. I'll cut you. - DR), commenters join in, and the result is some kind of information superhighway thingummy. I mean, it takes a village, or something.
Los Angeles, etc.
I just realized that this Los Angeles bookstore show/appearance was left out on previous lists, so here it is:
Sunday, September 13, 2009: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027 323-660-0232. 6PM - 8PM
Full schedule after the jump:
Tuesday, September 8, 2009:NYMBC event at Books Inc., Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. (Well, actually all of these are pretty much reading, songs, signing, standing around awkwardly, so just take that as given.)
Saturday, September 12, 2009:-- Some unspecified library somewhere in the LA area. Details soon. I hope!-- Borders - Torrance, 3700 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503. 2PM.
-- Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California 91101. 7 PM.
Sunday, September 13, 2009:
Barnes & Noble - Huntington Beach. Bella Terra, 7881 Edinger Ave. #110, Huntington Beach, CA 92647. 2 PM.Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027 323-660-0232. 6PM - 8PM
Monday, September 14, 2009:
Secret Garden Bookshop. 2214 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107. 206-789-5006. 7 PM.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009:Barnes & Noble - Clackamas, Clackamas Town Center Mall, 1200 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266. 503 786-3464. 7 PM.Plan B, 1305 SE 8th Ave., Portland, OR. w/Blue Skies for Black Hearts and Eric Peabody. 9PM. $5 cover.
Thursday, September 17, 2009:
The Magic Tree Bookstore. 41 North Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60301. 7 PM.
Friday, September 18, 2009:
-- Womrath's of Tenafly. 12 Washington Street, Tenafly, NJ 07670. 4 PM.-- The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012. 212 334-3324. "Read-n-Rock-n-Roll YA Variety Show" with Paul Ford, Mr. Dream, Bennett Madison, Natalie Standiford and others to be announced. Hosted by mc chris. 8 PM. $5 (to benefit the Housing Works.)
Saturday, September 19th, 2009:
Word Brooklyn, 126 Franklin Street (at Milton), Brooklyn, NY, 11222, 718-383-0096. 4PM - 5:30PM.Sunday, September 20, 2009:
The Sidewalk Cafe, 94 Avenue A., New York, NY. with Libba Bray. Free, two drink minimum.Monday, September 21, 2009:
RJ Julia Booksellers. 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT 06443. 7 PM.Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Book Court, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY. 7 PMBarnes & Noble - Lincoln Square 1972 Broadway, NY,NY. 5:00 PM.
Friday, September 25 - 27, 2009
The Carmel Authors and Ideas Festival. Sunset Community Theater, Carmel, CA.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Something to do with "banned books" on the steps of the San Francisco Public Library. Larkin Street. 12 PM.
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009:
1234 Go! Records, 423 40th St., Oakland, CA 94609. 7PM. I'm going to be playing a set with another guest to be announced and possibly and art exhibition, too. More details as they emerge.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704. 7:30 PM.
Friday, October 16, 2009
San Francisco Public Library. Teenquake.
September 03, 2009
September 02, 2009
Call for Readers
I think it is always more interesting to have people other than than the author read at lit events, if only to shake up the usual routine. In fact, I've been known to commandeer totally confused people in the venue (or at the mall or out in the street) to read, and in the rare cases where they have agreed to do it has always been fun and interesting and awkward.
That doesn't always work, though, because sometimes these people hurry right past me like I'm a guy with a Save the Earth petition or something, so I thought I'd ask in advance:
if anyone is interested in reading from either Andromeda Klein or King Dork at any of these events, drop me a line. Maybe we can work something out.
Post-mortem II
Here's a review of the Cato's Ale House Andromeda Klein book launch show from the Valet Reader.
Four Updates
1.
I'm gonna be in Portland for one day only (9/15), doing school visits during the day and a Barnes & Noble in nearby Clackamas at 7 PM.
Some friends threw together a last-minute show/party thing for after that at a place called Plan B.
Here's the info for Portland as it stands:
Tuesday, September 15, 2009:Barnes & Noble - Clackamas, Clackamas Town Center Mall, 1200 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266. 503 786-3464. 7 PM.Plan B, 1305 SE 8th Ave., Portland, OR. w/Blue Skies for Black Hearts and Eric Peabody. 9PM. $5 cover.
It's short-notice and coming right up, so tell your friends and all that. And if anyone with some skills feels like making a flier (and saving the Portland area from whatever monstrosity I might construct) let me know.
2.
This got inadvertently left off the previous listing:
Saturday, September 19th, 2009:Word Brooklyn, 126 Franklin Street (at Milton), Brooklyn, NY, 11222, 718-383-0096. 4PM - 5:30PM.
3.
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009:1234 Go! Records, 423 40th St., Oakland, CA 94609. 7PM. I'm going to be playing a set with another guest to be announced and possibly and art exhibition, too. More details as they emerge.
4.
Finally, the appearance at Pegasus in Berkeley, originally scheduled for Thursday, October 8th had to be moved to avoid having to compete with Sherman Alexie, who's doing this on that date. So it will now be on Friday the 9th.
So there you have it.
Full updated list of shows after the jump.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009:NYMBC event at Books Inc., Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. (Well, actually all of these are pretty much reading, songs, signing, standing around awkwardly, so just take that as given.)
Saturday, September 12, 2009:-- Some unspecified library somewhere in the LA area. Details soon. I hope!-- Borders - Torrance, 3700 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503. 2PM.
-- Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California 91101. 7 PM.
Sunday, September 13, 2009:
Barnes & Noble - Huntington Beach. Bella Terra, 7881 Edinger Ave. #110, Huntington Beach, CA 92647. 2 PM.
Monday, September 14, 2009:
Secret Garden Bookshop. 2214 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107. 206-789-5006. 7 PM.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009:Barnes & Noble - Clackamas, Clackamas Town Center Mall, 1200 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266. 503 786-3464. 7 PM.Plan B, 1305 SE 8th Ave., Portland, OR. w/Blue Skies for Black Hearts and Eric Peabody. 9PM. $5 cover.
Thursday, September 17, 2009:
The Magic Tree Bookstore. 41 North Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60301. 7 PM.
Friday, September 18, 2009:
-- Womrath's of Tenafly. 12 Washington Street, Tenafly, NJ 07670. 4 PM.-- The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012. 212 334-3324. "Read-n-Rock-n-Roll YA Variety Show" with Paul Ford, Mr. Dream, Bennett Madison, Natalie Standiford and others to be announced. Hosted by mc chris. 8 PM. $5 (to benefit the Housing Works.)
Saturday, September 19th, 2009:
Word Brooklyn, 126 Franklin Street (at Milton), Brooklyn, NY, 11222, 718-383-0096. 4PM - 5:30PM.Sunday, September 20, 2009:
The Sidewalk Cafe, 94 Avenue A., New York, NY. with Libba Bray. Free, two drink minimum.Monday, September 21, 2009:
RJ Julia Booksellers. 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT 06443. 7 PM.Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Book Court, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY. 7 PMBarnes & Noble - Lincoln Square 1972 Broadway, NY,NY. 5:00 PM.
Friday, September 25 - 27, 2009
The Carmel Authors and Ideas Festival. Sunset Community Theater, Carmel, CA.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Something to do with "banned books" on the steps of the San Francisco Public Library. Larkin Street. 12 PM.
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009:
1234 Go! Records, 423 40th St., Oakland, CA 94609. 7PM. I'm going to be playing a set with another guest to be announced and possibly and art exhibition, too. More details as they emerge.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704. 7:30 PM.
Friday, October 16, 2009
San Francisco Public Library. Teenquake.
September 01, 2009
Baffling Artwork
One of several funny print-on-demand covers collected in this post from the Caustic Cover Critic:
(Not included, but utterly captivating and baffling, is the one for Wuthering Heights.)
Also, check out the Count of Monte Cristo in this complementary post about ebook art.
(Thanks, Krista.)
just a question to anyone who has read this book is it in old english or mordern understandable english? if so i want it but it sounds like it's just the original version with a different cover
A reprint of Wuthering Heights with a Twilight-esque cover and a badge that says "Bella and Edward's favorite book" has been racking up sales.
In answer to the question quoted as the title of this post, Waterstone's confirms that it is still in old, hard-to-understand English, but with a "new, more modern jacket."
(via Galley Cat.)
