SOUNDTRACK: THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-4 songs from My Space (2008).
Since the author of one of the stories below is the singer in this band, I thought I’d listen to them and see what they were all about. With a name like that I was expecting some kind of hardcore band. And that is NOT this band! They don’t have a record out yet, but they have some songs on MySpace here. The first song “Sometime Around Midnight” made me think of a couple of bands from the 90s: The Church and Midnight Oil, and possibly The Alarm. The vocals are mixed loudly in the mix, and there is an earnestness about the vocals which made me think of those bands. The second one, “Papillion” has a keyboard solo (!) over some fairly raucous simple melodies. The third song “This is Nowhere” is a fun indie rocker with a good staccato riff and a cool/spooky chorus harmony. And the fourth song “Innocence” was rocking and bouncy. I can’t get over the use of keyboards on songs where you wouldn’t expect them. I enjoyed these songs quite a bit, and will certainly check out the CD when it’s released.
[READ: May 30, 2008]: McSweeneys #27
This volume contains three books in a slipcase. Even though each is a small paperback, the overall package is quite nice. The slipcase has many tiny holes in it to look like skyscraper windows (or Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti).
The first volume is by Art Spiegelman and is called Autophobia. I first came to know Art Spiegelman, as did most everyone, I’m sure, through his fantastic graphic novel Maus. He was my introduction to comics, and my realization that comics could be more than superheroes. Spiegelman can do very little wrong in my eyes.
Now he does a lot of covers for the New Yorker. I’m not really sure what he does with the rest of his time. But this little book certainly sheds some light on things. As Spiegelman explains in the intro, this is essentially a notebook that he kept from March to May 2007. He had a sort of artist’s block, so he decided to draw every day, anything that came to his head, with the knowledge that no one would see it or say anything about it. And now he’s decided to let us see into his head. It’s a fun collection of doodles, half ideas, bad puns, and every manner of item. Some things of note: his doodling style is so much less streamlined than his art (which I suppose is to be expected) but I’m surprised by how heavy his lines are. It’s also funny to see the random things that pass through artists’ heads: sex and death mostly. It’s a pretty neat book to have, and a good idea for any artist to just start scribbling every day to see what comes out.
The second volume is called Lots of Things Like This. It is basically a collection of art that has pictures with words. The booklet originally accompanied a show at the apexgallery in NY, but for this volume it has been expanded to include many more artists. The collection is all over the place, as you might expect of a booklet of some 34 artists. Some are well known (Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Shel Silverstein, Leonard Cohen, Rene Magritte), some were known to me already (Raymond Petttibon, who has done some great indie rock covers in the past) and some were new to me (Quentin Miller, Jay Howell). It’s an interesting look at how most people assume that picture + word = cartoon, when in these cases, it equals more (not that cartoons aren’t substantial). It also raises some funny questions about people writing on their own work. As with the Speigelman piece, it’s hard to say much about them because for me, it’s hard to talk about visual art without going into either great detail or wanting to look at every piece.
The third volume is where the fiction lies. Overall, I was a little disappointed with the collection. Not because of the quality of the work, which was quite good, but because of the content. It was a rather creepy/disturbing collection of stories, with ones about: murder, pedophilia, excrement, lots and lots of excrement, abusive in-laws, and graveyards. Not a happy bunch, these authors.
LARRY SMITH-“Tight Like That”
This story was about an astonishingly offensive character named Louie who is portrayed as something of an adorable lout. He is a gangster and a thug, and his basic modus operandi is to, well, whip it out in front of women to try and impress them with his size. He has no trouble scoring with women until he meets a library worker whom he (understandably) freaks out with his behavior. Somehow he wins her over and they become an item. In the end, her demeanor is proven to be false, not because she suddenly takes off her glasses and is a sex kitten, but because of her own sketchy past. It’s weird to be intrigued and repulsed by a character at the same time
JIM SHEPARD-“Classical Scenes of Farewell”
Speaking of repulsive…. This story follows the life Gilles de Rais a Frenchman who once fought with Joan of Arc, and then exposed his rather evil side: he was a pedophile who murdered the children he kidnapped. The main character is a victim of de Rais who was spared and made his acolyte. Although not as gruesome as it might have been, (we’re spared the torture porn) it’s still a pretty horrific story. And yet, it is written so well (in a style and language appropriate to the time) and the actual storyline is very compelling: will de Rais be caught? will our protagonist be spared? how guilty is he as an accomplice? It’s a fascinating look at depravity, and I couldn’t put it down.
ASHLEE ADAMS-“Bird Feed”
Why are all stories about women in the South so damned depressing. This story is no exception. It is very well written, a tight story about a woman who, upon hearing of the death of her Grandma, seems to be loosened form the bounds of her own life, and seeks to commune with her. Cora’s existence is pretty bleak: married to a guy she doesn’t really like, her mother-in-law is openly disdainful of her, her young son only listens to her husband, not to her. Oy! She meets a man she has contacted through email Christmas Eve. She leaves her family and drives to the man’s place. This section of the story was a bit mystical and it lost me somewhere. The ending was kind of sweet. Not what I was expecting, but still depressing.
LIZ MANDRELL-“Sod Turned Spring”
I was rather sleepy while I read this story; it didn’t help that the story is practically exuding hallucinogens. There are several characters. One works in a cemetery, and, as I said I was confused, I think there are two other main characters who are not the guy who works in the cemetery. The story seems to alternate with every paragraph. But the gist seems to be that people are going on a tour of the graveyard that contains Jim Varney, ie Ernest of Ernest Goes to Camp fame. Trippy but unsatisfying.
MIKEL JOLLETT-“The Crack”
I had been a little down on this issue. I hadn’t really gotten into any of the stories, and then came this one. This story was fantastic and I can only hope that there will be more about these characters or that it’s part of a novel. The story follows four Loz Feliz, CA, young people all of whom are dying (cancer mostly) and who bond despite their disparate background and interests. There’s Margaret, there’s General Major, there’s Dig, and there’s the narrator. General Major is easily the most fascinating character. In my favorite part he coins a new letter…a TH with the top of the T creating the bar of the H and he calls it “Thaitch” (it was from some grafitti he had seen). And that’s just how the narrator first met him. The story concerns a giant crack in the road of a major street of Los Feliz. The foursome gather their spelunking gear (so to speak) and decide to investigate this gigantic crack/sinkhole. As they dive in and discover a gigantic expanse of darkness, they become, obviously, very intrigued. Eventually some neuroses come to light. And, as they proceed further into the cave, they see some extraordinary things. It was a wonderfully paced and highly compelling story. I’m looking forward to reading more by him. The author is the singer for The Airborne Toxic Event, whose band I reviewed above.
STEPHEN KING-“A Very Tight Place”
I have a theory that if you or I started a literary magazine, Stephen King would send it a story. He is so prolific that he seems to send stories everywhere. Nevertheless, I am somewhat surprised to see him in a McSweeney’s publication.
When I was a kid, I loved Stephen King. I read everything he wrote right up to The Tommyknockers, which seemed to lose me. (After reading On Writing, it turns out that he doesn’t remember writing much of the books from this era because he was so high, which may go some of the way to explaining why i didn’t like Tommyknockers. Sometime around there I also decided that I shouldn’t be reading Stephen King if I was going to be a lit major, so I haven’t read anything by him since. Except, as I said, his memoir, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which I really liked.
Reading this story reminded me of why I liked King so much…his stories are effortless to read. I theorize as well that if he could, he would write in his sleep, stories just seem to flow from him so easily.
This story is about two men who live on Turtle Island in Florida. They both covet a piece of property at the end of the island: one wants it so that he can leave it unmolested, the other wants it so he can build a development on it. They have a protracted lawsuit that has gone on for years. The tensions have finally reach boiling point when Curtis’ dog is electrocuted (deliberately?) by Grunwald (aka The Motherfucker). But that information is more or less incidental to the centerpiece of the story. In the bulk of the story, Grunwald (the one who wants to build on the property) seeks revenge on Curtis (who has blocks his every turn). Grunwald owns a derelict construction site. He lures Curtis out to it and….well, I’m not going to say because I don’t want to give it away, and I’m not sure I have the stomach to revisit it. However, it is one of the most revolting things I can imagine doing to someone. And, since Curtis is the protagonist, you imagine living it with him. I think I may never have read a story that was more gross. And yet, I simply could not stop reading. I am shocked at how much I enjoyed this thoroughly disgusting story. And it makes me want to read more Stephen King again.
So, it was really these last two stories that brought this collection of fiction up to a higher grade for me.
[…] Polymath Dave Eggers is back with another fascinating (and fascinatingly bound) title. This time, the collection contains a series of drawings. Most of the drawings are of animals and they all feature words on them. (This sort of thing: Picture + words + humor (from many different artists) is presented in a book that I am currently enjoying called More Things Like This). Similar items also appeared in McSweeney’s 27 (you can see my Post about that issue here)). […]