It seems like a lot is happening, despite the appearance of nothing seeming to happen at all. I don’t update this any more than I usually do nor any less (well actually: maybe a little more), but in any case, some things I’ve been reading, afer a short plug.


I got a story published in Levee No. 4 (you can also get a physical copy on Amazon, but I don’t like Amazon so I’m not going to link there, petty as that is), and I’ve also got some work up in Taper that I don’t think I mentioned here, and then finally I’ll have something forthcoming (Friday, they tell me) in Sinking City. Busy-busy.


Now, some things I have been reading and would recommend:

Star

by Yukio Mishima, trans. Sam Bett

This was a really quick read and a very pleasant one. The prose was lively and quick and the narrator was great. A few really brilliant, transcendent moments. A good read for want-to-read-a-book-in-a-day kinds of days.

A Room in Dodge City

by David Leo Rice

This was by the guy I met at AWP. Thankfully, it was really good. Also David is just a stand-out kinda guy. I’m feeling lazy so I’ll just reproduce what I wrote on Goodreads:

Crazy! Fun! Humorous and dark! I v. much enjoyed this book. The vignette structure is pleasing and effective (and was frankly perfect for a COVID-quarantine read), and the world itself is simply magical: places, people, elements, things all sort of blend and bleed into and out of each other in a really marvelous, skillful way. I’m not sure I have read any contemporary work that matches this for its sense of the absurdity of a certain kind of modern experience. Also, the sheer number and breadth of allusions in this book is staggering. It’s a good read and a smart read and it’s also very well-written. I’ll be very excited to read more Dodge City once it’s available!

His new projects sound interesting AF and I’m looking forward to checking out more of his work when I have free space on my TBR shelf.

Hour of the Star

by Clarice Lispector

I need to read this again, because I know I missed a lot of things, but this was good and made me want to read more Lispector.

Just Ride

by Grant Petersen

I don’t know… I like a good bike book every now and again. And a lot of what Petersen says in here really is good advice (though I’m not quite ready to give up indexed shifting). I go back and forth about my own approach to cycling (I miss being able to use the “dirt rag shop cyclist” excuse), as my free time is balanced largely between writing and cycling, but in any case, the book itself is a great argument for riding bikes as much as possible – even if it’s only briefly around the block.


Currently in the hopper:

  • Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror by John Ashbury
  • The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

Anyway, all for now ~