DECEMBER 2011
Leaving the Atocha Station (60%)
NOVEMBER 2011
Frisk, Dennis Cooper (100%)
Nothing, Blake Buter (100%)
Paris Review 198 (50%)
OCTOBER 2011
Abarat: Absolute Midnight (100%)
Closer, Dennis Copper (100%)
SEPTEMBER 2011
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates (100%)
Nouns Of Assemblage, Various Authors (100%)
Vertebrae Magazine, Various Authors (90%)
AUGUST 2011
The Long Way Down, Ewen McGregor(?) (100%)
A Million Bears, Spencer Madsen (100%)
Not Wanted On The Voyage, Timothy Findley (100%)
Stuart England, J.P Kenyon (15% Gave Up)
Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, David Lipsky (100%)
JULY 2011
Stories V!, Scott McClanahan (100%)
Today & Tomorrow, Ofelia Hunt (100%)
Fog Gorgeous Stag, Sean Lovelace (100%)
Paris Review 197 (65%)
A Dance With Dragons (100%)
Live tweeted Today & Tomorrow here. Sort of fell in love with Lovelace's mind. Was very moved by Wiliam Gibson's interview in the Paris Review. Completely nerded out reading A Dance With Dragons (but so good). Stories V was just ---- ahhhhhhhh. :)
JUNE 2011
Imperial Bedrooms, Bret Easton Ellis (100%)
Best Behavior, Noah Cicero (100%)
The Network, Jena Osman (100%)
The Iguana Complex, Darby Larson (100%)
Look! Look! Feathers, Mike Young (100%)
Richard Yates, Tao Lin (random passage reading for inspiration)
Lullabies for Little Criminals (random passage reading for inspiration)
Imperial Bedrooms wasn't the gem I'd hoped it would be. I don't know. I just found it a lot more boring than Less Than Zero without the druggie-charm. Maybe I'll get it when I'm a Hollywood writer or 40. The Iguana Complex was amazing. I wish I could write like Darby. He has amazing control over sound, rhythm and repetition and the mechanical structure of his prose pretty much blew me away. Best Behavior was really sad and really depressing but a really experiential read maybe really kind of a blur as to what is real and what isn't. I think Noah is brilliant. Look! Look! Feathers is amazing. I can't say anything else. How did I not read this book earlier? I am a dummy. Mike Young's voice is so rich it feels like every story is a long suck on a hard candy. Yay for June.
MAY 2011
Game of Thrones, George RR Martin (80%)
Nova Express, William S Burroughs (70%)
The Way of Zen, Alan Watts (random passage reading)
I read Game of Thrones when I lived in Korea. I hate fantasy books but I loved this. Martin's prose is solid. Nova Express is difficult like most Burroughs novels, but not something to give up on. I've read The Way of Zen about 5 times in one way or another and I feel in writing my manuscript, this text is vital.
APRIL 2011
There is No Year, Blake Butler (100%)
Normally Special, xTx (100%)
Naive, Super, Erland Loe (40% finished first half in March)
The Orange Eats Creeps, Grace Krilanovich (100%)
Traumahawk, Mike Bushnell (100%)
Almost Transparent Blue, Ryu Murakami (100%)
Grease Stains, Kismet and Maternal Wisdom, Mel Bosworth (100%)
This was a large reading month for me. I spent a lot of time alone reading. It was a rainy month and I had a lot of travel and commute time wherein I spent chunks of my life reading away. Blake's book was massive but as soon as I got it I had to devour it. Orange Eats Creeps is a very rich and complicated book but the momentum of it was so unique I had to press it forth. Naive, Super may be one of the best books I've ever read. I was kind of disappointed with the last 30 pages (they felt lazy) but the initial 150 odd pages were amazing. I kind of wish to be like Loe.
MARCH 2011
Naive, Super, Erland Loe (60% into April)
The Cariboo Horses, Alfred Purdy (100%)
Mostly Spinach, Joseph Goosey (100%, re-read)
Technopoly, Neil Postman (40%, select chapters)
Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace (30 %, select chapters, re-read)
Paris Review 196 (25%, Cohen Story & Ann Beattie interview)
Download Helvetica For Free (300%, 3 reads in staggering succession)
