When I first heard about Brian McGreevy’s newest novel, The Lights (out now from Rare Bird Books), I was told it was a book about a woman in an MFA program. Immediately, I had my ideas about what this book might be about, what I might find in this book. Scenes that take place in workshop, definitely. Discussions of the publishing industry, probably. Maybe some talk about agents and debut novels. But when I sat down to read The Lights, […]
Mama, There’s Wolves in the House: Quality Time With Literary Werewolves
At their core, werewolves are about a loss of control. They’re the person who finds themselves in a fight for no good reason; who screams and apologizes long after that would mean anything. At their core, the werewolf is the abusive spouse; the guy who takes a swing at you in the bar; the hooligan whose night won’t be complete until something gets broken. This is where the repressed is (literally) made tangible, often horrifically so. Alternately? If you’re thinking […]
Morning Bites: Return to “Hemlock Grove,” Jon Cotner’s Recipes, the Morrison/Moore Feud, and More
The Grant Morrison/Alan Moore feud is rapidly becoming the stuff of legend. The New Yorker officially launched Double Take, a blog dedicated to unearthing treasures from the magazine’s archives. If these picks from the staff are any indication, we welcome the addition to our RSS feed. (As an aside: John McPhee’s articles always have the best keywords.) Jon Cotner talked family recipes. Emerging Writers Network on the latest issue of New York Tyrant. The first images have surfaced from Eli […]
Afternoon Bites: Art Spiegelman’s Trading Cards, Joe Strummer’s Screening, Bill Fox’s Playlist, And More
“If you are good, and patient, you will eventually have a career. This is a categorical truth. Being a novelist and being a Hollywood screenwriter are both, statistically speaking, spectacularly unlikely, and yet half the contacts in my phone are either one or the other.” Alina Simone chats with Brian McGreevy at The Rumpus. (We reviewed his novel Hemlock Grove in March.) Art Spiegelman discusses his role in the creation of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Bill Fox talks about his current […]