Since spotting him over twenty-five years ago, sitting on a bench in an oversized G ‘n’ R shirt, long curly hair tendrlling down over his acoustic guitar, I’ve treated Mishka Shubaly, despite him being only marginally younger, like a little brother, minus all the protect a support parts. For reasons best explained to a theoretical therapist that I really should get around to seeing one of these days, I’ve mocked Mishka, fought with him, whined when he chastised me […]
Dancing to Mark Lanegan’s “Gargoyle.”
Dancing to Mark Lanegan’s “Gargoyle.” by Mishka Shubaly In hindsight, the year 2000 was a sweet spot of sorts, sandwiched, as it was, between the bogus doomsaying of Y2K and the boundless terror of 9/11. I was 22, living in New York City, working as a barback in a huge dank cavern of a nightclub near the West Side Highway called Don Hill’s. I worked TISWAS, the britpop night, I worked Squeezebox, the sleazy 70s glam night, I worked Rock […]
An Honest Eye and “A Nearly Perfect Memoir”: A Review of Mishka Shubaly’s “I Swear I’ll Make It Up To You”
Mishka Shubaly is an update on a certain kind of guy. His themes are the themes of the Brooklyn bartender, the Oakland bike messenger, the young men living in cities. Relationships. Booze. Drugs. Fighting. Trying to figure out how to be a man. In I Swear I’ll Make It Up To You, his memoir about childhood, his dissolute 20s, and replacing drinking and drugs with ultrarunning, there are echoes of many that came before him: Henry Miller, Hunter Thompson, Anthony […]
Afternoon Bites: Mishka Shubaly, Patricia Lockwood on American Politics, Dana Spiotta’s Latest, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Mishka Shubaly; nonfiction from Zinzi Clemmons, Patricia Lockwood, and Kaitlyn Greenidge; and more.
Afternoon Bites: The Body’s Latest, Morgan Parker Fiction, Jarett Kobek, Feelies Reissues, and More
In our Friday afternoon reading: checking in with The Body, new writing from Morgan Parker and Michael J. Seidlinger, and more.