In our morning reading: new writing by Ilana Masad, an interview with Kelly Moran, and more.
Morning Bites: Ilana Masad on Science Fiction, Nick Mamatas’s Latest, Kelly Moran Interviewed, and More
Morning Bites: Nisi Shawl’s Latest, Tim Kinsella on Creativity, Huggy Bear’s Book, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on Nisi Shawl’s new book, an interview with Tim Kinsella, and more.
Morning Bites: Seth’s Comics, “Ted Lasso” and Books, Nick Mamatas on Music, and More
In our morning reading: pondering the work of Seth, exploring the craft of novellas, and more.
Literary History Gets a Cosmic Horror Remix: Notes on Nick Mamatas’s “Move Under Ground”
When it comes to literary techniques, pastiche can be one of the most subtly volatile out there. Most of the time when it’s utilized, it’s effectively invisible — effectively cloaking an author’s work in the voice of another. When it’s done badly, it can be utterly unbearable; I’ve still never been able to make it through the segment of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier in which Alan Moore channels Jack Kerouac. There’s something about Cthulthu mythos stories that brings pastiche to the foreground — there’s a Lovecraftian Wodehouse pastiche in the aforementioned Black Dossier, for instance, and it’s far from the only one.
Afternoon Bites: Elisabeth Thomas Interviewed, Sarah McCarry, Mark Fisher Revisited, Jeff Wood, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Elisabeth Thomas, new writing from Sarah McCarry, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Leland Cheuk’s Playlist, Fernanda Torres, Flanner O’Connor Documentary, Mike Watt’s Latest, and More
In our afternoon reading: a playlist from Leland Cheuk, a conversation with Deborah Levy, and more.
Upsetting Genre, With a Side of Politics: On Nick Mamatas’s “The People’s Republic of Everything”
There’s a telling moment to be found in the history of one of the stories in Nick Mamatas’s new collection The People’s Republic of Everything, likely the only collection you’ll encounter this year that includes both a counterfactual account of Trotsky’s early days and an account of a garden gnome-turned-nuclear weapon. It comes after “Slice of Life,” a tale of a particular corner of medical research and the philosophical tangents it inspires among those involved in it.
Afternoon Bites: Nick Mamatas Interviewed, Masatsugu Ono, Rebecca Mead Nonfiction, Julia Dixon Evans, and More
In our afternoon reading: interviews with Nick Mamatas and Julia Dixon Evans, new writing by Rebecca Mead, and more.