THE 24-HOUR LITERARY MARATHON

I’ll be appearing at the 24-Hour Literary Marathon on Saturday, July 24th as part of an author panel which will also feature Deirdre Shaw, Mark Sarvas, and Brooke Berman.

Feel free to come by for a cocktail….

INTRODUCING THE TNB BOOK CLUB…

It’s a book club you can attend in the nude.

And it’s one of the greatest deals on the planet. 

For more info, click the image above, or simply CLICK HERE.

THE VIEW FROM THE WEST - VOL. 4

The other day I was sitting here at my desk, listening to music, staring at my screen.  And the lampshade to my left started shaking.

I looked down at my dog and my dog did nothing.  We sat there for a moment and then the shaking went away.

One thing you might not know is that an earthquake can make you feel seasick.

In his 1999 book entitled The Ecology of Fear, Mike Davis points out that at least 138 novels and films dating back to 1909 have dealt with the destruction of Los Angeles.

Earthquake.  Fire.  Flood.  Nukes.  Alien or human invasion.

A storyline that never grows old.

“The entire world,” Davis argues, “seems to be rooting for LA to slide into the Pacific or be swallowed up by the San Andreas Fault.”….

 
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WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW

I played competitive soccer as a youth.

I remember hating the idea of a tie.

Even back then.

Playing to a draw.

It pissed me off as a kid, and it pisses me off now, watching the World Cup.

The USA plays England to a draw!

So what?

This bores me.

I think it stinks.

Tying should not be allowed. In any sport. For any reason.

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SUBVERSIA TRAILER

TNB Books - Official Press Release

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

The Nervous Breakdown and Hukilau partner to launch TNB’s new publishing imprint.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 2010) - Readers addicted to nonfiction, fiction and poetry have long been getting their fix at the online culture magazine The Nervous Breakdown (TNB), a site founded by bestselling author Brad Listi (Attention. Deficit. Disorder.). Now, in partnership with Hukilau, TNB will be launching its own publishing imprint, producing print, e-book, transmedia, and audio books for lit fans worldwide. Its e-book offerings will be targeted for the iPad, Kindle, and other major e-publishing platforms.

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REALITY CHECK: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SHIELDS

Few books in recent memory have caused as much of a stir as Reality Hunger, the 219-page “manifesto” by David Shields.

It’s a book that defies easy classification.

An argument.  A clarion call.  An affront.  A life story.

An unapologetic assault on the literary status quo.

An essay-memoir-pointillistic-literary-collage-and-exercise-in-appropriation-art, one which  argues that a new artistic movement is forming, a movement which prizes as its virtues things like randomness, self-reflexivity, reader/viewer participation, and the total obliteration of the line between fiction and nonfiction.

The book has been greeted as a revelation.  A game-changer.  A thunderous ars poetica.

The book has been greeted as reprehensible.  Tired.  An irresponsible attempt to subvert existing copyright law, all while generating a massive wave of cheap publicity.

Writers in particular have reacted strongly to the book.  Some with venemous anger; others, a fit of nervousness; others still with unbridled enthusiasm.

“To call something a manifesto is a brave step,” writes Luc Sante in the New York Times.  ”It signals that you are hoisting a flag and are prepared to go down with the ship.”

Shields—-as far as I can tell—-is still afloat, and he was kind enough to speak with me recently about his life, his work, and his assessment of the cultural moment.

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THE VIEW FROM THE WEST - VOL. 3

Charles Manson, David Letterman, Michael Jackson, Axl Rose.

All four, as young men, fled Indiana and headed West.

As did I.

Los Angeles, California.

Doves on power lines.  Rats in palm trees.

One of my all-time favorite Letterman jokes:  Autumn is my favorite season in LA, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.

In my youth, I didn’t really have an urge to drive East.  It was always South or West.

Now?  I think about New York a lot.   And Buenos Aires.

I’ve never been to Buenos Aires.

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TNB GETS A MENTION IN THE LA TIMES

I moderated the Q&A portion of Chuck Palahniuk’s reading at Largo here in Los Angeles last night. A lotta fun. 

The Nervous Breakdown co-sponsored the event in conjunction with Tyson Cornell’s Rare Bird Lit. 

A nice write-up by Carolyn Kellogg in the LA Times can be found here.

THE VIEW FROM THE WEST - VOL. 2

A few words about readings.

Authors and poets standing up in front of people and reading from their work.

I have it in my head that a good reading should take on the character of its town.  Meaning:  a New York reading should be different than a New Orleans reading.  A Seattle reading should be different than a Portland reading.  A Chicago reading should be different than an Austin reading.

And so on.

Here in LA, it seems like a reading has to be entertaining.  Meaning:  It can’t just be a reading; it also must be a show.  I don’t mean this in a bad way, either.  It’s a natural extension of LA culture.  The Entertainment Capital of the World.  “A reading with jazz hands,” I like to say.   People in Hollywood seem to expect jazz hands.  They want some pyrotechnics, some musical theater, some weirdness, some special effects.

Maybe even some fake blood.

Or, on a lucky night, some nudity.

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