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12/21/2008

Comments

orinink

this book sounds interesting,i saw "slumdog millionaire" ,is it as voyueristic or does it have the humanity of Diaz's "Drown"?Do the characters see there lives as fucked-up or does the author or the reader interpret it as such.If the mid-west is a cultural wasteland and everyone interested in culture leaves it to come here ,what effect must that have on new york culture as of late,Kmart on 8th st?or the green market,good or bad.If everyone keeps leaving the mid-west because it is a"wasteland"then how does it change?I know maybe the people we push out of there ghettoes when we move into new york can be trucked there.I dont believe there is such a thing as a cultural wasteland,America is america ,a culture with rich history.We are just afraid to acknowledge it,because it would mean admitting truths about ourselves.Instead we embrace an elitist psuedo-european ideal,one that will allow us to be bourgy and waspy and royalty even if we have cornrows or our last name is Lee.So therefore when we hear the real stories of america which is obesity-because we are too damn greedy and fill our overworked poor up with oil bread and suger ,then hate them for looking and being downtrodden.While the "elite"starve themselves so they wont look to be the real greedy ones,on diets that deny the fact that no soil on american land could possibly have escaped being polluted by the last 50 years of chemical plants,nuclear plants and highway pollutants.The "poor" are the rich stories of america,from stienback ,to hughes to junot Diaz to your recomended author.The smallest people are those who do not value there own.

The Gay Recluse

Thanks for the comment, Orinink. I think you would like Banner; there's nothing condescending about his writing; when I say "wasteland," I mean to refer to those parts of the country that have perhaps been ravaged the most by capitalism (and ironically, moral conservatism) and have seen the least in return, by almost any standard/measure. I haven't read any Junot Diaz, but he's on the list!

Jeff Guard

OMG!! I've actually read this book (A long time ago)!!! A friend gave me the galley and I was on a Virgin flight to London from NY, transfixed and utterly absorbed. I remember this really cute flight attendant grabbing my arm chatting me up, breaking my obssesion with this book. He was soooo adorable and yummy and asked me if I was OK. I was kind rude to him because I wanted sooo bad to finish reading the book. I ended up spending the entire flight reading most of it... and then I accidently left the galley in the seat when I de-boarded. Jet-lagged and with meetings ahead of me, I didn't realise I left the book behind until a day later... I never finished the last part!

I didn't hate the characters it was more like Jane Goodall and the chimps for me for me.

WILD, of all books, I cannot believe you mentioned this one! The man on the bus to Tennessee (Oh,Jesus!) with the Matthew Shepard Daughter--sooooo spot on! Kind of sad, they're all really sad. but really interesting like car-wreck interesting. Kind of like that fiction writer from Columbia with her twisted short stories...what's her name!? It eludes me at the mo.

Rottin' in Denmark

Wow, you've been reading hella avidly this month. George Saunders had a great short story about an obese man, also in the first person. I exerpted the ending, since it was probably the best two paragraphs I read this year:
http://rottenindenmark.vox.com/library/post/werent-the-simplest-tasks-hard.html

The Gay Recluse

Thanks for the comments, Rottin' and JG. Will have to check out George Saunders...and JG, lemme know about the Columbian when you think of her name!

Jeff Guard

Columbian; AM HOLMES. For some reason her work, Things You Should Know reminded me a lot of the above mentioned. I don't know if she still teaches at Columbia. Would that no longer make her Columbian? lol.

The Gay Recluse

Thanks, Jeff -- will def check out.

Ben Thompson

Interesting article. I found some more information here

The comments to this entry are closed.

Gods final
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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.
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