“Look, Annie, look—there is no space for anything but dreaming.” – Aimee Bender, “The Rememberer”
Hey, what the headline says. Sorry today’s post is late, traveling messes with me. We’re keeping this short, because I’ve got books to buy and readings to go to and tacos and Korean barbecue to eat. That doesn’t mean we’re sacrificing quality, though. All dunks and 30-footers, no middy, 40 ppg.
What I’ve Been Reading Lately:
Two “treat” books, to close out Women’s History Month. My work’s focus has shifted to short stories and poems lately, so I read two books that I’ve read before, but are meant to kick-start my story and poem writing. I’m talking, of course, about The Girl In The Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender and Hecate Lochia by Hoa Nguyen.
The Girl In The Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender: man, I forgot how raw and alive this book is. Not raw in the sense that every sentence isn’t perfectly polished. More like, every character is incurably horny. Sex in Aimee Bender books is never just sex, though—I’m not sure anyone’s ever made sex more akin to venturing into the witch’s house or answering a bridge troll’s questions in a fairy tale as Aimee Bender. The title story is still in the pantheon of greatest short stories ever written, right up there with Saunders’s “Sea Oak,” Johnson’s “Car Crash While Hitchhiking,” Kincaid’s “Girl,” Davis’s “The Fish,” Fu’s “#ClimbingNation,” or—aw hell, I’m ramblin again. Anyway, this book remains amazing, and even though it’s got a 30th birthday coming up in a couple of years, not much feels dated.
Hecate Lochia by Hoa Nguyen: close to a perfect collection of poems. Each poem is the perfect length, for sure. Again, I love the leaps from parenting, to things her kids say, to politics, to mythology, to food, to the indignities of having a body. Every poem feels written on a notepad while Blue’s Clues plays in the background—or, in my case, on the Docs app on my phone while the new version of Blue’s Clues plays in the background. I am definitely visiting the Wave Books table for more Hoa Nguyen today, if I haven’t picked any up already.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? There’s a new Lazy & Entitled podcast out (Apple | Spotty | SoundCloud)—no guests this time, just Brendan and I debuting the podcast’s “we wanna talk about movies” segment, Five-Act Structure. We also give a special shoutout to video store workers, bookstore workers, record store workers, and anyone else who gets paid minimum page for a job people who make six figures always think “must be so sick.” If you don’t want a podcast, I am concerned that you didn’t listen to Gully Boys when I said to on Wednesday. Let’s re-up Gully Boys.
And hey, all the links this week are books coming out around nowish that you should either buy or preorder.
Hair Shirt by Adrian Sobol
Diorama by Sandra Marchetti
Larks by Han VanderHart
A Sharp Endless Need by Mac Crane
What’re you still doing here? Don’t you know that Micah and Brendan have a show?
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. If you work at a taco truck or Korean BBQ spot in Los Angeles, thank you especially for your service.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris