I’ve been posting “backmatter” posts corresponding with my Gimme Fiction columns for Paper Thin Walls on my blog on said site. I’m going to begin cross-posting them here; as part of this, the introduction I wrote up, as well as the backmatter for the first two columns, will follow.
[prelude: originally posted here]
Am endeavoring to use this space to supplement the GIMME FICTION column I’m currently writing for Paper Thin Walls: additional details, relevant links; possibly quick blurbs on books/authors that fit into the general scope of the column but aren’t necessarily going to be covered. May or may not cross-post these on my other blog; we’ll see.
This column, for me, is about asking questions, about formulating an argument of indeterminate scope. (Warren Ellis’s Come In Alone is, I’d say, a loose thematic influence.) As of now, if you’re an underground musician, the bulk of your income from music will come from touring rather than royalties. If you’re a writer, the opposite is true. For example: A month or two ago, I went to a Rick Moody reading at 192 Books where he mentioned that he would be doing almost no touring for his recent collection Right Livelihoods. For a band or musician of an equivalent stature to Moody to announce that they would be doing something similar would be nearly unthinkable.
And yet: the people profiled here make art in disparate situations; Chris Eaton plays in a band acclaimed by critics and writes novels acclaimed by the likes of Jonathan Lethem. Laying his lyrics side-by-side with his prose, shared themes do emerge. Is that the case for everyone with a foot in either world? This isn’t to say that the two are mutually exclusive; later this week, a number of acclaimed writers and musicians, including Sarah Vowell and PTW faves Grizzly Bear, will take the stage for a benefit for 826NYC.
This will be an ongoing argument, and an ongoing discussion. Let me know what you think.