Category Archives: Books

So: I reviewed Bryan Charles’s memoir for Vol.1. Long story short: I enjoyed it. There was strange feeling I got when reading it, though, and it wasn’t something I could easily bring up in the course of my review. That said, I thought I might do so here. As someone who lived not far from … Continue reading →

Last Friday, I got my second tattoo. The quote itself comes from the last issue of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles, which is — I daresay — one of my favorite works in any kind of media, and one which continues to resonate with me in strange and different ways since I first encountered it in … Continue reading →

So. Recently, Vol.1 has begun to run a weekly series of fiction and nonfiction pieces on the site. We’ve dubbed it the Sunday Story Series, for reasons that should be obvious, and the first two have now appeared: Justin Maurer’s “Insanity & the Russian Doll Conundrum” Jonny Diamond’s “Standing on a Beach Canada Day 1992″ … Continue reading →

Today’s theme seems to involve ruminations on new publishing ventures; ergo, a couple of thoughts on The Domino Project. I first came about it via a post on Seth Godin’s blog, which served as a sort of meta-manifesto: The book is still an ideal tool for the hand-to-hand spreading of important ideas, though. The point … Continue reading →

Via a post on Ron Hogan’s Twitter feed earlier this week, I made my way down to the sidewalk out in front of the Union Square Barnes & Noble after work one night. A small crowd had gathered, and a “Ah,” I thought, “this is about Mischief & Mayhem.” (In retrospect, I’m not sure how … Continue reading →

Apparently, my theme for reading this autumn is “books the size of my hea.” First, Ulysses; now, Adam Levin’s The Instructions. (Joshua Cohen’s Witz is up next, I suspect. Or maybe George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.) Two reviews come highly recommended. Maud Newton’s is what first piqued my interest in the novel, while … Continue reading →

This week brings with it fine news — in this case, the announcement of All Hands On: THE2NDHAND after 10. I’ve had a number of pieces appear in both the print and web presences of said literary broadsheet, and I have a deep fondness for the work that they do. (Todd Dills’s editorial eye has definitely … Continue reading →

Ten years ago, I started blogging. Literally: the first post to appear on my first blog — hosted by a small press called TNI Books, now sadly defunct — was dated November 19, 2000. Looking back at it, I find myself laughing and cringing in equal measure. It looks about like what it is: the … Continue reading →

File under: books I remember remembering fondly. Ron Hogan discusses Thomas M. Disch’s “Supernatural Minnesota” novels at Beatrice.com, and I am very much intrigued. …Disch used a deeply caustic and ironic voice, and a keen sense of family drama, to carve out a unique place for himself in late 20th-century horror. I can remember reading … Continue reading →

Those of you with a fondness for esoteric music, good literature, and the places where the two intersect may well already be readers of the fine publication known as Yeti. The tenth issue of said magazine is now available for pre-order; it contains, among other fine things, an interview I did with the esteemed Amelia … Continue reading →

So: I read me some Ulysses last week. To an extent, I did so knowing that this wouldn’t be a fully immersive experience — I had dim memories of a Martin Amis essay on Joyce’s novel rattling around in my head, had some trepidations about approaching it without a small reference library by my side, … Continue reading →

For what it’s worth, I reviewed Matt Bell’s How They Were Found and James Kaelan’s We’re Getting On, both for the October issue of Word Riot. Here’s a bit of the Matt Bell review: From these two stories, one might take Bell for a writer on the more accessible side of experimental fiction: a curator … Continue reading →

Spent a couple of hours on Sunday taking in the New York Comic Con. Visited some of the fine people from WORD, who were selling books on-site; bought work from Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, and Carla Speed McNeil. I did resist the urge to send a post to Twitter saying something like, … Continue reading →