LIt Randomness: About that literature stuff....

Lit Stuff=Impose Magazine.

The blog is called Codex. Lit Randomness, the occasional book review and Q&A's will carry over.

Here's the first post on some Sam Lipsyte interviews. Later this week, a quick Q&A with Lipsyte.

I've always appreciated the many authors who took a few minutes out for Deckfight, and now this connection with Impose will give authors a bigger platform.

It's a plus when more websites and magazines adopt book sections rather than cut them or ignore books altogether. So, read Impose if you don't already.

What does this mean for Deckfight?

-More indie rock and more Southeast indie rock.
Some lit stuff will still appear here, such as The Year of Reading Faulkner and maybe some older books that I missed the first time.

Still contact me for your lit or indie rock needs: deckfight [at] gmail.com. More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories at Necessary Fiction, Gigantic, Lifted Brow, Dogzplot Flash, Fictionaut

An Insurrection by Robert Swartwood: At Necessary Fiction.
Dodge Rams & lip rings & bumper stickers.

Gigantic America One Sentence Prose Preview: At Gigantic.
Meant to submit to this & forgot, but this issue looks cool.

Twelve Poems by Tao Lin: At Lifted Brow.
Read what has caused a stir at HTML Giant (100 plus comments!)

The Music With You By Eric Bennett: At Dogzplot Flash.

Wall and Key by P. Jonas Bekker: At Fictionaut.
Just went to Fictionaut, looking for something random & this story came up. I appreciate sledgehammers.



More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stephen King & Joe Hill, Michael Schaub, Robert Coover

Stacks & stacks of Stephen King w/ William Walsh: At Kenyon Review Blog.

Interv. w/ Joe Hill: At AV Club.

Interv. w/ Michael Schaub of Bookslut: At Willamette Weekly.

Interv. w/ Robert Coover: At Bookslut.




More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories by Scott Garson, Ben Tanzer, Ryan Bradley & Justin Hyde

"Two Flash Fictions" by Scott Garson: At 3 AM Magazine.

Small Lockers in the Back of the Factory by Justin Hyde: At Zygote in My Coffee.

Annalemma Double:

"Goddess" by Ben Tanzer

"Goodbye Ruby" by Ryan Bradley
(Magnum P.I forever).

Shameless self-promotion by the ever shameless people of Deckfight. Follow that shamelessness here.


More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Justin Taylor, Criminal Class Press, Charles Burns, Lorraine Adams

Some questions with Justin Taylor: At NY Times PaperCuts.
And Vol 1 Brooklyn reviews Taylor's new one.

Sweet interview with Kevin Whitely of Criminal Class Press: At Orange Alert.
Never heard of this guy or press before, but he tells an engaging story just in the first couple of questions...

Q&A w/ Charles Burns & Gary Panter: At Indirect Collaboration (via Vol 1 Brooklyn)

Interview with Lorraine Adams, author of The Room and The Chair: At The Nervous Breakdown.


More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Steve Almond, Monopoloy, John Hughes

A hybrid lit randomness:

Steve Almond explains why self-publishing doesn't totally suck: At The Rumpus.

John Hughes wrote some mad fiction in addition to Home Alone: At Vanity Fair.

"The Woman Who Took Off Her Pants" by Jimmy Chen: At Staccato.

"Monopoloy, A Photo Essay" by Roxane Gay: At Artifice.
Ok, this isn't fiction, or really a link about fiction, but it's sensational.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories from Sam Lipsyte, Brian Evenson, McSweeney's & Dogplotz Flash

Here is fiction from various dates and states:

Excerpts from Lipsyte's new book, The Ask: At Five Chapters
I've read this book and it's a good book. More to come on Lipsyte in the next few wks...

"Jack and Jill" by JA Tyler: At CCLaP Center Twitter.
This is a new project from CCLaP and there might be a familiar name appearing on that there Twitter page soon.

Fiction from Brian Evenson and John Sellekaers: At Vice.
Don't think there's a name to this yet...

Dispatches From a Guy Trying Unsuccessfully to Sell a Song in Nashville: At McSweeney's.
I've enjoyed this column thus far...

"Two thousand city and two" by Mimi Vaquer: At Dogplotz Flash Fiction.


More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories from Opium Mag, LitSnack, Significant Objects, MonkeyBicycle

Sorry to the music side--I'm rocking a lot of lit this week. But read these stories, including one about Charlie's Angels.

"Motel Lives" by Charles Spano: At Opium Mag.

"Free Space" by Paula Ray: At LitSnack.

"Charlie's Angel Lunchbox Thermos" by Carl Wilson: At Significant Objects.
(this is awesome).

"Everyone's Velocity" by Katie Jean Shinkle: At MonkeyBicycle.


More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Salinger (of course), designer David Pearson, Shteyngart, Michael Muhammad Knight & more

JD Salinger Double
Why a publisher let him go (w/ George Plimpton): At The Paris Review (h/t Maud Newton)

Walking in Holden Caulfield's shoes: At NY Times

The takedown of Literary Manboys: At Gawker (h/t HTML Giant)

Gary Shteyngart talks Russia: At Jewcy

Interv. w/ David Pearson, designer of the Penguin 'Great Ideas' series: At Print Mag. (h/t Yewknee)

Shya Scanlon on Literary Hustling: At WordHustler
(got this from somebody, forgot who...)

Islamic punk rocker & world traveler & oh yeah, author, Michael Muhammad Knight: At NY Times.



More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories that involve a grocery store, Kobe Bryant and paper swans

Ten Notes on Photographing Sean by Sean Lovelace: At JMWW.
This is all about photos, but I like this line:

"The tone and mood of the entire grocery store was one of commerce, cynical and oppressive. Roll after roll of wasted film. Posing with the meats, the mounds of fruits and vegetables, the garish rows of soda."

Fan Fiction in the voice of Kobe Bryant by Karl Taro Greenfield: At Hobart. Not sure why NBA fiction is on the rise, but it is, oh it is.

By the Gleam of Her Teeth, She Will Light the Path Before Her by Tina May Hall: At The Collagist.

More basketball fiction. Sherman Alexie's poetic face-off about the All-Star Game: At FreeDarko.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: James Patterson, Book pirates, Dennis Cooper, Kavalier & Klay, Philip Dick

This James Patterson piece is not what you think: At NY Times Magazine.
Really this is fascinating. Writers CAN make money! A lot of money!

Philip K. Dick & the last years in Los Angeles: At LA Times (h/t Jacket Copy)

How Kavalier & Klay ruins comics for a comics guy: At The Comics Journal (h/t Bookslut)

That epic Dennis Cooper/Blake Butler piece you probably already read: At HTML Giant.
Well, read it again. It's that good.

A book pirate named The Real Caterpillar: At The Millions.



More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Stories by xTx, John Grey, Bruce Pratt, HV Whitehead

Read an article over at The Big Other (new fav. site, yeah!) and it confirmed an idea I've wanted to pursue for awhile, i.e. the need to link to more actual stories & poems, not just lit news. So Wednesdays will be for actually reading fiction & poems & interesting stories, not just talking about them.

Let me know if you've got a hot story to read (wait...I'm not starting a journal here, send me links to a fictional story/poem published somewhere else...).

"The Strain of Collusion" by xTx: At Smokelong Weekly.
MRSA is so sick!

"The Couch in Ben's Bachelor Pad" by John Grey: At This Zine Will Change Your Life.

"A Porcupine in Vermont" by Bruce Pratt: At Staccato Fiction.
Yes, porcupines!

"Three Days" by HV Whitehead: At Word Riot.
Lady Gaga's "Poker Face"? For realz? More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Joshua Ferris, Stephen Elliott, Rudy Wurlitzer, Rules for Writing, Charles Plymell & more

The Joshua Ferris...triple! Oh my!
At Powells, with Reagan Arthur.
At B&N.

Or maybe you prefer Jersey Shore? Lit Kicks does. (from Vol.1 Brooklyn).
The only question remaining: Is Ferris the Eggers or Safran Foer of 2010?

Caleb Ross' fav. upcoming small press books: At Caleb J Ross (sounds like a clothing store.)

A Rudy Wurlitzer Double!
At PopMatters.
At Bookworm (from Maud Newton).
The only question remaining: Is Wurlitzer the William Vollman or Thomas Pynchon of 2010?

You've seen this: THE NY TYRANT GUIDE TO NOT BEING A HORRIBLE WRITER IN THE YEAR 2010. At Vice.
But Vol. 1 Brooklyn breaks it down.

An interview with Charles Plymell, who knew all the Beats, apparently: At Outside Writers Collective.

DIY Book Tour by Stephen Elliott: At the NY Times.
He's in the NY Times?!? (assist by Vol 1.)

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Thrice Double, Dave Eggers, Matt Baker, Oxford (MS), Electric Lit's indie vision

Some of this is a little old, but it's all relevant.

A Thrice Double: On CS Lewis' Space Trilogy & Paul Shirley's Can I Keep My Jersey?
This is why Thrice is one of my favorite bands. At Magnet.

Dave Eggers and newspapers. Remember that time when Dave Eggers put out a newspaper? Doesn't he know that print is so last decade: At AV Club. (via Vol1Brooklyn).

Awesome playlist from Matt Baker, author Drag The Darkness Down: At Largehearted Boy. I want to read this book now.

Electric Literature's Indie vision. Best of '09: At Publishing Perspectives.

Square Books at Oxford, MS: At Poets and Writers.



More after the jump...

Lit Randomness Returns!

We're back on the other side of the decade. Here are a few interesting lit matters from the past few wks:

The Unlimited Story Deck gives you characters, you make the story. Play with friends and colleagues or use it as a last-minute solution to the class you forgot to prep for! Takes structuralism to a new level: At Jacket Copy.

Cornelius Vanderbilt (whom my alma mater is named for) knew how to fight: At NPR.

McNulty loves Chekhov & doesn't sound like he's from Baltimore at all: At Faster Times. Oh yeah, I got The Wire box set for Christmas.

"I Am a Writer" checklist: At HTML Giant.

Book ads: At Maud Newton

And...Lit Randomness will just appear on Mondays now in a rockin' expanded edition.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: What Line is your fav. novel?, Kevin Killian, Max Decharne & more

Not really a 'headliner' here, but these are enjoyable:

Interv. w/ Max Décharné: At 3AM.
I'd never heard of this guy, but now I'm glad I have. He wrote a dictionary of hipster slang entitled, "Straight from the fridge, dad." That's enough of a selling point.

Interv. w/ Kevin Killian: At L Magazine.

The Watch List with Caleb Ross: At Orange Alert.

What Line Could Represent Your Favorite Novel?: At Maud Newton.

Big Other is doing a lot "Best of 2009" lists. Here's one from Justin Sirois, in praise of his grill: At Big Other.

BTW--Had never heard of Big Other until the other day, so thanks to these guys for pointing me over there.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Goodreads, Noah Cicero, Keith Gessen & more

Enjoyed this blog book, "Best Behavior" by Noah Cicero & referenced by Tao Lin in some interview I just read: At Noah Cicero.

Nervous Breakdown's Top of '09: At Nervous Breakdown.

David Foster Wallace memories: At GQ.

And Keith Gessen's Top books of 'o9: At HTML Giant.

Goodreads gets millions: At Jacket Copy.

Lit Drift is giving away Pasha Malla's book again, I guess: At Lit Drift.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: Bolano, Banned Books, DFW's story & more

Deckfight's favorite music of 2009 is coming tomorrow...




Bolano is America's new Garcia Marquez: At The Morning News.

Banned books with Carolyn Mackler: At Bookslut.

A "best of" 2009 fiction list I like: At Salon.

That DFW New Yorker story: At The New Yorker.

More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: McSweeneys & The Nervous Breakdown & Ha Jin

Awesome interview with McSweeney's publisher, Oscar Villalon. This interview is so good, it should take up two spots in the Lit Randomness list: At The Rumpus.

Behind The Nervous Breakdown: At Jacket Copy.

Ha Jin visits Flushing: At NY Mag.


More after the jump...

Lit Randomness: 50 things publishers shouldn't do, Response to Rick Moody's Twitter feed, how to become a famous author & more

50 things publishers shouldn't do: At 3 Guys 1 Book.

How to become the most famous author in the world: At HTML Giant.

Reactions to Rick Moody's Twitter story: At HTML Giant.

Review of Mel Bosworth's book. The review could be longer, but I still want to read the book and plus I like this website a lot: At Outside Writers Collective.

More after the jump...