Books
America’s Not-So-Secret Paranoid Underbelly
Free-floating fear and half-baked ideas about what’s REALLY going on have been a more significant part of American history than is generally accepted, according to Jesse Walker’s thorough, meticulously researched book The United States of Paranoia...
'Fence' Has Been Reconfiguring the Literary Landscape for 15 Years
Since 1998, 'Fence' magazine has been independently publishing a biannual journal of prose, poetry, art, and criticism; in 2001, they bagan publishing several lines of innovative, ambitious books. While most magazines (this one excluded, of course) and...
An Excerpt from Tao Lin's 'Taipei'
Paul’s father was 28 and Paul’s mother was 24 when they alone (out of a combined fifteen to twenty-five siblings) left Taiwan for America. Paul was born in Virginia six years later, in 1983, when his brother was 7. Paul was 3 when the family moved to...
Please Start Banning Books Again
I kind of miss the idea of cultural lines that one can’t step over. One of my most memorable high school experiences was getting a permission slip signed by my parents so I could listen to an audiotape of Allen Ginsberg reading “America.”
A JPEG Interview with Douglas Coupland
Author Douglas Coupland is pretty tired of email interviews, and who can blame him? To keep things fresh, Nadja Sayej interviewed him with JPEGs of handwritten questions, and Douglas responded in kind.
'Class A - Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere,' an Excerpt
Lucas Mann had dreams of becoming a big leaguer. Captain of his high school baseball team, Lucas could throw a decent fastball. But instead of going pro, he opted to get a taste of how the boys of summer roll by embedding with the Clinton, Iowa...
Sarcophagi of Prisoners Covered in Cocaine
Johannes Göransson new book, 'Haute Surveillance,' is kind of like a novelization of a movie about the production of a play based on Abu Ghraib, but with way more starlets and cocaine and semen.
Taipei Carbs
Over the next month, in celebration of the forthcoming release of Tao Lin's latest novel, 'Taipei,' we will be featuring a weekly selection of photos taken by the author during his recent trip to Taipei, Taiwan. This selection is all about the city's...
Tupac, Neck Braces, and Suicide: An Interview with Harmony Korine
In 1998, after his feature-length directorial debut, 'Gummo,' Harmony Korine published a novel called 'A Crackup at the Race Riots.' For years the book has been out of print, fetching prices upward of $300 online—until recently, when it was repackaged...
Taipei Fashion
Over the next month and a half, in celebration of the forthcoming release of Tao Lin's latest novel, 'Taipei,' we will be featuring a weekly selection of photos taken by the author during his recent trip to Taipei, Taiwan. This selection is all about...
One Hundred Literary Rumors
I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’ve heard a lot of shit. People whispering in hallways and Gmail chatting about all kinds of dark secrets. People up in parties with their coats and hair all looking nice and their mouths just full of you wouldn’t...
Finally, a Kids' Book for Cannibals
If you’re a cannibal with lofty aspirations to become part of high society, Jen Uman has the perfect book for you and your children.