I'm Still Alive!

My apologies for disappearing for so long. Class and work have been keeping me occupied from dawn til far past dusk, and I haven't had time to wash dishes, much less blog. In fact, I'm only on here because I'm taking a break from writing my latest paper. I have a few announcements to make, just to catch up with myself-

Miyavi will be performing in Dallas on my 21st birthday (in less than one week). I'm not going. I don't want to discuss it.

Last Drink Bird Head is on its way to my doorstep! It's the latest anthology from Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, and I'm terribly excited about it! It's a limited edition, 160 page collection of flash fiction from 80 writers (if my counting can be trusted) including Hal Duncan, Felix Gilman, Jon Courtney Grimwood, Jeffery Ford, K.J. Bishop, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, Ekaterina Sedia, and Jeffrey Thomas. I'm so excited about this book that I sacrificed Miyavi's concert for it. Even better, all proceeds from the sale of this book go to ProLiteracy.Org, which is just as totally awesome as the book itself. Anyone who hasn't bought a copy yet should order one- it's a guaranteed keeper and it benefits a great cause. Now I just have to order Jeff Vandermeer's Booklife...after another paycheck or two.

Halloween is this weekend! I have to work on Saturday, sadly, but I'll be working in my costume. Beware the zombie elf behind the counter at the bookstore!

World Fantasy is also this weekend. Again, I won't be there, but this year's lineup for the World Fantasy Awards is, naturally, pretty freaking badass. I may have to stream the ceremony at work, because (except for every category Gaiman is in) there is some seriously stiff competition. I'm not even sure who I want to win in some cases...

In fact, Ekaterina Sedia's The Rhetorics of Fantasy , which I've already posted about here, is up for an award, and I just found out that she's written another book on the genre with Edward James, A Short History of Fantasy. Jeez, I'm going to need another shelf by the end of the week. That, and another job.

New Anthology (And Awards)

The Vandermeers have done it again. Once again, they've got an AWESOME anthology with a totally bad-ass lineup on the way- Last Drink Bird Head, due out in October/November. (Basically on my 21st birthday. I may need to buy myself a present.) It's a limited print, and the release party will be held at the World Fantasy Award ceremony (where the Vandermeers will be holding their own award ceremony for the newly inaugurated Last Drink Bird Head award.) Yes, it's a strange name. Yes, it's probably a very strange anthology. And yes, I want the damn thing so bad I can taste it. Hey, it's only $30...plus shipping...maybe I can sell my TV. You only turn 21 once, right? I deserve it.

And damn Vandermeer for also releasing Booklife in the month I am the most broke. (I think it's coming out this month, at least. Maybe not!) And I missed the very short print life of Steve Berman's latest book, Mr. October's Naughty Bedside Reader. Damn, damn, double damn. It was released in August and it's already out of print and unavailable. I knew I should have pre-ordered the damn thing. I wonder if he'll be putting out another Wilde Stories anthology this year?

"Good Books Don't Have to Be Hard"?

Ok, I respect Levi Grossman. However, I have to call bullshit on his article in the Wall Street Journal. Catherynne Valente (my hero) beat me to the punch here, and in fact brought Grossman's wrong-headed meandering to my attention. However, I still need to grouch a little bit.

Grossman seems to think there is some sort of vast intellectual conspiracy, which looks down upon contemporary literature and plot and calls it 'popular fiction', 'entertainment', 'escapist', and not at all literary. The crap he spews on the 'evils' of Modernist literature stands on its own.*

I'd spend more time on this, but I need to go home and write my book. Read his article, Valente's response, and if you have a few dozen hours to kill read Hal Duncan's blog. All of it. (I tried to skim through really fast and locate a few of Duncan's posts on genre and on literary fiction vs. popular fiction, but of course since I'm actually looking for them they are nowhere to be found. But, they are there, and they are excellent, so I encourage you to go on the hunt.)

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I want this book- Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn. Fuck yeah.

*All the words in quotes are mine, not his.