misc book thread

[jenkins]

Kazuo Ishiguro Is Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

[KJ]

he's good? (i mean oblivious, but what do you think?)

[polkablues]

All I've read of his work is "Never Let Me Go," but based on that alone I'm comfortable classifying him as one of the greats. Simple prose, a poetic ear, and humanity in spades.

[jenkins]

in my dreams i'm the one who wrote this

[polkablues]

I find the exclamation point very confrontational.

[lorenscope]

I'm a fan of Kazuo Ishiguro's work and Kenzaburo Oe and right now I'm planning to purchase 4 paperbacks of Haruki Murakami novels (Kafka On The Shore, Norwegian Wood, Sputnik Sweetheart, and South Of The Border West Of The Sun) after I'm done with replacing my old tires with nitto and front wheel alignment.

[wilder]

jenkins [16|Jan 07:55 PM]:   I blew her a kiss and it shattered the window and exploded her head and went through the wall behind her, through the entire building and everything else in its path into the sky, moving so fast it didn't ever disrupt clouds, up and up, halving an airplane as it continued into space, crushing meteoroids such that they smothered and killed stars, piercing and assassinating the sun, eventually reaching the end of everything and opening a hole in the lining, deflating it and carrying it off like a popped balloon.
jenkins [16|Jan 07:58 PM]:   that's the final line to The Garbage Times, which is 1/2 novellas that comes in one volume bounded in tete-bech (there is no back cover: there are two front covers and the text is flipped)
jenkins [16|Jan 07:59 PM]:   you guys sometimes the kids are so good seriously. that's Sam Pink. and really he writes in this like normal-people prose, like a refreshed version of Bukowski perhaps, like that, he hang out with the homeless, all the time, he's a security guard in a bar in this book, and that's his fucking final line. it's like omg

[wilder]

Kier-La Janisse (author of House of Psychotic Women) is working on a book about Robert Downey Sr.


Call for Proposals: "Truth and Soul: The Films of Robert Downey Sr."
via Spectacular Optical



Spectacular Optical Publications (www.spectacularoptical.ca) is a small-press publisher of cult film and pop culture books based in Canada. Following our earlier anthologies KID POWER! (2014), SATANIC PANIC: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (2015), LOST GIRLS: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin (2017) and YULETIDE TERROR: Christmas Horror on Film and Television (2017), we are accepting proposals for essays and interviews for our sixth book (and fifth anthology project), tentatively titled “Truth and Soul: The Films of Robert Downey, Sr.” to be curated by Kier-La Janisse and Clint Enns.

Guidelines for Proposals:

We are accepting proposals for essays or interviews of 3000-5000 words relating to the work of Robert Downey, Sr. Essays can focus on a specific film, offer a comparative study of several films, or offer overarching analyses reflecting upon the social or political themes found in the films. We are looking for unique readings of Downey’s films that explore the historical context in which they were made, the legacy and influence of his work both in the mainstream and avant-garde, analysis of the race, class, and gender politics found therein (especially in relation to Downey’s subversive humour) and more. We are looking for writing that provides other Downey enthusiasts with new ways of thinking about his work.

The writing and tone of Spectacular Optical books aims to live in that space between academic and pop cultural (less formal than academic writing but not as colloquial as pop cultural writing), with all pieces rigorously researched to support a central thesis and offering new insight that will stand up to peer review. We are not looking for reviews or excessive plot synopses, but analysis that approaches the films from a unique or surprising angle.

First-hand research in the form of interviews with actors and other artists who have worked with Downey are also welcomed. Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate existing access to the intended interviewees.

Each accepted piece shall comprise a chapter of the book, which aims to provide a vibrant and informative overview of Downey’s body of work.

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All proposals are due by April 1, 2018.

More info on submitting proposals here