Sacrum Regnum II

"Sacrum Regnum is an annual journal, a sort of contemporary Symbolist review, intended to rediscover those hidden essences which have been obscured by the greyness and mechanism of the modern life." - Hieroglyphic Press


Published by Daniel Corrick's Hieroglyphic Press, Sacrum Regnum is a masterful and much-needed literary journal. It both demands and deserves our full attention. It fills a void in the literary world while, at the same time, filling a void in the literary world. What I mean is that it promotes an aesthetic far-too-often ignored by literature while at the same time providing wonderful examples of that aesthetic.

John Howard's contribution to this, the second issue, is a story called "Into Empire." It exemplifies the vision promoted by the journal's editors, and illustrates Howard's impressively subtle ability to illustrate, with words, worlds beyond (beneath the surface of) our own. It would be easy to say that Howard's contribution alone makes Sacrum Regnum II worth reading, but the very same thing could be said about Corrick's interview with Quentin Crisp or Grabinski's "Red Magda." The articles on Ewers and Houghton by Martin Echter and Mark Valentine respectively are delightfully insightful. One could argue that the introduction itself makes this journal a worthy read. In both issues of Sacrum Regnum, the introduction demonstrates the intelligence and the passion of editors Daniel Corrick and Mark Samuels.

Both Corrick and Samuels should (and no doubt will) be commended for their work on Sacrum Regnum. It is a wonderful and much needed addition to an otherwise formulaic literary world.

Being and Becoming

I swiped this photo from Des Lewis.

The winter issue of Sein und Werden contains four of my shorter pieces. Any time my work is published I feel the need to celebrate, but this small issue and these four little works are something I am particularly proud of. You see, the winter issue of Sein und Werden was guest-edited by Rhys Hughes. Those of you who know me are already aware that Rhys is my favorite writer. With that in mind, imagine my delight when he asked me to submit something to Sein und Werden.

Rhys had themed the issue 'the ironic fantastic' and had asked for a European flavour. I sat down and penned a tale called 'The Phrygian Cap' - a story about a young man who falls in love with the cathedral in Mainz, and does something fantastic to save her from the perils of the French Revolution. I also submitted three tributes to Daniil Kharms entitled 'An Old Man', 'An Unfinished Story', and 'Nothing Happened'. These four stories represent the absurdist/fantastic direction my writing has taken. The fact that they were appreciated and accepted by Rhys Hughes makes the winter issue of Sein und Werden the high-point of my writing life thus far. Of course, the spring issue of Sein und Werden will contain an exquisite corpse written by myself, Mat Joiner, and the aforementioned Rhys Hughes. It's always a treat having your stories accepted for publication by your favorite writer, but collaborating with your favorite writer on something absurdly fun simply takes the cake!

I mentioned above that these stories reflect the absurdist/fantastic voice I've slowly been discovering (see my 52 Short Stories blog). Another story that demonstrates this fabulist style is 'The Universe is Not a Hologram', which will be appearing in print soon courtesy of The Shwibly. I am thrilled to have found a home for this story. As with my recent publications in Sein und Werden, I really do believe 'The Universe is Not a Hologram' represents the direction I am heading as a writer. For the first time in a very long time I am having fun. It's nice to know that there are writers and editors out there (such as Rhys Hughes, Rachel Kendall, and Alex Johnson) who appreciate the end result!

Lost Time

I cannot believe it's March. I spent January and February (and October, November and December for that matter) drowning in a sea of work. I kept hoping sea levels would drop and I could spend more time doing the things I love, like writing, reading, and spending time with my friends and family, and the things I promised people I would do, like reading, reviewing, editing, and publishing. Unfortunately, the one thing that pays my bills and feeds my daughter has consumed a great deal of time and energy these past five months.

This post isn't intended as an excuse, but rather an explanation. There are reviews I've wanted to write for some time simply because the books struck me as particularly good. Peter Bell's Strange Epiphanies'  (Swan River Press, 2012) for example. The book is simply marvelous. Like others published by Swan River,     Bell's word selection and descriptive prose capture an atmosphere of alluring beauty perfectly. Bell's stories represent my vision of horror, not as something grotesque but as something truly haunting. Bell invites you into each story with masterful subtlety - his worlds and words embrace you, leaving you unsettled, perhaps haunted, in the end. I began reading Strange Epiphanies late last year. I finished it late last night. It is the finest and most pleasing example of its kind I've read this year. I highly recommend it!

I promised S.P. Miskowski a review of  Delphine Dodd. Dodd is a wonderful story, the characters are both appealing and appalling and are woven seamlessly into Miskowski's prose, bringing both the people and the places they inhabit alive. S.P. is a remarkable writer. Dodd received serious Stoker consideration and should be read by those who appreciate the work of Joe Lansdale or Cherie Priest's Eden Moore books.

Molly Tanzer's A Pretty Mouth fooled me. When I began reading Tanzer's debut I had the impression it was mainstream horror (I'm not saying mainstream horror is a bad thing, it just doesn't appeal to me), but I was wrong. While it has the appeal of mainstream horror, it provides depth and originality rarely seen in contemporary/mainstream horror fiction. A Pretty Mouth is a veritable stew of thoughts and ideas brought together with style and imagination. Tanzer will undoubtedly become a household name in horror, if she hasn't become so already!

Molly also sent me a copy of Season of Wonder (Prime Books) for review. Contained within are stories by the likes of Harlan Ellison (easily one of my top-four favorite authors), Orson Scott Card, Charles de Lint, Robert Reed, Sarban, and Gene Wolfe (among others). The book is brilliant and certainly deserves a thorough review.

I recently interviewed Helen Grant for Swan River Press. Helen's collection, The Sea Change is a beautiful book both inside and out. One of Helen's influences is M.R. James and it quickly becomes clear as one reads through the stories collected here. I mentioned above that horror need not be grotesque. Horror can (and in my opinion should) be a thing of beauty. I cannot help but rave about Helen's book because very few writers capture this aesthetic the way Helen does in The Sea Change. I readily admit a bias for Swan River Press, but the authors who do adhere to this aesthetic, and do so with style and strength of writing, have books published by Swan River Press. Helen Grant is perfectly at home with Swan River authors such as Mark Valentine, R.B. Russell, Rosalie Parker, Peter Bell, and Brian J. Showers. Swan River has an eye for beauty, both in art and in literature. It is that combination that makes their books, in particular Helen Grant's The Sea Change so appealing.

I will give each of these books a proper review in the coming weeks, time permitting. "Time permitting" is my knew caveat to everything I do that doesn't involve a paycheck. Sadly that is the way it goes. I am fortunate, in the current economic environment, to have a good job that pays (very) well. I can wish I had more time to do the things I love, but until those things pay my bills and feed my family, I need to do everything I can to keep the thing that does.

In the meantime, I highly recommend you buy the books I've mentioned, read them for yourselves, and stop back here later to see if you agree with my reviews!

I have a busy week ahead of me, with very little time for fun, but following this coming week o' dread I have time off work and can (will) unwind by once again doing the things I love - reading, writing, editing, reviewing, and spending as much quality time with my wife and daughter as I possible can.

2012: A Reader's Year in Review

I read quite a bit in 2012. I read books for review, for fun, and for inspiration. The books I read in 2012 represent my eclectic taste in literature, and demonstrate my eagerness to explore. Given that I read more than fifty books this past year, narrowing the list down to the ten I found most interesting proved extremely difficult. I chose the following top ten because they either lingered long after the last page had been read, served as a shining example of the author's brilliance, or because they inspired my own creativity.

10. In Delirium's Circle, by Stephen J. Clark - as strange and mysterious as anything I read this past year, In Delirium's Circle still creeps into my thoughts, months after having finished it. In my mind, Heaven is the mystery while Hell is the mystery solved. With that in mind this book certainly represents a personal Heaven.

9. Portraits of Ruin, by Joe Pulver - nobody writes like Pulver. He challenges form and function. He pushes himself. He writes with a harsh grace that is impossible to emulate. His work is lyrical, poetic and powerful and so embossed with honest emotion I cannot help but wonder what Joe has left inside him after he's finished writing. He's a true genius.

8. The Defeat of Grief, by John Howard - much like Clark's novel, Howard's The Defeat of Grief is elegantly mysterious. It remained with me long after I'd read it. There is a certain 'timelessness' in the work - something Howard recreates well in Secret Europe - that adds both the elegance and the mystery to what is essentially a tale of love and loss.

7. Secret Europe, by John Howard and Mark Valentine - this could very easily be number one. Perhaps it should be. It is a brilliant book. Aesthetic in nature, it isn't a pastiche. It's not an imitation of bygone elegance. With Secret Europe authors Howard and Mark Valentine are not merely copying past aesthetic ideals, they are adding their own to them. Ex Occidente packaged these tales so beautifully - but the stories stand on their own. I first read them on cheap printer paper and the beauty of the text remained unblemished. If this book ever becomes more widely available I highly recommend it.

6. Sangria in the Sangraal, by Rhys Hughes - this might be the best book Rhys Hughes has written. It contains everything that makes him such a brilliant writer. It is whimsical and witty, daring and delightfully dangerous. Like The Postmodern Mariner or The Truth Spinner, it serves as a flawless example of a master craftsman at play. Rhys is a craftsman as much as a writer. He builds his stories with a cleverness that escapes most modern writers. "The Spare Hermit" is, in my mind, a masterpiece of short fiction and arguably Hughes' best tale. This book is also available in eBook form as Tucked Away in Aragon.

5. The Non-Existent Knight, by Italo Calvino - Calvino came highly recommended by a certain author who strongly admires his work. Having read both The Cosmicomics and The Non-Existent Knight (among others) I can certainly see why this author recommended him. I can also see the influence Calvino has had on this author. Calvino is, as I like to say, a fearless writer. If  he uses convention at all, it's because that convention serves a greater purpose.

4. Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut - Vonnegut has long been one of my favorite writers. He saw the world for what it was and never shied away from sharing his thoughts and opinions. Armed with sharp wit and mad wisdom Vonnegut wrote masterpieces like Mother Night to show us the truths he saw. Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night - more than merely works of fiction, these are works of great and terrible truth that reveal more about the human race than any textbook.

3. The Truth Spinner, by Rhys Hughes - The Postmodern Mariner has long been my favorite Rhys Hughes book. The tales told by Castor Jenkins are flawless. The only thing better than the Jenkins tales collected in The Postmodern Mariner are the complete tales of Castor Jenkins collected in The Truth Spinner. These tales represent Hughes at his witty best. Not only is this book a must read for Hughes fans, but it serves as an excellent introduction to his work. Be warned though, he is utterly, irrepressibly and unrepentantly mad!

2. Today I Wrote Nothing, by Daniil Kharms - I owe a debt of gratitude to the fellow who introduced me to Kharms (Thanks Rhys).  When I read this book I felt a definite kinship with Kharms. Thus inspired I wrote numerous Kharms-style tales, three of which ("An Old Man", "An Unfinished Story", and "Nothing Happened") will be appearing in Sein und Werden this coming January. These stories were based on Kharms' Incidences. Kharms has had a huge influence on my writing recently.

1. OULIPO Compendium, edited by Henry Mathews and Alastair Brotchie - this compendium collects and introduces the potential of literature as viewed by OULIPO. When I began reading through it I quickly realized it had become my "desert island" book. It's a book of ideas, a book of madness, a book of pure genius. Each page contains a gem that, for writers, simply cannot be ignored. It's a challenge, an "I dare you".  I would be absolutely amazed if a writer (any writer) read through this book and did not feel the need to try their hand at something contained within.

Of the many books I read, there were any number I could (should) have slotted into the top ten. There were so many well crafted tales - stories and books that stood out because they rose above convention or because they held meaning. If my (completely subjective) list contained the top twenty books read in 2012 you would see names like John Barth and Donald Barthelme (whose Forty Stories certainly inspired my own 52 Short Stories), Roberto Bolano, Joyce Carol Oates, Brian Evenson and Simon Strantzas, Raymond Queneau, Robert W. Chambers, Frederick Rolfe and the brilliant Quentin S. Crisp.

In 2013 I intend to read less if only because I need to write more. That being said, there are several books I'm eager to sink my brain into. Anna Tambour's Crandolin, Brendan Connell's Lives of Notorious Cooks, and John Elliott's Human Pages for example. I've also picked up more Daniil Kharms and Georges Perec too.

But it's as a reader that I'd like to express my thanks to all the brilliant writers who made my 2012 reading experience an absolutely brilliant one!

Cheers!

Jason E. Rolfe
December 27, 2012

Alex S. Johnson's Next Big Thing

I nominated the talented Alex S. Johnson for The Next Big Thing (see my previous post). Because Alex doesn't have an author website to post his own questions/answers I offered up Bibliomancy. Alex is a gifted writer worth getting to know - as the answers below prove!

1) What is the working title of your next book?

I’ve nearly lost count of the next books, there are so many of them claiming my attention. Two of them consist of the second and third parts of the Sugar Valley trilogy, which is a grotesque, over-the-top, very adult Bizarro satire on the Sweet Valley High novels and their associated spin-offs (no, I have not actually read those books, but I get the gist). The first was titled Dr. Flesh, which is a mash-up of the movies Dr. Caligari and Flesh for Frankenstein. Alternately, the title can be read as Doctor Flesh, in which case the proper noun becomes a verb. The second and third books in the series are Kill Kandy and Pink Holocaust, which I am writing with my lovely partner in crime, Dawne Wing. After I finish these books—they are actually novellas, 15-20,000 words in length—I am embarking on a longer book voyage. The working title for that novel is Unhead or The Unhead. This year I completed a short novel called Bad Sunset, which is the ultimate Western satire, so The Unhead will be the ultimate Noir satire. I’m open to suggestions, actually. I like The Unhead because it sounds like an Edward Lee title, only on mushrooms.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book(s)?

I am an inveterate reader—the full gamut of stuff, everything from almost completely unknown writers I know from Facebook and who have contributed to my webzine, The Shwibly, to life-long favorites like Jorge Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, et al. Writers such as Nabokov, Borges and Lovecraft, who I would place in the category of “fabulists,” created worlds of words; that is, their work is very intertextual. I love the idea of an entirely autonomous universe composed of language, in which words, books, literature itself is the real subject of the text. I’ve often had the experience as a writer and as a reader of seeing an entire landscape of literature that is composed of the various texts one reads—an endless narrative in which one can dip at will. I would also include movies within the context of the narrative. But this is long-winded and doesn’t really answer the question directly. I’ll sort of sew the seeds of inspiration by reading and watching movies all night to embed the images and narrative threads in my subconscious, which then mulches them and produces variations and combinations. Dr. Flesh, as I said above, is a mulch-fest of science fiction and horror movies, plus Franz Kafka, Mary Shelley, and a lot more. Once I have a title, the little “archons”—autonomous drive units in my brain—start working.

3) What genre do(es) your books fall under?

I’ve always had a hard time writing straight or traditional anything. For a few decades I’ve employed the kitchen sink approach, which means basically I hybridize all the genres I love, such as horror, dark fantasy, metafiction, erotica, noir, neo-noir, punk lit, cyberpunk, splatterpunk, surrealism and jots, jolts and dabs of everything else. The one novel I have published, Death Moon, was an official spin-off of the movie series Friday the 13th, and the final movie in that series, Jason X. In Death Moon I basically just went to town and incorporated everything I like, without really worrying if die-hard Jason fans were going to get it. With very few exception, they hated it. I got the most awful reviews I’ve ever seen on Amazon. But it was a book written for a niche market and of course it went far afield of the niche and offended some folks. A few years ago a fellow writer suggested that my approach might fall under the aegis of something called “Bizarro,” which I’m still not entirely sure about. I would hate to get locked into a category or a genre, even one that’s as inclusive and far-reaching as Bizarro appears to be. Every group of individuals who subsume themselves into a larger organism, even if the larger organism promises independence and freedom to write the kind of thing you want, eventually produces rules, laws, and people who want to delimit the parameters of what is and what is not acceptable. It happened with the Surrealist movement in France, where one very powerful artist and writer, Andre Breton, took it upon himself to be the arbiter of what was “true Surrealism.” Eventually a lot of people like Salvador Dali got kicked out of the movement—Dali because he painted a piece of excrement on the pants of one of his figures in a painting, and I guess Breton was anti-shit, so he booted Dali out of Surrealism. All that being said, I’m calling myself a Bizarro writer until someone pitches me out. Then I’ll start my own movement—Shwiblyism, or Cadaveristes.

4) What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?

Johnny Depp I want to play the part of HellChrist in my book Bad Sunset, which is currently making the rounds of publishers. And Benecio Del Toro for his sidekick, El Brujo. I really think Bad Sunset would make a great movie.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Okay, let’s just say that the book is The Unhead. In The Unhead, two very stoned detectives follow a trail of bizarre clues to a crime that may or may not have been committed.

6) Will your books be self-published or represented by an agency?

If I can’t get anybody to publish these books, I’ll publish them myself through The Shwibly Press, which is my own imprint and through which I published a collection called The Death Jazz, which is also available on Amazon (shameless self-promotion department). I do have a literary agent now who is doing a valiant job of promoting my work.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Bad Sunset took about a year to produce a first draft. My novel before that, American Avatar, took approximately the same amount of time but is much longer. I have no idea where that book went. It’s on a flash drive somewhere.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Unhead is ready-made for people who like Bizarro writers like Vince Kramer, Garrett Cook and Nikki Guerlin; it’s also rooted in the autonomous, alternate reality cities of Frank Miller and others. Also people who like Franz Kafka, hard-boiled noir, light-boiled noir, Raymond Chandler, etc., etc. It’s for people who like to read and think about what they read and don’t mind going a little deeper for their entertainment buck.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My father, Steven M. Johnson, is an author, a futurist and an out-of-the-box thinker. He’s probably my main inspiration for most of what I do. As long as I can remember, my dad and I have done these routines where we take a theme and riff on it. It continues today. We do all the voices, all the characters. And then Edward Lee, who comes up with these amazing, cutting-edge, revolting storylines and books that are impossible to put down. There are so many others, so this is an arbitrary listing.

10)What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

As I say, if you like to read and think about what you read, if you enjoy going a little further than the mindless pablum that’s spit out every day and sells a million copies, if you like to laugh and don’t mind wading in bodily fluids on the way to the bop apocalypse, you’ll probably like The Unhead.

I would like to thank Jason E. Rolfe for this opportunity and nominate Michael Winner and Nikki Guerlin for the next Next Big Thing, if they haven’t already been accounted for.

The Next Big Thing

Franz Joseph Haydn

I've been nominated for The Next Big Thing by the brilliant Rhys Hughes. If you're not sure what The Next Big Thing is, it's essentially a promotional Ponzi scheme in which nominated writers answer a general set of interview questions about their writing. The nominee then nominates up to five other writers who are expected to answer the same questions and nominate up to five more writers and so on and so forth. Participants are expected to link to both the writer who nominated them and the writers they have nominated, thus creating a linked network of writers and interviews!

Those of you who know me, know that Rhys Hughes is my favorite writer. His encouragement, kind words, and sage advice have kept me writing when common sense suggested otherwise, so being nominated by Rhys means a lot to me.

Alright then, on with the questions!

(1) What is the working title of your next book?

I am currently working on more books than I can actually remember (or not working on them, as the case may be). I tend to overextend myself to the point of anxiety-ridden paralysis, but for the purpose of this question I will focus on the books I am most likely to finish in the next little while. I have written a follow-up to Synthetic Saints (Vagabondage Press, 2012) tentatively called The City. I am plotting out a weird/absurdist novel currently called Haydn's Head and I am also working on a collection called 52 Short Stories which will contain many (but not all) of the stories that appear on my 52 Short Stories blog, along with new and previously published material.

(2) Where did the idea come from for the book(s)?

It is difficult to pinpoint the birth of an idea. The City for example, was inspired by contemporary futurist thought, Philip K. Dick, and to a certain extent Walter M. Miller Jr's masterpiece, A Canticle for Leibowitz, but the underlying philosophy (the heart of the story) is my own. It will be quite unlike Synthetic Saints (which is traditional hard science fiction). Haydn's Head is about an actual historical event, but the concept itself is inspired by Tom Stoppard's play, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Again, the philosophy behind it is (I think) my own.

On the other hand, the birth of the 52 Short Stories idea is an easy one. Ray Bradbury once claimed it would be impossible to write 52 bad short stories in a row. I thought that, with my early writing, the successes and the failures, I hadn't really been writing for myself. I'd been struggling to write what I thought editors and publishers wanted. In doing so I'd lost my own voice (or at least hadn't nourished it). The 52 Short Stories blog is unedited, straight from brain to screen, creative writing. My hope is that the blog will help me find and establish my voice. The collection 52 Short Stories will contain the pieces that I feel clearly reflect who I am as a writer.

(3) What genre do(es) your book(s) fall under?
I think perhaps I delved too deeply into genre in the past. By doing so, I think I lost sight of the 'idea' behind my writing. I'd rather just write what comes out and let other people label me as they see fit.

(4) What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?

I doubt my short stories could be filmed. The better ones are often extremely short, and the characters simply used to articulate the idea. Synthetic Saints and The City have more deeply developed characters, but even then I used them to voice my own (often contrary) thoughts and ideas. That being said, if they were to film those two particular stories, I would want a 40-year-old Gary Oldman to play Alex. If I was making ANY movie, I'd want Gary Oldman in it.

(5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I don't think a one-sentence synopsis can truly do a story justice. It oversimplifies the potentially (and hopefully) complex subtleties of a good story. In Haydn's Head, for example, the historical story has little to do with the story I'm trying to tell. My story is about the nature of good and evil (and whether or not they exist), while the historical story is about the head of composer Franz Joseph Haydn.

52 Short Stories could be summarized I suppose as "a collection of absurdly metaphysical stories inspired by the likes of Daniil Kharms, Rhys Hughes, John Barth, Phillip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Roberto Bolano, and many many others."

(6) Will your book(s) be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have no agent. I will submit the above mentioned books to small market publishers I admire, and then, once they have been politely rejected, I'll probably spend a great deal of time feeling sorry for myself. If I can't find a publisher for 52 Short Stories I will likely just publish it myself, but I would hope to one day find a proper home for the other two.

(7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The City came very quickly. Haydn's Head has been plotted out. It just needs to be written. It might take a bit longer because the framework is historical. 52 Short Stories is still being written. You can follow the first draft at 52 Short Stories.

(8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Any comparison is groundlessly egotistical, but The City would (hopefully) fall in line with Philip K. Dick - the blurring of the real and the imagined and the paranoia at work in Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep.  Haydn's Head would ideally be in the same vein as Tom Stoppard's Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. 52 Short Stories contains (and will contain) stories inspired by Dick and Stoppard, as well as Bolano, Kharms, Hughes, Harlan Ellison, Joe Pulver, and many other writers I admire - but I suspect, when all is said and done, Kharms might be the closest. I am nowhere near these writers in terms of talent but, as Rhys said in his Next Big Thing interview, it is important to aim high.

(9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I've probably already answered this somewhere up there, but The City was inspired by the Futurists and Luddites I've read and still admire, and by the work of PKD and Walter M. Miller Jr. Haydn's Head was inspired by Tom Stoppard, but the courage to attempt it was inspired by Rhys Hughes. 52 Short Stories was inspired by Ray Bradbury and (again) by Rhys Hughes.

(10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

I have been playing around a lot, and I really do believe these three books are expressions of the fun I've been having writing them. They might be terrible, they might be great, but they've been fun and I hope that comes across even more than my thoughts and feelings on the subjects and ideas tackled. In my interview with Joe Pulver I talked about bleeding onto the page. I will likely bleed out during the writing of 52 Short Stories. At least I hope so.
____________________

Now as for the authors I wish to nominate (there were many. Sadly though, most were dead long before the internet came along and were therefore ineligible). The two still kicking don't have author websites or blogs, but I am still going to nominate them because they are definitely noteworthy.
I reviewed 28 Teeth of Rage by Ennis Drake not that long ago. Ennis is an excellent young writer with impressive talent. He writes with purpose and it certainly shows.

Alex S. Johnson authors satire in a day and age when satire is often difficult to place. Fortunately for us, he also edits The Shwibly: a Magazine of the Arts (and a home for homeless satire!)

Because Alex and Ennis do not have blogs to house their questions/answers, I have offered them the use of this blog. Should they choose to accept I will post their Next Big Thing questions and answers here, along with any nominations they might wish to make.

Portraits of Ruin

"Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way." - Charles Bukowski

Bukowski suggested that while intellectuals say simple things in difficult ways, artists say difficult things in simple ways. Joseph S. Pulver Sr. has been compared to Bukowski, and while I am loathe to compare him to anyone, his poetic-prose certainly falls in line with Bukowski's thinking. Pulver is an intriguing artist. His work, though fierce, is fueled by a bittersweet muse. It has rhythm and cadence and demonstrates with harsh grace the deeply poetic nature of the author's soul. In 1855 Sydney Smith wrote of the poet Thomas Campbell, "Poetry came from him drop by drop." The same can (and should) be said about Joe Pulver.

Portraits of Ruin (Hippocampus Press, 2012) is more than another fine example of Pulver's work. It is arguably his best collection to date. The tales within are laced with darkly melancholic visions, from "No Healing Prayers" through "And this is where I go down into the darkness." Pulver is a fearless writer. He openly defies formulaic convention in his relentless pursuit of artful meaning. For Pulver, that meaning can be found not only in each carefully chosen word but in form and function as well. The author's use of form - the aesthetic of the text itself - will challenge readers unfamiliar with his work. Those who find pleasure in convention might shy away from Pulver's artistic style, but those who appreciate his willingness to challenge the norm are well rewarded with gems like "Before and After Science and "Lena...cries." The later is wondrously bleak and beautiful and conveys pain with such power it is simply impossible to ignore. In an impressive collection, "Lena...cries" stands out as one of Pulver's best. It exemplifies Walter Wellesley Smith's meaning when he said, "It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader."

Artists say difficult things in simple ways. Geniuses say profound things in simple ways. Pulver is and does both. His genius, his art, pours from his veins by the drop. In this sense, Portraits of Ruin is very much like his previous work. It contains the essense of Pulver. In every other sense this new collection outpaces his previous work. It shows his growth as a writer, his willingness to challenge, not just form but himself, to experiment, to push the envelope further beyond the norm. The literary world needs Joseph S. Pulver Sr. Readers and critics alike should read Portraits of Ruin, stand up and take notice. Pulver is (as always) a force to be reckoned with.