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From Stephen Elliott
I want to write the world off as brutish and cruel, to go all Gordon Gecko, or maybe Don Draper, to stop worrying about the people around me and start looking out for number one, maybe learn Parkour, or at the very least learn to throw a punch
...moreHere’s a few very short stories for your Monday morning:
“When a door opens and you can’t see who’s coming, it’s almost always a cat that would like to be your lover.” — At BLIP MAGAZINE, “The Cat Lover” by Thaisa Frank.
“We sweet-lipped drag queens for clean sheets.” — At The Collagist, “And Then We Were Happy” by T Kira Madden.
“She shakes her head and says, “I don’t drink.” She did years ago.
...moreHere are links to stories I read this week that I liked and I hope you’ll like too.
“It’s not that we wouldn’t be able to lay our hands on bodily fluids via some other avenue, says Stephen, it’s just that prohibiting their sale on eBay is an egregious encroachment of our rights as Americans.” At Necessary Fiction, ”Things We Have Tried Unsuccessfully To Purchase On eBay” by Andreas Trolf.
“When Crawford brought back Gabby from the Philippines, he asked what we thought of some green eyed Asian children running around the farm one day,” Granny said in a low aside.” — At The Dead Mule of Southern Literature, “The Acceptance Speech” by Hope Denney.
...moreEvery Monday I link to very short fiction I like that I hope you’ll like too:
“When we reach the street, the houses are dark, except for one—the grey one with the white trim, chain link fence, black oak tree.” — At Waccamaw, “A House Made of Stars” by Tawnysha Greene.
“On the street the air is fifty knives of cold. This is not Alaska. Why did we move here?” — At Fiction Southeast, “Winter” by Aimee Bender.
...moreIt’s Monday morning, so here’s some links to some wonderful very short writing that made my day better and hopefully makes your day better too.
Also, in a side note, I’m very sad to learn that > kill author will be closing down, but I’m excited to read the last issue on Wednesday.
...moreHere are some excerpts from and links to some very short writing that made my day better and hopefully makes your day better too.
“Doesn’t it make you feel like an old-timey big-city career girl, carrying parcels up your stoop, struggling to unlock your door, when a handsome stranger in a suit comes up outta nowhere and offers to lend a hand…” At Anderbo, “My Sister Bags Groceries,” nonfiction by Alexandra Tanner.
...moreIt’s been awhile since I’ve been a-Rumpusing, but I got this email from the talented Ashley Bethard thanking me for including her in an old Here Are Some Stories I Like link list, and I got to thinking about how much I loved doing those, so I asked Isaac if I could do them again, and he said yes.
...more
Back in 2002, when I was still in college, I lived in DC for a quarter in a quad dorm room that felt like the set of a queerish Adam Sandler movie. I—a semi-closeted bisexual drunk—lived with a gay guy from Beverly Hills
Writers, listen up: I’ve got a pretty cool call for submissions for you.
Fiddleblack, a small press and literary journal, is seeking fiction and nonfiction submissions for its digital winter issue and 2012 print annual. There are a few thematic specifics they desire, but overall Fiddleblack is looking for sharp and dusky work with a strong sense of place.
...moreOuch. A really harsh rejection to Gertrude Stein.
Here’s a lovely essay on hate.
An interview with a conspiracy theorist (via).
Feeling political? Here’s some revolutionary reading, from Lewis Lapham’s. (via)
...moreKadafi’s book bans are over.
At The Guardian, on “the many futures of books.”
Three Percent wants you to know what translators look like. (not too bad, not too bad at all.)
...more
It was one hell of a week at Rumpus Books. Come see what you missed.
I’m feeling concise.
You can check out and help build the Occupy Wall Street library catalogue here.
Books that aren’t quite books? (via)
How self-publishing is taking off in China.
...more“Citizens United may have transformed Corporations into People… And Occupy Wall Street – Occupy the World – has transformed people into Citizens. Into activists. And in the end – I would bet my personal 99 percenter savings on it – real citizenship will trump fake person-hood.”
— At CNBC, Jerry Stahl on what makes Occupy Wall Street so powerful to so many.
...moreWell this is going to be something.
Oakland’s general strike is today. Organizers are expecting tens of thousands of people. Almost every labor union has endorsed, and students will be walking out all over the Bay Area (solidarity statements here).
...moreSo, here’s something amazing.
Tomorrow, November 2nd, Occupy Oakland is organizing the first general strike in America since 1946.
Can we just stop and sit with that for a moment?
...moreI am freakin’ loopy today.
Jessa Crispin explains why you’re not really crazy. (and maybe I’m not either!)
Because this is the type of thing that I might get in trouble for posting on The Rumpus, and because I’m gonna do it anyway: “The Presidents of the United States of America, Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses.
...moreIt was a good week at Rumpus Books. Come see what you might’ve missed.
By pretty much all accounts, last night was tense but hopeful for the Occupy movement in the Bay Area. (For an account of the national movement, check out Brian Spears’ roundup from this morning.)
This is somewhat of a relief after Tuesday night, when a coalition of Bay Area police used tear gas, nonlethal rounds, and more in Oakland, critically injuring 24 year-old veteran Scott Olsen by shooting him in the face with a projectile and then throwing a flash grenade at the people trying to help him.
...moreHoly crap.
As many of you know, on Monday night, Oakland police raided the Occupy Oakland encampment, arresting and tear-gassing residents and destroying the entire camp. Last night, 500-1500 people reportedly came out to protest, and they were met with tear gas, rubber bullets, a sound cannon and concussion grenades.
...more“I will find a way to harm you or cause you suffering* if you fuck with the mechanics of this piece” — DFW writes to Harper’s and signs with a skull and crossbones.
Maud Newton eats rattlesnake, and it’s kind of gross!
...moreSunday’s the day to catch up with Rumpus Books. Here’s what we published last week.
