“Indie Won” (and Thus Is Dead?)
“You see, to the extent that indie meant anything, it was as its root word, independent. It was about seizing the means of production. Independently produced. Aesthetics can be imitated,…
Recent posts
Rumpus Articles
Bob Sommer: The Last Book I Loved, You or Someone Like You
The last book I loved was You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr. A wife and mother living the Beverly Hills good life, Anne leads book groups for directors,…
Left as Rain is Right as Rain
Maybe you’re like me: someone who loves music but is at a loss at keeping up with the frenzied pace of all this awesome new music being hurled at you.…
In the Eye of the Hurricane
The Louisiana Skip Horack creates is both generative and broken, salvific and ruined, marked in ways large and small by Hurricane Katrina.
My Favorite Clause: Ruminations on Stuart Dybek’s Penis
“Sauerkraut Soup” from Stuart Dybek’s 1986 debut collection Childhood and Other Neighborhoods begins with a narrator waxing philosophical on the cathartic nature of bodily purge. “Puking felt like crying,” he…
Written on the Body
I’ve been in love with people who’ve had excerpts from Lord Jim scrolling up their arms, and Faunia Farley tattooed on their chest with an arrow going through a heart. …
Morning Coffee
Dan is gone this week. I couldn’t believe it when he emailed me and asked me to fill in here. I’ve been waiting for his friendship since the first time…
The Cupboard
Over at <HTMLGiant>, Adam Peterson and Dave Madden talk about The Cupboard, “a quarterly pamphlet of creative prose.” “…we do really take the ‘Pamphlet’ part of our name seriously. We…
Take Your Shirt Off and Cry: The Rumpus Interview With Nancy Balbirer
Nancy Balbirer’s hilarious, soulful memoir about acting, Hollywood, art, fame, and misguided relationships, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry: A Memoir Of Near-Fame Experiences is told from the perspective of…
On the Inner Workings of Book Recommendations
My housemate just sent me a link to a fascinating web site called The Book Seer. The site asks you to enter the last book you read, and then it compiles…