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Join NOW!Katie Hoeber is a student at San Francisco State University working on her Masters in Public Health Nursing. As a project for her Community Nursing class, Katie is spending a week living off four dollars a day — the equivalent value of an average day’s worth of food stamps.
...moreAfter watching Hot Tub Time Machine, a raunchy, slightly funnier-than-average buddy comedy set against the backdrop of 80’s nostalgia, I left the theater with the peculiar feeling I always get after watching movies that involve time-travel. It’s the peculiar feeling of asking myself “did what I just see make any sense whatsoever?”
...moreMillard Kaufman’s posthumously published novel evokes noir films of the past in the contemporary labyrinth of Los Angeles.
...moreFinally, a literary contest I might have a shot at winning. Britain’s Bad Sex in Fiction Prize winner was recently announced by the editor’s of Literary Review magazine. The shortlist consisted of several notable luminaries, including Phillip Roth, Paul Theroux and John Banville. The annual award is given “to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, […]
...moreJonathan Ames wears many hats: writer, boxer, performer, raconteur, and screenwriter. The hat he wears in his video interview on bigthink.com is a jaunty chapeau; a beanie perched atop Ames’ bearded head. It’s almost jaunty enough to distract from the fascinating responses to questions about Ames career arcs as a boxer, performer, writer, screenwriter and […]
...moreThe American Scholar posted a fascinating (and a bit depressing) article by William J. Quirk called “Living on $500,000 a Year.” The article is about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tax returns, and wow, doesn’t that sound enthralling. But seriously, it’s an interesting read, covering how Fitzgerald made the equivalent of $500,000 a year, paid only about […]
...moreHappy day, happy day!! Jonathan Lethem, one of my personal favorites, has a new novel out! It’s called Chronic City, and is, according to Lethem, “the best thing I’ve done.” This is good to hear, as Lethem looks for a rebound of sorts after his last novel. Considered by Lethem to be his most “funny […]
...moreRumpus contributor Michelle Orange just posted a scream of an article in The New York Times about women in horror films. Specifically focusing on the upcoming Jennifer’s Body, the article “Taking Back the Knife—Girls Gone Gory” details the complex role of women in horror films, and the efforts of the Diablo Cody penned gore-fest to […]
...moreLet’s admit it – we judge books by their covers. The old adage that we shouldn’t may invariably prove correct, but that doesn’t stop us from doing it anyway. As with any commodity, those last five crucial inches of space between the hand and the book on the shelf are ultimately traversed by the “ooh, […]
...moreRumpus contributor R. Emmet Sweeney has a wonderful article up on Moving Image Source about the best show on TV that you (or me, for that matter) aren’t watching, Danny McBride’s Eastbound and Down. I’ve been hearing some of the buzz about Eastbound and Down—about a washed-up Major League Baseball star returning home to live […]
...moreIdentitytheory.com has posted an interview with Rumpus music guru and all-around literary genius Rick Moody. The Q&A, conducted by Meg White (no, not THAT Meg White), delves into the vortex of newness swirling about Moody—the new father (congrats, Rick!) has a new novel in the works, a new album set for release from his band […]
...moreRumpus contributor Jonathan Ames recently got interviewed by a little magazine called Time. Clearly this upstart Time rag is hopping on the Rumpus’ pro-Ames bandwagon, but we won’t begrudge them. How can you NOT want to learn more about a writer who’s been compared to everyone from Norman Mailer to David Sedaris?
...moreChances are you don’t know who John Craigie is. But rest assured, John Craigie wants to know you.
...moreThe last book I loved was Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. Maybe “loved” isn’t the right word. “Loved” implies affection, fealty, romance and adoration. Coetzee’s Booker-Prize winning masterpiece affected me profoundly, but I did not feel any of those “lovely” types of emotions.
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