THE DISCIPLINED SOUL
The essays in The Story About the Story differ from traditional literary criticism in many ways. They contemplate rather than argue. They do not artificially sublimate subjectivity. They preserve mystery instead of dissecting it. And often they expand the scope of what they are willing to address so as to speak to the basics—the history, [...]
A Conversation w/ Deborah Eisenberg
In celebration of Deborah Eisenberg’s recent MacArthur Fellowship, we decided to post her conversation with Anna Keesey from our interview anthology, The World Within (for you subscribers, it also appears in Tin House #34). We’ve been calling her a genius for years, and are thrilled that it’s been made official.
After thirty years on West [...]
“KAFKA? I LOVE KAFKA. HE’S VERY – KAFKAESQUE.”
Anthologies are notorious for a number of reasons. The books have too many words on each page. They’re way too expensive because they’re intended as textbooks. And they’re never quite as comprehensive as they’re meant to be.
The Story About the Story is an attempt to correct all that.
One of the reasons anthologies prove problematic is [...]
Steve Almond Tackles Toto
During the 10th Anniversary celebration, Steve Almond revealed the utter inanity of the song “Africa,” by the band Toto. The take down turned poignant, though, in the end, but had us all in stitches.
Beware: this song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the afternoon!
And be sure to check out Steve’s story [...]
HEAL THE LUNG
The essays collected in The Story About the Story assault the institution of literary criticism.
The problem with literary criticism is not that critical actions conducted on literary texts do them damage—the problem is the way in which critical actions tend to be conducted. There’s a basic contradiction built into the system: dry, soul-deadening, derivative, entirely [...]
Tenth Anniversary!
How appropriate is it that tin is the traditional metal used to commemorate a 10th Anniversary? I’ll tell you precisely how appropriate: very. From the first issue to the 40th, we’ve been lucky enough to publish some of our country’s finest writers, both established and emerging. And in order to celebrate our past good fortune [...]
Driving The Stake
The whole question of beginnings is tricky—a point Geoff Dyer makes about D.H. Lawrence’s poetry in the excerpt of Out of Sheer Rage reprinted in The Story About the Story:
“Who can say when a poem begins to stir, to germinate, in the soil of the writer’s mind? There are certain experiences waiting to happen: like [...]
Q&A with WE DID PORN’s Zak Smith
Zak Smith paints, writes, and performs in adult films. His new book is at the center of that venn diagram. The book is available now, both in paperback and limited-edition hardcover, and next month, it will be available in the UK from Beautiful Books. For those of you in Seattle, Zak will reading Sunday at [...]
Brief Interviews w/ Русская (Wo)men: Natalya Klyuchareva
It’s launch day for Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia (You’ll see the little red “buy now” button in that right-hand corner…you should be able to handle it from there). To cap off our series of mini-conversations, Jeff Parker checked in with Natalya Klyuchareva, author of White Pioneers, a collection of poems, and Russia [...]
