Steve Almond God Bless America Review

And here is my review of Steve Almond's latest short story collection God Bless America. It all happened at The Nervous Breakdown.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.

Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download for just $4.99.

Or try Ghost Notes the 99 cent Ebook.

Dana Spiotta Review, plus Steve Almond Trailer

I'm going to try (no promises) to make my posts here a little more substantial during the last quarter of the year.

There's a steady stream of rock fiction coming from big publishing these days, and you can bet I have an opinion on all of it. First up is my review of Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta at elimae.

Also, Steve Almond has a new collection of short stories coming out called God Bless America. I've already read and reviewed it. I could tell you how much I love it, but let's wait for the review to come out. Until then, take a gander at the book's trailer, which is as funny as any you'll see.



I'll let you know when my review of the book is up.

Thanks, folks.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download for just $4.99.


Or try Ghost Notes the 99 cent Ebook.

Steve Almond

For anyone who thinks contemporary literature is boring or irrelevant.



Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download for just $4.99.



Or try Ghost Notes the 99 cent Ebook.

My Review of Steve Almond's Latest at TNB!

Here it is!

Yours in laying down the law,

Art



Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download.



Or try Ghost Notes the Ebook.

Steve Almond Interview

This week's blog is at the Nervous Breakdown, and it's an interview with the great Steve Almond. Come by and learn which world-famous American novelist is also a closet Moogist.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art



Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download.



Or try Ghost Notes the Ebook.

Hey Jealousy

Last week I wrote an essay for the The Nervous Breakdown that was pretty much about my envy of Steve Almond, someone whose work I like and respect, and who also seems to get my goat.

I believe this is a common trait of writers. We spend a great deal of time in our heads, dreaming up ideal worlds. Often, we dream of an ideal world that involves our success as writers, and there's nothing worse than someone coming along and playing a role in real life that you've concocted for yourself in your head.

Damn it, that was mine.

Well, there is an upside to envy, as a few have pointed out since my essay was published last week. Envy, they said, is a terrific motivator. It makes the writer redouble her efforts to squash the puss out of the interloper, and the only way to do that is to out-write him.

That asshole. Where's my word processing program?

So, there is something to be said for envy.

But I still think, in a different way, envy is detrimental to the support and fostering of good writing.

Let's say some guy like Steve Almond comes along in the year 2000 or so and writes a book of short stories called--oh, I don't know--My Life in Heavy Metal. Then another writer--let's say me--hears about this book, sees the cover, notices the publisher, reads the reviews, and is struck by a massive wave of envy for this book, this writer, this success. What would this writer--me, in this hypothetical case--do?

Well, I'd get to work--which is what I've been doing for the past decade or so--in an effort to show Mr. Perfect he's not so Mr. Perfect after all.

But what else would I do? Or more to the point, what else would I not do?

Well, I wouldn't buy his book, that's for sure.

And that's fine. This is America. No one has to support anything they don't want to support, and reading My Life in Heavy Metal at its release might have been counter-productive for me. Almond's prose might have been so blindingly good at the time it could have overwhelmed me, pushed me away from writing toward some other preoccupation, perhaps never to return. Skipping it might have been the exact right thing to do.

So, where does that leave us?

That leaves us with writers doing exemplary work and not selling as many books as they would otherwise because of the green-eyed monster.

Now, am I proposing we eradicate envy in the name of book sales? No. A more imposing windmill has never been chased, and I probably wouldn't want to get rid of it even if I could.

I am suggesting we become more aware of the role envy plays in our decisions to support or not support other writers, to read or not read others' works, and what the likely outcome of this envy is for the future of good writing. Because in the end, we want to support those who merit it. If for no other reason, it might be us someday.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art



Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download.



Or try Ghost Notes the Ebook.

New Blog at the Nervous Breakdown

Hey, I have a new blog up at the Nervous Breakdown. It's called, "Steve Almond, Hardbacks, and the Green-Eyed Monster." Let me know what you think.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, Journey.



I always wanted to lead off for Journey.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art



Try Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, in print form for just $5.




Try Ghost Notes the Audio Book as an unabridged digital download.



Or try Ghost Notes the Ebook.