BOOK THREAD

BARELY HUMAN

Lincoln ah sick! i'll see if i can track dhalgren down.. thanks for the rec. i think i've seen it around before but got intimidated by its length, tho i've been a bit less freaked out by long books lately so should toughen up a bit

dr_chile

My buddy in Albuquerque has an awesome book store called Alarum Books. He specializes in esoteric literature. From the description: "Alarum Books is a rare book firm based in Albuquerque, New Mexico established in 2023 by Ryan O'Connor. Our goal is to spread the word about the strange, esoteric, and challenging literature that lives below the surface of our increasingly homogenized reality. We simply want to put books with a real sense of aura into your hands, so that you too may be inspired to create something new.

Our specialties include counter culture; occult; esoteric; modern poetry; modern horror; sleaze; music and private press materials, though we have items in our inventory ranging the spectrum from "relatively normal" to "why does this book exist?" Please feel free to contact us if you're interested in recommendations, or are seeking out a particular item."

https://alarumbooks.com/

Afteryourbrain

Two books I am anticipating are the new Scott McClanahan and the new Tom Scharpling book

Randall

Afteryourbrain there's a new Tom Scharpling book coming out?

Afteryourbrain

Randall yeah! It’s called WE GET IT, THEY DONT! Sounds like it’s all about music. He posted the info on his instagram. Comes out next year

problemface

anyone familiar with the Midnight Classics imprint from the 90s? they reprinted lost underground noir from the 30s and 40s and also some psychedelic/counterculture novels from the 60s/70s. I found a copy of ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ many years ago that they put out and kinda forgot about it. anyway, I was at an antique mall recently and noticed the Midnight Classics logo on the spine of a book and instantly got excited. it was ‘Quake’ by Rudolph Wurlitzer, who I had never heard of, but it said that he wrote the screenplay for Two Lane Blacktop, which is one of my favorite movies but I never paid attention to who wrote it. I guess he was a counterculture figure of the time who wrote a few novels. I really enjoyed the book. it’s about a major earthquake that hits LA during the hippie days. the tone is dark, cynical and nihilistic but also humorous. I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the chaos unfolding in the book and the recent LA wildfires. I want to read his book NOG too, and might try to collect the rest of the Midnight Classics releases.

Lincoln

problemface check out Wulitzer's Drop Edge of Yonder. Absolute gonzo masterpiece.

Al Dorado

Recent music books read: Redd Kross, Neko Case.
Currently into Will York's 'Who Cares Anyway' (SF punk)

New arrival: 'Someday All the Adults Will Die!: The Birth of Texas Punk' by Pat Blashill
https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477332474/

Al Dorado

Al Dorado
Finished the Will York book. One of the best scene/city specific books I've read. Well researched, extensive footnotes. Focuses more on post-punk and experimental bands from SF. Budget Rock and the East Bay scene barely receive a mention. Any quibbles I have on who was included or not included are overcome by the quality of the writing.

Dodge

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough.

Best forbidden love in the Australian outback ever.

Ruby

I read 'Our Share of Night' by Mariana Enriquez as recommended by this thread and absolutely loved it. I'm now seriously considering fatherhood, although preferably without the involvement of any secret societies of dark eternal forces.

Randall

Ruby such a fantastic book. I read it over a year ago but still think about it regularly and can't wait for her next novel

Dodge

Avengers West Coast ‘Vision Quest’ Epic Collection
The good years.

falloutlee

i'm currently reading "the broken earth" trilogy books by N.K Jemisin, though i'm reading the first book as of now, but it's pretty good from what i read 🙂

Lammie

I read Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm and B. Traven's Death Ship, which someone on here recommended to me. I can't recall nor find who, but either way, thanks for the recommendation. I loved it and will read more by the man.

Sukebe_GG

Lammie Maybe it was me on the "old" board - yeah, the other stuff is great. Well, I think I only read Bridge in the Jungle and the Cotton Pickers...Love how his identity is an enigma, and how he is part of a long line of foreign authors living and writing in Mexico - the Beats were the most famous but not limited to them - there's Malcolm Lowry, DH Lawrence, Ambrose Pierce, etc., and Jodorowsky and Bunuel in film. Trotsky in politics - lulz.

Speaking of which, I recently read Jessica Abel's "La Perdida", a graphic novel. Really enjoyed and although my experiences there a few years before this story takes place were quite different, her depictions really struck a chord.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3525721

Dodge

Still working on The Thorn Birds.

Nathan Loud

Reading Stream System by Australian loner weirdo Gerald Murnane. Really enjoying it.

He gets compared a lot to Beckett (who I love) and Borges (who I love beyond love) but there’s an accessibility to the prose that Beckett lost over the years and a sadness that Borges, lover of the universe, could never quite sell.

https://www.acappellabooks.com/pages/books/366931/gerald-murnane/stream-system

BARELY HUMAN

Nathan Loud oh sick! how are you finding it?? I really need to try again to read Murnane (my fiction stuff is published by the same publisher!)... he's got so many fans here in australia, people who go so deep into his work and can't come back out again... a friend of mine visited him for an interview and saw parts of his archives and the like, and still he seems like a mystery. i read 'The Plains' maybe ten years ago and just couldn't get into it, but i feel there'll come a day when i find time to start digging through his stuff. really bizarre to me that he's one of the favourites to win the nobel prize for literature every year too.

Allez Al

As a glutton for punishment I recently read Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Bisking which is basically just a history of accounting and financials from the 90s movie boom. Dull as hell with almost no discussion of art. Found another of his books in a charity shop for £1 (The Sky is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids and Superheroes Made America Great For Extremism) and I'm happy to report it's utter dogshit too. Tortured political metaphors, an impressive level of misunderstanding modern politics.... and zero art.

Sukebe_GG

Allez Al I picked that up around the time the Harvey Weinstein stuff started popping and couldn't bring myself to read it. Surprised it is so boring as his Raging Bulls, Easy Riders about the '70s was so highly touted.

Red Menace

Just purchased Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps by Dick Potter from Goner. Looking forward to tearing into it in the coming days.

Al Dorado

Red Menace Just bought this too.

Also, glad I read the Simps interview in Sniffy Linings. I often set stuff aside and read when I get around to it. Not today!

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