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A collection of essays about legends, real or fiction, who just couldn't be bothered to live within the matrix of their contemporary culture, actually written by someone who isn't secretly an agent for the status quo.
Jan 22, 2024
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It’s a collection of essays, short stories, poems, reviews of other books….. and stuff. At points irritatingly pretentious, at others awe-striking and wise. He was a rude and violent person as well as a sexist who for some reason believed himself not to be, but I’ll stand by his writing, particularly this book, being some of the best ever. His style is so markedly his and absolutely brilliant. I’m not selling it well but it’s kind of impossible to say nice things about the man, as much as I adore (most of) his writing.
Feb 2, 2025
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stories over time of a cast of characters loosely linked through the music industry
In a post-modern style like not too dissimilar to vonnegut
each chapter can be seen almost as a stand alone vignette
edit: after re-reading your ask, I’ll admit not the weirdest book, but it’s also definitely not run of the mill narrative fiction.
If you want weird, read Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. One of the most banned books of all time for a reason, grotesque, obscene, challenging, but imo definitely worth the read and I’ll be rereading it sometime. Helps to read along with a study guide to make sure you’re following what’s going on.
Mar 6, 2025
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This is something the whole family can enjoy. While I’m not really a fan of Rob Smithson’s art (think the spiral jetty film is better than the actual thing, kind of a silly looking creation no?) his writing is really great, sort of reeks of auto-didact vibes but there’s a contagious curiosity to all the shit even if you’re not certain on what he’s talking about. A really fierce intelligence with regards to the imbrication of the anthropocentric landscape, language, and industrial conditions writ large. It’s also just fun. On a sappier level I like reading this stuff because it reminds me to approach everything as a novice. The phrase “ruins in reverse” from A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey (1967) has haunted me for a while now.
Aug 11, 2022
Top Recs from @spkn
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Perfect for small, off-beat breaks in whatever playlist mood you're going for. The added bonus of eerie-sounding posh accents by older poets is always a treat. I recommend W.H. Auden's "The More Loving One" and anything by Virgina Woolf (OK, not a poet technically, but have you read The Waves? It's better than 80% of 'actual' poetry, really.)
Jan 22, 2024
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It just rewires your brain to be a bit removed from the machine, a bit silly, taking a side-eye view of the world and your place at the fringe of productivity. I like this one from DJ Food with spliced-in bit of interviews with James.
Jan 22, 2024
Anne Sexton is sadly, cruelly underrated. She was friends with Sylvia Plath and also chose to end her own life, so she often gets lumped into a kind of 'also ran' category of modern poetry. Like I said: a sad, cruel kind of underrated. Her 'Transformations' collection is a re-telling of classic and lesser known fairy tales with extra visceral spurts of blood, gutsy grins and verbally sweetened trauma. It's horrifying and tender, like a stranger offering you a damaged limb on the subway. (See image: a snippet from "The Maiden Without Hands".) There's an edition with a foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, but I haven't found that yet.
Feb 1, 2024