Syntax of Things

Freyed

The Snitch tells the story of Jan Frel's protest (of sorts) at a James Frey reading in San Francisco:

It's Friday evening and I'm standing outside Slim's with Jan Frel, his wife, Hadley Suter, a can of mace and a stack of papers. The papers are stapled copies of John Dolan's essay "Whose Fault Is Frey?" a document that lambastes author James Frey, whose memoir of drug addiction and subsequent recovery, A Million Little Pieces, was exposed as a partial fabrication after it took the best-sellers lists by storm. Frel is an editor at progressive Web site Alternet.org, and the founder of Down With Frey, an organization that consists of himself, his wife and a blog where one can vote on whether or not Frey is a "hack writer," a "sad sack" or an "abomination." Inside Slim's, a metal band is gearing up to play a set before Frey takes the stage to read an excerpt from his new book, A Bright Shiny Morning, which will be sold in the fiction section and garnered a glowing review from the New York Times.

A little later, Frey decides to confront Frel, with bodyguard in tow:

It's obvious that Frel has thought out ahead of time what he would like to say to the author's face, but now that it's really happening, things just seem awkward. He tells Frey that he's a disgrace, that he's a fraud, and that his continuing popularity is symptomatic of the attitude that allows George Bush to retain office after committing war crimes. Frey is nodding in response to this and tells Frel that he's entitled to his opinion. The whole time, Black Hair Tattooed Guy, a member of the opening band, 3rdrail, is at Frey's side, mad-dogging Frel, fists clenched. The confrontation sputters out, and Frey walks away.

"You mess any shit up…." Black Hair Tattoed Guy hisses into Frel's face.

"And what?" Frel asks.

"Guess!" BHTG barks, and turns heel.

Kill Devil Hills

We just got back from dipping our toes in the sand of North Carolina's Outer Banks where we stayed in the shadow of the monument dedicated to the Wright brothers and their first flight.  We didn't see any wild horses and I still haven't figured out what Michael Stipe is singing about in this song.  Despite the rogue wave that introduced Marlie to the cold Atlantic and the sand flies that threatened to sting me to submission, we survived the trip with the only regret being that we didn't have another few days to explore the whole of the OBX. 

Dear Tom Waits

I know I said that you were perhaps the only musician that I would travel any distance to see these days.  And I know that you are perhaps the only musician/band that I haven't seen in my life that I really do want to see.  And despite the fact that my wife thinks I'm crazy for it, and I probably am, I have to tell you this.

There is no way I'm paying $85 to see you play in Mobile, Alabama.  And that doesn't include the $9.25 Ticketbastard charge, or the $2 "building facility charge."  That's almost $100 and it's the cheapest option.  Then there's the whole thing about actually getting to Mobile, which would run me another two-to-three hundee.

No thanks.

That is all.

Love,

A fan.

Value of Worst

If you're looking to add to your growing poetry collection, you should know that the works of William McGonagall, known as the "world's worst poet," will go on auction today.  And as a bonus, many of the thirty-five pieces are autographed:

Alex Dove, from auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, said: "Poetry didn't really come to him until I think he was 47 and the voices in his head told him that he'd be able to write poems.

"Then he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, he thought he should be the poet laureate and all sorts.

"He tried to hawk these poems around the streets of places like Dundee and he was notoriously encouraged to give performances just so people could make fun of him.

"Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts."

The poems which are being auctioned in Edinburgh are expected to fetch more than rare first editions of James Bond novels, a Mickey Mouse book from 1931 and a first edition of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If you're interested in learning more about McGonagall, you should check out this extensive collection of all things McGon.  I've included the masterful "The Demon Drink" below.

The Past and Present of the Future

The Phoenix takes a look at Steampunk:

There is no typical Steampunk. Its practitioners are anyone and everyone: European re-enactors, middle-aged steam enthusiasts, carpenters, illustrators, sculptors, urban clotheshorses. “I think steam engines are beautiful,” says Zachary Rukstela, a musician and industrial artist. “Steampunk was borne of the counter-culture,” Magpie Killjoy, a writer, editor, and self-described “professional ex-worker,” tells me. Libby Bulloff, an anachro tech-fetishist designer living in Indiana, has been attracted to “the tarnished decadence of Steampunk technology” for years. “I sort of see this as a big Venn diagram, with Steampunk as the box and a bunch of overlapping circles of interest,” adds von Slatt. While Steampunks — self-described or not — don’t always see eye to eye on their metaculture’s boundaries, they all have at least one crucial thing in common: a lasting, passionate fascination with Victoriana. The period roughly spans the length of Queen Victoria’s rule, when early scientific discoveries thrust society headlong into the Industrial Revolution, allowing part-time craftsmen who were captivated by the means and methods behind these inventions to advance breakthroughs of their own.

The gravitational center of Steampunk is a longing for a past that never was. It was a time when a computer could indeed run on steam, when dapper gentlemen with clean shirt cuffs and pocket watches could be mad scientists by night, and when an object’s uniqueness and aesthetics were just as important as its functioning guts. If you think of it as an exuberant amalgam of the modern with the 19th century, you begin to get the idea, but you’re barely dipping your toe into the ocean, because Steampunk isn’t merely a not-so-secret fringe culture any longer. It has developed a set of values that, for some, go deeper than a hobbyist’s nostalgia for an age they weren’t around to experience. The Steampunk ideology is in no way uniform — like the culture itself, it can be taken apart and put back together to suit its makers — but it seems to be ingrained in a combination of radical politics, an anti-corporate, do-it-completely-yourself ethic, and an acceptance that we are already living in the dystopian future we’ve been warned about.

Essential Man

The Art of Manliness offers up its list of 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man's Library.  I'm not sure what an "Essential Man" is, but I will say the list is somewhat surprising and not just because it's not a list of the 100 best issues of Playboy.  For instance, I did not expect to see this book listed:

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Arguably the best work from the ever-quotable Wilde, this novel is a guide for how to live a life of pure decadence. Packed with impeccable wit, clever one-liners and an excessive amount of egotistical vanity. At the very least, this book will show you the glory and the pitfalls of being the best looking chap around.

Also, I would have spent some time talking about this article, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

{first item via}

"I've Made Some Big Mistakes"

The reviews of James Frey's "first" novel have been about two to one negative, with many of them leaning toward the "horrible" end of the spectrum.  That's probably inspiration enough for me to pick up a copy and read it.  Think "car wreck neck."  Anyway, here's Frey doing the Today show and, well, he has nice glasses.

Pen Name

I'm sure you know that old joke about what happens when you play a country music song backwards (get your wife back, get your dog back, get your truck back, etc.) but what happens when you co-edit a collection of stories by country music tunesmiths, but, along with co-editing, you also write a piece for the collection under someone else's name without the knowledge of said person that you had written the story and used her name as author of said story?  Well, it happened:

A Guitar and a Pen, a new collection of short stories and anecdotes written by Music Row tunesmiths, should have music and literary fans singing its praises right now.

Instead, the book has raised questions about its accuracy and authorship in a town where people pay close attention to writing credits.

At issue is one of the featured stories, "He Always Knew Who He Was," attributed to journalist and music business veteran Hazel Smith.

"I did not write that," said Smith, the woman who famously gave country music's "outlaw" movement its name in the early '70s.

Presented as a real-life, first-person narrative, the piece describes Smith accompanying bluegrass legend Bill Monroe on a trip to Washington, D.C., where he performed at the White House and received an honor from then-President Bill Clinton."The only person with Mr. Monroe was (his booking agent) Tony Conway," Smith said. "I was not there; I was nowhere in sight."

One of the book's co-editors, Robert Hicks, has acknowledged authoring the story. His desire was to include Smith as part of A Guitar and a Pen, which also features contributions by Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, Charlie Daniels and nearly two dozen other songwriters. Rather than having Smith write a story, however, he chose instead to ghostwrite the anecdote, and in the process he rendered at least one key element incorrect.

"I regret it and I take full responsibility for it," said Hicks, the Williamson County author of the bestselling 2005 novel The Widow of the South. "It turns out that the story's point of view isn't correct. It's a story I have told personally for many years, and I was wrong.

"The biggest problem, it seems, is a huge communication gap that occurred between Hazel and me. I thought she was aware which story (I was ghostwriting). Clearly, in hindsight, I find out she wasn't. I have conceded to her and to Tony Conway and to my publisher that I was misinformed. I don't know what else to tell you other than that."

Back to SoT

I'd like to thank Steve Gillis for taking time out of his schedule to grace Syntax of Things with his presence.  If you want more Gillis, be sure to check out his Largehearted Boy playlist or his interview over at Bookslut.  And be sure to pick up a copy of Temporary People.  You won't be sorry.

I hope to do more of this sort of thing in the coming months.  I have a couple of contributors lined up, so stay tuned.

Steve Gillis Wrapping Up

The end of the day, end of the road, end of my time on the Syntax of Things and I want to thank Jeff for inviting me and sharing his space.  Means a lot.  Awkward of course hawking my wares, but I do hope those of you inclined to give my novel, Temporary People, a read, that you enjoy.  And those of you interested in Dzanc and possibly considering submitting a work, please know we are here to support and publish the best writing we can find and are pleased to already have in our stable such great writers as Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Peter Markus, Suzanne Burns, Robert Lopez, Mike Czyzniejewski, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Laura van den Berg, Stefan Kiesbye, and Hesh Kestin.  We are equally excited by our imprints, OV Books - edited by the great Gina Frangello, and Black Lawrence Press, edited by the dynamic duo Diane Goettel and Colleen Ryor, as well as Monkeybicycle Lit Journal, edited by our brilliant design guru at Dzanc, Steven Seighman.  Peace and love, my friends.  Let's remember that.  Now go out there and elect the best damn democratic candidate and read 100 new books this year and lets see if we can't right this ship.  It's a glorious world.  Let's try not to get complacent again and allow the bad guys to take over.  There's too much at stake.  Thanks for all.   Steve Gillis

The Writing Process

I am reserved by nature, am always then red faced and surprised when people want to know more about me.  "How do you write?  What is your process?"  The question gets posed and has been posed here again so I will tell you in short, for me, writing is - as Edison said of work and genius - in general 5% inspiration and 95% drugs.  No, I mean 95% perspiration.  I write everyday, 365 days a year.  I get up ridiculously early  -  don't ask  - go for a run, come home, shower and write.  And write.  I wrestle my ideas to the ground, get thrashed about, bruise my knees and bloody my head.  I don't ever quit.  I respect the process and learn from it, even now, after all these years.  Temporary People went though many many drafts.  I had an idea what I wanted to write, but getting there is not linear.  I just rely on faith (not religious faith but real faith) and no sleep and forge on.  I don't ever go "diminishing returns" on the entire novel or story, am aware of not beating a dead horse, but if a passage or chapter isnt working I labor until I figure out why.  In short, it is never the muse I wait on, but just the old fashioned nose to the grindstone and even on the worst of days, I remind myself there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing.

A fan of the author

What blog would be complete without some name dropping?  At the risk of leaving someone out, a list then of authors I have recently read or am forever returning to and thus recommend:  Mark Sarvas, Samantha Hunt, Eileen Pollack, Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Jeff Parker, Lee K. Abbott, George Saunders, Pinckney Benedict, John Cheever, Lydia Davis, Keith Taylor, Philip F. Deaver, Steven Almond, Sam Lipsyte, Stephen Dixon, Jason Ockert, Andre Dubus, Jim Shepard, Stephen Elliott, Suzanne Burns, Brian Evenson, Elizabeth Ellen, Jim Harrison, Yasunari Kawabata, Jonathan Lethem, Lee Martin, Cormac McCarthy, Erin McGraw, Chris Bachelder, Flannery O'Connor, Don Pollock, Robert Lopez, Peter Markus, Peter Ho Davies, Aimee Bender, Ben Percy, Tod Goldberg, Rusty Barnes, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, David Morse, Mike Czyzniejewski, Stefan Kiesbye, Anton Chekhov, Gunter Grass, Fyodor Doestoyevski, Jo Neace Krause, Felicia Sullivan, Norman Waksler, Kevin Moffitt, Corey Messler,  Hesh Kestin,  Louella Bryant, Allison Amend, Daniel Chacon,  Peter Selgin,  Laura van den Berg, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Norman Rush, Christine Hume, Janet Kaufman, TC Boyle, Aaron Burch, Harold Pinter, HannahTinti, Jim Tomlinson, Colson Whitehead and Kellie Wells.  And a host of others to be sure that I apologize for excluding off the top of my head.

Gillis Day, Again

Because of some technical difficulties yesterday afternoon, we were unable to put up all of Steve's posts, so I'm more than happy to step aside for another day.  Mr. Gillis, take it away...

Dzanc Books

At the risk of taking advantage of this forum offered me, I'd be remiss if I didn't write a bit about Dzanc Books.  Dan Wickett and I founded Dzanc in 2006  with the aim of bringing great writing to a wider audience.  With lots of sweat and focus and support from folks like Steven Sieghman and Keith Taylor, we have put together a list of authors which we feel rivals the top tier presses in the country.  We are a hands-on, here to help you, buddy up to the bar, publishing house and damn proud of it.  Consortium now distributes our books nationally, as well as the books of our imprints, Black Lawrence Press, Monkeybicycle and OV Books.  Our Dzanc Writers in Residency Program, our Dzanc Prize and dozens of workshops further extends the Dzanc vision for giving something back to the community.  Its been a grand 2 years and we are looking to run for 100 years more.  After that, it's anyone's guess.  Now, if anyone can tell me what Dzanc stands for, we'll send you a copy of Roy Kesey's great Dzanc Book,  All Over.

Detroit loves literature. It also loves sports.

Having finished the task of describing the fundament of Temporary People, I can move on to more imperative concerns:  SPORTS.  Let us not pretend there is anything more significant or moving than the mark and measure of the home team.  I am a homer.  A Detroit boy forever rooting and what can I say?  Right now, without exception, there is no better sports city in America.  Go ahead and differ with me, the proof is in the pundit, I mean the pudding.  Pistons?  Second round of the playoffs and up 3-1.  Red Wings?  Western Conference finals and up 2-0.  Tigers?  On the move after a tough start, the team to beat for sure after 40 games and having just taken the Yankees in 2 series winning 5 games.  Lions?  Ok, so we have a blip on our screen.  Are we going to focus on the mole on Cindy Crawford's cheek or look at the body in total?