Michael Kimball coming to Michigan

Michael Kimball
reads from his new novel

DEAR EVERYBODY
For more information, and links to the events, please visit:
http://michael-kimball.com/

East Lansing

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 7:30 PM
Michigan Writers Series
A Reading and Q&A with the author
Location: Michigan State University
MSU Main Library
North Conference Room (W449),
4th floor, West Wing
517.353.8700
Admission: Free
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Lansing

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 7:30 PM
Author Talk and Book Signing
Schuler Books
Eastwood Towne Center
2820 Towne Center Blvd.
Lansing, MI 48912
517.316.7495
Admission: Free
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Detroit

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 6:00 PM
Reading with Lynn Crawford &
Randa Jarrar
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
4454 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.832.6622
Admission: Free

“a hero of contemporary
American literature” -- Sam Lipsyte

“Kimball is one of the most talented and original
writers in America today.” -- Luca Dipierro

“It’s easy to see why Kimball is held up as one
of the potentially great literary hopes of recent
times.” --Book Munch, Chris Pickering

Michael Kimball’s third novel, DEAR
EVERYBODY, has just been published in the US,
UK, and Canada (http://michael-kimball.com/).
His first two novels are THE WAY THE FAMILY
GOT AWAY (2000) and HOW MUCH OF US
THERE WAS (2005), both of which have been
translated (or are being translated) into many
languages.

Started Reading a New Book

For whatever reason, I went downstairs to the bookshelves o'plenty and found a novel entitled The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker by one David Boyer. Of course, it's pretty hard to pass up such a title. Written in 1968, I wouldn't say it's a classic, but it sure feels like this one got missed. It's incredibly readable, and it's got a Catcher in the Rye/The Graduate kind of feel to it that people usually seem to like. It must have been somewhat big in its day because they made a movie from it entitled Pigeons (there's a trailer for it on YouTube).

I'm only 30 pages into it, but it's only 142 pages long.

Here's the opening:

"The woman in the back seat of my taxi told me that honking would not make the traffic jam go away. I asked how it was that she knew so much. She said I was young, as I grew older I would learn the virtue of patience. I told her that patient people were people who were dead, that honking was my inextinguishable voice of outrage, and if it didn't make the traffic jam go away it certainly made me feel better. She said I was a disgrace to the Christmas season. I said I was glad."

I don't know . . . so far I'm enjoying it.

Week 39

Well, zero dollars this week.

I did think of a quote.

"Use the thesaurus only to remind yourself of words you already know."

I finished Curtis Smith's Sound + Noise. The book had a really good premise and some promising characters. Tom is stuck in limbo. His wife, the victim of a car accident, is both alive and dead. Brain-damaged and lifeless, she whithers slowly in a long-term care home. Jackie, a one-time back up singer for a successful road band, has been back in her hometown for years -- choosing to buy her uncle's bar when she could see that her band life was drying up. Each are weighted down by their pasts. Each wants or needs something more.

They find each other, but the courtship is slow.

I really liked Jackie as a character, and some of Smith's description are dead-on.

However, the novel is weighted down by too much philosophizing. There's a long discussion on faith between Tom and his best friend, and in this scene, the characters become mouth pieces for the author. Their dialogue is stiff and sounds as though they're reading from a Faith 101 book.

Another drawback is the interior lives of the characters. They turn everything they observe into a symbol. They think too much and too lucidly. It's like they're both grad students in literature, trying to turn every observation into a symbol.

It makes the book hard to read. It's hard to explain, but it felt over-written.

Still, there were enough moments that I liked that if I were on amazon right now, I'd give the book 3 stars.

Without Wax and The Tea House remain my favorite novels out from Casperian Books.

Tri City Magazine

Tri City Magazine just did a nice little write-up of my book, Poems New, Used, and Rebuilds. They mention that readers should come to my site if they want a copy. If that's why you're here, drop me an email (jcvandez@delta.edu) and we'll work out a discounted, signed copy for you.

Really, that deal stands for anyone . . . and for any of my books.

BTW, Tri City Magazine happens to be a Tri City Gem!

Week 38 and a Tri-City Gem

For whatever reason, this turned out to be a decent week. I sold a few books and turned a profit of $16.67. So, my total for the year is now $856.67. I would have to work 115 hours at a minimum wage job to earn that much. So . . . it's like I almost worked three weeks at McDonalds and then quit. But, I didn't have to work at McDonalds. Instead, I met really cool people through different venues, sold a few of them books, got paid by a few of them for visiting, and stayed up late having a good time drinking wine and writing in my basement.

Yeah, the money isn't great, but I had a pretty good time earning it. How many people can say that about their pay?

Not much else to report, though I would like to mention another Tri-City Gem. This one is online, but its physical base is in Bay City. Bay City is host to one of the premiere promoters of literary magazines and books. It's called NewPages. (www.newpages.com) In addition to keeping writers and readers informed of what's out there, they also have given many local writers the opportunity to see their words in print -- their words being reviews of lit mags and books.

If you have a gift for writing, and you would like to review lit mags, contact NewPages and find out if they're looking for anybody. Well, first, read a few of the lit mag reviews -- which are high caliber -- and ask yourself if you could do that. If you think you can, you might want to contact them. I don't think they pay, but how exciting to see your first published review go up on their site!

Another Tri-City Gem

Local gal, Trish Lewis, is playing an excellent mix of music on her Public Radio show, The Eclectic Chair. It airs on Mondays from 1-3 p.m. on WUCX --F.M. Q90.1 -- which happens to be Delta College's Public Radio station.

You really will get a chance to hear some cool music that you otherwise might not hear.

Tune in.

And, if you'd like, check out her website: http://www.radiochair.com/

Some New Art

Well, I got away from the Jackson Pollock rip-offs.

Not sure who I'm ripping off now.

A Tri-Cities Gem

If you get the chance, get out and support the Hell's Half Mile Film and Music Festival in Bay City, October 2-5.

More info: http://www.hhmfest.com/

Michael Randolph's Sleepwalker, a short film for which I wrote the screenplay, has been accepted and will be a part of the festival.

I hear people complain that there's nothing going on in the Tri-Cities. I think there are things going on, but they don't get supported, so they stop going on.

In fact, it ties in to a new line of blog entries I'd like to do. Tri-City Gems. Each post will focus on some event or place in the tri-cities that's really worth checking out.

Week 37

Well, the book club went well, and the discussion of Into the Desperate Country was very animated. Afterwards, I sold some books, and turned a profit of $17.12, which brings my yearly total to: $840.00.

Speaking of Into the Desperate Country, amazon.com still has 3 copies of it. It'd be great if someone would buy one. Give it away. Burn it. Whatever. You'd be helping my sales rank out . . . and that's the important thing.

Well, I just heard tonight that a novel that I was hoping to get published was rejected. Oh well.

Still, there's a bright side . . .

When I went down to our laundry room to do a late-night load of clothes, I heard a noise. It was a mole (the mole that's been coming in through our laundry exhaust hose). There he was . . . his little, blind face chewing yet another hole through the hose. All I could see was his little nose, and hear his little teeth working away.

Using my frustration about the rejection, I picked up a plunger and swung it as hard as I could right into that little chewing face.

Pow. No more mole problem. I used needle-nose pliers to carry his limp body out to the garbage. Fitting that I used needle-nose pliers to carry his needle-nose face out to the trash.

So, that's a good thing, anyway.

An Acceptance from Burning River

Burning River Publications has accepted my story "NUFOINFO" for publication in their pocketbook, Noun vs. Verb.

As always, it's fun to receive an acceptance!

People can still submit to Burning River, and the editor there seems very friendly. Of course, this is a fledgling publication, so the editor has plenty of time yet to get bitter and stodgy : )

Check them out at: http://burningriver.info/?p=41

They are open to fiction and poetry.

Honoring Stegner, Kesey, Kimball, Smith and, well, myself

In a fiction workshop at Stanford, Wallace Stegner told Ken Kesey and others that a success for one writer is a success for all writers -- which seems especially true now when people have so many other shiny things to turn to besides books.

So, I'm taking a moment to tip my hat to Michael Kimball and Alma Books for what seems to be a great start to the sales life of Mr. Kimball's novel, Dear Everybody. Google this one. It's getting incredible reviews.



On the same note, let's not forget Curtis Smith's recently released novel, Sound + Noise (Casperian Books). It, too, is generating some buzz.



It's victories for novels, even small victories, that might help bring more readers back to literary fiction. Non-fiction has had a good run here, but that's enough. It's time to bring back the deeper values of symbol, metaphor, and catharsis that come from reading fiction.

So, according to Stegner, Kimball and Smith's successes are successes for me because any success of the written word is a success for all people who write words.

Cool.

That means I can expect some sales to trickle down to my novel, Into the Desperate Country.



Now, if you're strapped for funds, the M.E.W. (that's My Empty Wallet) suggests that you buy the above books in the reverse order that I have them on this post.

FaceBook, MySpace, Goodreads, etc

My apologies to anyone who has sent me an email asking me to be a "friend" on any of these online networking sites.

I don't use them.

It's not that I don't like them, and I'm not -- in McCain fashion -- proud that I don't use them.

I just don't use them.

I'm barely functioning in the "my space" that is my family.

If you want to send me a regular, ol' email, I'll respond. Although, I'm told that I'm not a very dependable virtual friend, either.

In any case, I'm not trying to be mean when I don't respond to email requests for "friendship". I just simply don't use online networking services.

Week (or should I say Weak) 36

Another $2.00 week. That brings my yearly total to: $822.88.

Not a great deal else happening. I started teaching a new semester at Delta College.

Michael Randolph and I are talking a little bit more about the second movie we'll film next spring.

I read Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, which had a great beginning and end, but could have lived with about 40 pages less of middle.

I'm waiting to receive Sound + Noise.

I meet with a book club tomorrow night. They read my novel, Into the Desperate Country. I hope they liked it.

Oh, if anyone is looking for a church to attend in Midland, MI, you might try the United Church of Christ on Chestnut Hill Dr. We've been pretty picky about churches, and have tried a few over the years, but this one really works for us. Very open-minded.

Just Some Quick News

I just learned that the next issue of Controlled Burn will have a poem of mine in it.

It's been a long dry spell, so that was a nice email to get.

Controlled Burn is a Michigan-grown magazine out of Kirtland Community College. If you're looking for a place to submit -- or, more importantly, subscribe -- you might want to check them out.

http://www2.kirtland.edu/cburn/

Week 35 and Other Things

Well, this week saw me earning $2 from writing, so my total for the year has risen to . . . $820.88. At this rate, a one thousand dollar-year seems a long way off.

Casperian Books just released Sound & Noise by Curtis Smith. I ordered it. You should think about it, too: http://www.casperianbooks.com/catalog/1-934081-04-3.html I may be wrong, but I get the sense that people will be talking about this one. It was getting some good pre-publishing buzz.

I just finished read a book of poems. Lightning and Ashes is by John Guzlowski, and it details his parents' experiences as slave laborers for the Nazis. It also contains poems about how they eventually became displaced persons and then came to America. What a powerful collection. The poems are stark and frank, and the language and style match the theme perfectly. Here's just a sample:


My Father Tells a Story

My friend Jashu was an artist in Wilno
before the war. He would paint pictures
of young women in dresses made of roses
and yellow flowers no one had ever seen.

In the camp he would push a stick
through the dust and sketch your face
give you eyes like Charlie Chaplin
or a funny stomach like Oliver Hardy.

Jashu told me of the women he knew
before the war, of making love in blue rooms
after a dessert of marzipani on silver plates,
then going into the dark, wet park

And making love again in the half shelter
of a band shell or kiosk. Near the end
he told me he had the French disease,
and when I said I didn't understand

he pointed down to his thing there
and asked me what he should do.
He was a good friend, and I looked him
in the eye and said, "Go to the Elbe

And drown yourself." He laughed and went
to Stefan Czernak who said, "Go to the Germans
And tell them what you did." The Germans asked,
"Who was the woman you made love to?"

He told them, and they beat her with clubs
and killed her and they beat him too,
and castrated him, and killed him.

What a powerful poem! The whole thing leaves the reader waiting for something at the end. Something what? Something poetic? Uplifting? Something more than what we got? Well, what we got is it. This is Nazi Germany. This is how poems end in Nazi Germany. That ending gets me again and again. It's the stark truth. You can't write about such a thing "poetically". It is what it is, and yet it is poetic because it captures the thing so perfectly.



I read this book because John Guzlowski will be coming to the tri-cities for a reading on Wednesday, November 12th. He'll be reading in the day at Delta College and in the evening at the United Church of Christ of Midland. I'll get more specific on the times as the events draw closer.