Video Games are Real

Author: Caleb J. Ross

  • Literary critics aren’t dying, but they are threatening suicide…again.

    Literary critics aren’t dying, but they are threatening suicide…again.

    The December 31st, 2010 episode of the New York Times Review of Books podcast focused on a conversation on the relevance of professional literary criticism, especially in respects to the ‘everyone does it’ mentality associated with Amazon book reviews, Facebook statuses, and amateur lit crit blogs. Though the entire conversation was extremely interesting, the following point was especially intriguing. Said Katie Roiphe, a professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, about the current position of a critic in relation to what so many people want to call today’s death of literature (slightly paraphrased; dates are my insertions):

    It is tempting to say that we live in this dangerous death of literature, but the critic has always said that. If you go back to Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), if you go back to Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982), Randall Jarrell (1914-1965) and their generation. There is something romantic for the critic to see themselves as this lone, embattled defender of the culture against the vast desert that is our uncaring population. It’s an appealing stance, but I think we have to recognize that it is a romantic role that we embrace and somehow take on. In the end, the books remain, the critic remains, and I think that the idea of the death of the critic or the death of literature is just an eternal one for the critic, sort of a fascinating one for the critic.

    The concept of historic consistency when it comes to traditionally un-mainstream mediums has always fascinated me. It seems very generational-centric/ego-centric to think of our time as somehow more unstable or somehow better off in terms of literature. But even when I hear such a concise, and example-laden, view of this fallacy as quoted above, I still can’t help but dismiss it. Do I just want to be a part of a suddenly underdog industry? Or has the industry always been a consistent underdog? Or does the term underdog not apply?

    Be sure to read the corresponding essays from each of the episode panelists:

  • The top 5 most popular blog posts of 2010

    During 2010 I went from a seldom-posting recluse to an annoying gnat. But apparently some people like being bothered by insects, because a few of my posts actually rose out of the white noise to become respectable accidental meant-to-search-for-porn landing pages.

    #1 | Great Unexpected Literary References (posted in June)
    Top entrance keywords: literary references, literature references in family guy, south park literary references, simpsons literary references, family guy brian great expectations reference

    #2 | Peter Griffin does porn and literature

    Top entrance keywords: peter griffin porn, griffin porn, caleb porn, porn in literature, porn literature

    #3 | My 2010 Lit Midget list of forthcoming small press books
    Top entrance keywords: midget list, noah cicero the insurgent, “noah cicero”, “termite parade”, “letter machine”

    #4 | You decide what I wear; voting for the Stranger Will cover
    Top entrance keywords: stranger vote 2010 nov, stranger vote november 2010 (most of the visits for this page came from direct referrals)

    #5 | Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” mentioned in The Simpsons
    Top entrance keywords: the lottery the simpsons, the simpsons the lottery, the lottery simpsons, simpsons the lottery shirley jackson, the simpsons + the lottery

  • Ideas I’ve had (probably while drinking): bottle stories

    Ideas I’ve had (probably while drinking): bottle stories

    The beer bottle label is grossly misappropriated real estate. When sold as a six- or twelve-pack, the bottle label is hidden by the outside packaging. And nobody buys a single bottle of beer. So why not use the label for something more than null-advertising? We drink for the morning after stories over greasy breakfast, so why not pull those stories back by a few hours and give them when drinking?

    The content of the stories could be anything from true life tales of drunken debauchery, to short fictions that somehow involve drinking, to short bios of famous authors (and their drunken exploits), to stories that incorporate the unique canvas (stories about glassblowers or, if drinking a red ale, vampires).

    For those advertising traditionalists, the label facade could be left intact, reserving a hidden underside for the story. Think the way cigarette cartoons often display coupons.

    Attention investors: money please!

  • Kansas City Reading Coves – Outlaw Cigar (south)

    Kansas City Reading Coves – Outlaw Cigar (south)

    I bring you #5 of a hopefully long-lived series: Kansas City Reading Coves.

    When I can, I like my coves like my vaginas: humid and labyrinthine.

    Today’s cove: Outlaw Cigar (south) – 13700 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66223

    I’ve avoided this place for two reasons: 1) it’s a 30 minute or so drive from my house, and 2) the cigars are crazy expensive. The only time I came in here prior to today’s visit was a few months ago. That visit allowed me to not only witness the aforementioned crazy expensive cigars first hand, but also to glimpse the cigar lounge. From my vantage near the cash register I saw only a few leather couches and a TV mounted to the wall. Nice enough, but not nice enough to pay more than twice the standard going rate for a cigar. I left, planning never to return.

    Then today, I had a few hours to kill and was in the neighborhood, so I decided to take a deeper look. I am damn glad I did. The lounge, which might more rightfully be called an adjacent building, is just about all the things I could love in a reading cove. The first of two giant rooms contains about 15 leather chairs, 3 mounted televisions, and even a bar (which was closed on this Friday morning, but I assume opens  up during special events). Preferring a quiet place to read, the TVs put me off, but I endured. I read for about an hour, then when searching for a restroom, I happened upon a super secret back lounge, this one with TVs turned off. It was perfect. I sat for another hour, just me, Matt Bell‘s How They Were Found, and the silence. The setup almost justifies the cigar prices.

    The view from my secret-cove corner
    The view from my secret-cove corner (view unobstructed)
    The view toward my secret-cove corner

    Rankings out of 10:

    Smoking accommodations 10 The lounges are bigger than the rest of the store. Enough said.
    Furniture comfort 10 Very comfy animals died for these chairs.
    Quiet level 8 As long as the TVs are off, this place is great.
    Temperature comfort 3 I don’t think this place has heard of a heater. Maybe a heater would harm the humidors, I don’t know. But still, some space heaters or something would be nice.

  • My fancy new mobile site is now live. Expect fanciness.

    My fancy new mobile site is now live. Expect fanciness.

    The fancy new mobile version of this website is now live. Take your fancy fingers and click over to the aptly earlier described fancy site by using this fancy link. (Hint: for maximum fanciness, view on a fancy mobile device, such as one pictured above).

  • Top five of oh ten

    It’s that time of year again, when it is acceptable for elitists to boast of their hipster cred. Of course, I am referring to the Top (number) Lists of the year. I’m going to squeeze into my skinny jeans, wrap a scarf around my non-coated body, and crack open a PBR while I compile my best  books of 2010 list.

    The top five

    Rationale: these are my five favorite books that were published in 2010. Of course, disclaimers apply; I couldn’t read every book published, I may not have given some books equal attention, and on and on. However, I can still cull a few favs from the admittedly too-short stack of 2010 books I read. And here they are, in no particular order.

    What I said: 

    Wolf Parts is vicious fairy tale excursions. Wolf Parts gives metaphor to the ambiguity of adolescence, turning the cautionary tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” into a predatory one. Wolf Parts turns the morality lessons of our established fairy tale and turns it inside out, sometimes literally.
    What I said: 

    Bliss Inc. beautifully teases the reader with resolution, from the opening description of arrival to the final page, and even then the reader is left with encouragement in lieu of conclusion. But it is because of this encouragement that Bliss Inc. should be on every reader’s bookshelf. Upon finishing, I knew I would forever look at cities, and my own suburban life, differently. Bliss Inc. is a truly phenomenal book, and I am comfortable with saying that it will easily make my top books of 2010 list, perhaps my top books of all time list.
    What I said: 

    I was surprised I liked it so much, to be honest. I’m admittedly a hipster when it comes to books (meaning, if one is popular, I am less willing to admit that I like it), but this guy has such a confidence of language that makes me so jealous.
    What I said: 

    At times Aimee Bender minus the domesticity, add humor, mix with welcomed introspection. I’ll be reading more @paulGtremblay
    What I said: 

    Author Nik Korpon is not satisfied to let a simple nod serve to validate his fandom, whether of movies, of music, or of literature. No, Korpon takes what is inherently compelling about each of his many references and weaves those concepts into his story.

    Honorable Mentions

    Rationale: these may not have made it to my top five, but they deserve some page space, dammit.

    High Hopes

    Rationale: these could have been on the list, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to read them yet. These are books that have been taunting me from my to read shelf. I’ve heard so much praise about these books that I feel bad for not yet giving them the time they deserve.

    How They Were Found by Matt Bell

    Working Backwards from Worst Moment of My Life by Rob Roberge

    C by Tom McCarthy

    Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

    The Wraith by Goodloe Byron

    It Came From Del Rio by Stephen Graham Jones

  • Coming in the future: As a Machine and Parts, a novella that will blow your robot brain

    Coming in the future: As a Machine and Parts, a novella that will blow your robot brain

    In the next few years I’m going to be pushing more paper on you than the schoolyard drug dealer’s less popular friend, the Zig Zag dealer. My novella, As a Machine and Parts, will be published by Aqueous Books sometime in the future. Yes, I could qualify any of my unpublished books with such a loose time frame. But I mean it. The contract has been signed. The Zig Zags have been distributed.

    The party probably won’t happen until 2012 or later, however. That should give you plenty of time to read my other two forthcoming books, vomit a few times, and forget them long enough to make that mistake a third time.