Expect it here, at Perfect Edge Books
Posts By Caleb J. Ross
Caleb began writing his sophomore year of undergrad study when, tired of the formal art education then being taught, he abandoned the pursuit in the middle of a compositional drawing class. Major-less and fearful of losing his financial aid, he signed up to seek a degree in English Literature for no other reason than his lengthy history with the language. Coincidentally, this decision not only introduced him to writing but to reading as well. Prior this transition he had read three books. One of which he understood.
The Orphan Master’s Son is a remarkable book. I’ve been a fan of Adam Johnson’s work since his story collection Emporium (which I credit as being a primary impetus to my own fiction writing), and though both books are stellar, they are so in such different ways. It’s hard to believe that the man who wrote Emporium is the same guy who wrote The Orphan Master’s Son. Perhaps the two personalities are a Jun Do/Commander Ga thing (reference to the book). In this video review you’ll suffer through my overt praise as well as my amazing Photoshop skills. Who knew Adam Johnson could so easily become Kim Jong Il?
Noir at the Bar, vol. 2, with my story "The Lipidopterist" (read at a Noir at the Bar event at Meshuggah Cafe in St. Louis MO on February 28, 2012) Many thanks to Jedidiah Ayres and Scott Phillips for putting this together. Featuring stories by (in alphabetical order): Jedidiah Ayres, Frank Bill, Jane Bradley, Sonia L. Coney, Hilary Davidson, Les Edgerton, Nate Flexer, Matthew C. Funk, Jesus Angel Garcia, Glenn Gray, Kevin Lynn Helmick, Gordon Highland, John Hornor Jacobs, David James Keaton, Tim Lane, Erik Lundy, Jason Makansi, Matthew McBride, Jon McGoran, Cortright McMeel, Aaron Michael Morales, Scott Phillips, Robert J. Randisi & Christine Matthews, John Rector, Caleb J. Ross, Duane Swierczynski, Mark W. Tiedemann, Fred Venturini, Benjamin Whitmer and Nic Young.
The stories of Fuckload of Shorts by Jedidiah Ayres, which includes the stories that inspired the short film Fuckload of Scotch Tape, are the best kind of short stories. Each one takes an idea that, realistically should make for a horrible, shock-driven story, and instead delivers amazing noir fiction with beautifully rendered characters. Ejaculating a dead man? Yep. Selling corpses to a dog foot plant? Yep. In the hands of a lesser writer, these ideas would amount to nothing more than throwaway snuff fiction. But in the hands of Jedidiah Ayres, these ideas are simply climaxes of and catalysts for truly compelling stories. This video book review examines one of those scenarios in-depth: how exactly, logistically speaking, can one ejaculate a dead man? Yes, there is a whiteboard and drawings included.
100 subscribers! It’s a milestone, to be sure. The first milestone of what I hope to be many, many more. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed (and will subscribe, after getting a whiff of what’s being given away to celebrate this 100 subscriber achievement). As a thank you to all subscribers of this book channel, I am giving away a one-of-a-kind, handmade, leather bound edition of Warmed and Bound, an anthology in which one of my stories appears. Warmed and Bound is a truly exceptional collection of dark, noir-inspired stories of sometimes dystopian, sometimes too-real-I-wish-it-were-dystopian fiction. Authors include: Matt Bell, Blake Butler, Vincent Louis Carrella, Craig Clevenger, Brian Evenson, Stephen Graham Jones, Bradley Sands, Paul Tremblay, me, and many, many more, including a forward from Steve Erickson! Click here to watch a video trailer promoting the original Warmed and Bound anthology. I warn you, I’m no professional book binder.…
Though Laila may be too young to have penned FCJR, I have a feeling she was involved with the brainstorming sessions. She pretty much describes me perfectly in terms of my hatred for many, many things. You're on my radar, Laila.
JR Harlan, author and contributor to Warmed and Bound (and possibly FCJR?) takes some time out of his busy spider-holing schedule to alert the world to the "dangers" of Caleb J. Ross. Hey, if you consider physical shortness, slightly overweightness, and my thinning hair to be dangerous, then you probably deserve that spider hole.