Extree, extree, this just in, Caleb tells you why you may have shitty taste in books. New article at Slothrop.com just went live, titled "Why You Will Never Stop Reading Books by that Shitty Author You Secretly Love." A taste: My goal here, it would seem, is to strip away the magic and aesthetic pleasure from the reading experience until all that remains is a conscious system of if/thens made to cultivate so much data and worry that you’d be better to build an apocalypse bunker, devoid of all text, than to crease the spine of a highly anticipated blockbuster from James Patterson (though, you’d be wise to avoid the latter no matter my intentions with this blog post). Yes, it seems that way. But no. Rather, it is important to understand the very basics of the free will argument if we are to at all suppose books as a unique…
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.
Easter Eggs, you know, those hidden references in movies, books, websites, and more that aren't necessary but are damn fun in a treasure hunt sort of way. I planted a few (13 to be exact) in my newest novel, I Didn't Mean to be Kevin. In this, part 4 (of4), I reveal references to Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) and Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales). After watching, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay updated on new videos
Increasingly, one of my favorite things is dialogue(ing) with Pablo D'Stair. He's the sort of arm-chair thinker/drinker, literary critic type that I get on well with. Recently, he and I had yet another email back-and-forth, this one for the Montage section of the Sunday Observer ("Sri Lanka's English Newspaper with the largest circulation"), where we wax on about genre vs. literary writing, the sound of language, what constitutes success, and more. Dare I say that this series is perhaps our most interesting dialogue yet (though, I reserve the right to someday find hidden genius in our past discussions). Head over to the Sunday Observer now get all icky with Pablo and Caleb sticky.
Patrick Wensink kindly re-posted my short essay thing "The Author Who Gets Free Drinks: A (Hopefully) True Story," over at his blog, Broken Piano for President, which not coincidentally is the title of his recently released book. Head over to the site, take in the story. It's about Tom Waits, free drinks, and Southwest Airlines. Here's a lick: This is the already true part: in June of 2008 I stood on a beach in San Diego wearing a full suit, paying more attention to my watch than to the ocean in front of me. For a boy from Kansas City, where the largest body of water might be a wort vessel at the Boulevard Brewery, this transposed priority says a lot. I had a flight, and as always, the airline schedule superseded any perceived relaxation. And it’s especially hard to relax when, with my suit beachwear I looked the part of a…
...Phil Jourdan is a damn good runner-up. Here he reads a page or so from my story "Click-Clack" which a lot of people seem to really like (both the story and Phil's voice).
Easter Eggs, you know, those hidden references in movies, books, websites, and more that aren't necessary but are damn fun in a treasure hunt sort of way. I planted a few (13 to be exact) in my newest novel, I Didn't Mean to be Kevin. In this, part 3 (of4), I reveal references to Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby). Eleven down, two to go After watching, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay updated on new videos
Easter Eggs, you know, those hidden references in movies, books, websites, and more that aren't necessary but are damn fun in a treasure hunt sort of way. I planted a few (13 to be exact) in my newest novel, I Didn't Mean to be Kevin. In this, part 2, I reveal references to T.C. Boyle, Steve Aylett, Craig Clevenger, Brian Evenson, Will Christopher Baer, Octavio Paz, and Flannery O'Connor. Seven down, four to go. After watching, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay updated on new videos