Month: August 2021

Essay

Valeria’s Self-Publishing Journey Is the Type of Schlock That Encourages Naïve Dreams of Author Grandeur

There are all of about three truly “noteworthy” and “recent” self-publishing success stories: Legally Blonde, Fifty Shades of Grey and Diary of an Oxygen Thief (each book being decidedly diverse in content). There have been others, of course, even from the more “old school” authors, like Proust, Woolf, Austen and Hawthorne. And their work was perhaps more “viral” at the time precisely because we didn’t then use terms like “viral” … Continue reading Valeria’s Self-Publishing Journey Is the Type of Schlock That Encourages Naïve Dreams of Author Grandeur

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Poetry

In the Waiting Room by Laura King

Half of us neurotic, jet-laggedwe sit in a living room with a vinyl floor.One paces, glances at his smartwatchat thirty-second intervals.The woman on a sofa won’t make eye contactbecause this is not her country.Another hums a lullaby, says she’s dreamedof being a mother, calls herself Infertile Myrtle,tells of dead embryos.One man asks for a cup of coffee.A young woman says she’s brought a cameraand a … Continue reading In the Waiting Room by Laura King

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Fiction

My Beloved Water Filter by M. D. Talley

It was love at first power squat. Girl meets girl. Neither of us were cut out for CrossFit. I wanted to stay slender despite a red wine, cheese and baguette diet, not become a sweaty gladiator. No, we were beginner yoga forever, where we ran into each other again—at Yoga Forever. I figured we must live in the same neighborhood. Recognition, innocent laughter and “we’re … Continue reading My Beloved Water Filter by M. D. Talley

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Essay

On the Subversiveness of the Act of Reading in The White Lotus

Reading, in general, feels like an “anomalous” act. Particularly if it’s tangible literature. For “screen methods” have made it easy for “regulars” and vacationers alike to download as many books (a truly odious phrase) as they want to without worrying about the extra bulk it might cause in their suitcase or carry-on. Thus, the subversiveness of “analog” reading is taken to a new level within … Continue reading On the Subversiveness of the Act of Reading in The White Lotus

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Poetry

Trees by Betsy Martin

a pithy fall day the hill stippled withpeach, rose, yellowa friend and I stride over it among other walkers, maples oaks, ripple of leaves with breeze brisk on our cheeks we talkabout youth, the old streetsfamilies, secrets, seedswhisked by decades of winds and about necks how to wind a scarfto hide the furrowswe talk about beeches with gray bark-fleshstill bearing initials and heartscarved into themwhen they were young __________________________________________________________________Betsy Martin … Continue reading Trees by Betsy Martin

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Poetry

No eye contact is to be had by Susie Gharib

I walk the streets since I’m still part of the herd,which our ancestors had called humankind, but no eye contact is to be had,only an ocean of heaving, bowed heads, absorbed in the contents of their possessive hands. Little, local gossips have swelled into global slander of the first class.Domestic, personal festivities are available for pernicious sneers and heated debates.Each ego is inflated with the aid of … Continue reading No eye contact is to be had by Susie Gharib

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Essay

De Sade’s Reanimation in the Sex Book

Madonna’s still-underrated literary masterpiece, Sex, was arguably the last time a massive audience got truly excited—titillated—about a book. Coffee table or not. And, balk at the prose all you will (including, “My pussy has nine lives”)—it still got people talking about sex in a way they never had as a result of literature since the era of Marquis de Sade’s reign over erotic content. Madonna was … Continue reading De Sade’s Reanimation in the Sex Book

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Poetry

Fill ‘Er Up by Betsy Martin

there ought to belove stations where people could go who weren’t nurtured enough in their early years you’d approach and be metby outstretched arms  and into you would come an outpouring of what you’d been yearning for:self-esteem, social grace, courage,calm a more civilized society would provide this instead of filling stations for cars parents toohaving had parents themselveswould be encouragedto use the love stations __________________________________________________________________Betsy Martin is the author of … Continue reading Fill ‘Er Up by Betsy Martin

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Essay

Tarantino Petty: On Not Forgiving Those Who Piss On Your Dreams (Particularly Your Parents)

While promoting his recent novelization of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino confessed freely to Brian Koppelman on his The Moment podcast that the second his mother belittled his aspirations of becoming a writer, he vowed never to give her a “penny” from the eventual fruits of his labor.  The revelation/solemn vow popped into his head when Tarantino was getting a verbal lashing for working on … Continue reading Tarantino Petty: On Not Forgiving Those Who Piss On Your Dreams (Particularly Your Parents)

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