Tag: The Opiate Books

Interview

When The Phone Rang… The Call of the Muse Was Answered: An Interview with Youssef Alaoui and Anton Bonnici

The subject matter of Youssef Alaoui and Anton Bonnici’s new release, When the Phone Rang, feels as timely now as it did at one of the heights of anti-Arab sentiments and policies: in the immediate years that followed 9/11. The Opiate took some time to discuss, among other topics, how the original short story, “When the Phone Rang,” came to be and why the resonance … Continue reading When The Phone Rang… The Call of the Muse Was Answered: An Interview with Youssef Alaoui and Anton Bonnici

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Interview

Anonymous Office Workers of the World Unite!: An Interview

In the following interview, The Opiate’s Anton Bonnici (AB) poses a few questions to Genna Rivieccio (GR) about her latest book (a.k.a. massive tome), Diary of an Anonymous Midtown Office Worker in the 2010s. The context of the book is presented as a diary that’s been found many years in the future by a team of archaeologists who no longer have any idea what this … Continue reading Anonymous Office Workers of the World Unite!: An Interview

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Interview

An Interview With a Poet’s Poet: Antonia Alexandra Klimenko by Malik Crumpler

*Antonia Alexandra Klimenko’s poetry collection, On the Way to Invisible, is now available at your preferred book retailer.* There’s no denying that Antonia Alexandra Klimenko is a poet’s poet. By that I mean that she is more than a vessel—Klimenko is a mirror, one of the few who is one with Poetry. And, if you are ever fortunate enough to hang out with her, and … Continue reading An Interview With a Poet’s Poet: Antonia Alexandra Klimenko by Malik Crumpler

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Criticism

Fire Crotch Embraces Her Heritage (And Little Else) in Irish Wish: A Tate Carmichael Review

The following is a review of Irish Wish by Tate Carmichael, author of her own 00s-related Burn Book, Lindsay Lohan Stole My Life. Reader discretion is advised.  Okay, so I know Lindsay, like, dispensed with her dignity somewhere between banging Wilmer Valderrama and not paying her Chateau Marmo bill ‘cause she was (/is) poor, but I guess I continue to be blindsided by the depths … Continue reading Fire Crotch Embraces Her Heritage (And Little Else) in Irish Wish: A Tate Carmichael Review

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Book Review

I Love Paris: Rufo Quintavalle’s Elucidative Portrait of Urban Life by Audrey Vinkenes

Life is a carnival of extremes. That much Rufo Quintavalle seems to be aware of, as he makes apparent in his latest poetry collection, I Love Paris. Not only regaling us with truthful and haunting visions, but also showing us that existence is rarely black and white. Particularly in Paris. Where it’s more like a rain-soaked panoply of hues muted in gray.  Masterfully tracing the undulating freedoms … Continue reading I Love Paris: Rufo Quintavalle’s Elucidative Portrait of Urban Life by Audrey Vinkenes

Genna Rivieccio1 Comment
The Opiate Books

The Opiate Books Presents: Atlas, Bound by Victor Marrero

There are few poetry books of its kind. And perhaps for good reason. After all, a collection of this nature isn’t easy to achieve. For Victor Marrero manages to take a hyper-specific subject matter–Michelangelo’s unfinished “Four Prisoners” sculptures–and deftly expand it so as to apply to such universal themes as humankind’s endless quest for meaning in existence, its tendency toward self-imprisonment and the author’s own … Continue reading The Opiate Books Presents: Atlas, Bound by Victor Marrero

Genna Rivieccio1 Comment
The Opiate Books

The Opiate Books Presents: The PornME Trinity, 2nd Edition by David Leo Rice

Perhaps too unbelievable to fathom at the beginning of 2020, The PornME Trinity by David Leo Rice has taken on an entirely new meaning and resonance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. An (ongoing) era, as we all know, when everyone was forced to acknowledge just how bleak and ersatz their existence really was when confined to four walls (whether at work or at … Continue reading The Opiate Books Presents: The PornME Trinity, 2nd Edition by David Leo Rice

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Interview

“I’ve Turned Depression and Anger Into Vaudeville”: An Interview With Leanne Grabel

In an interview with Brontosaurus Illustrated author Leanne Grabel, The Opiate probes the mind of this Portland-based luminary to get her thoughts on everything from the creative process that went into the book to her advice on how to cope with sexual assault, itself the subject of her new graphic novel released on The Opiate Books imprint.  The Opiate: When did you first know that … Continue reading “I’ve Turned Depression and Anger Into Vaudeville”: An Interview With Leanne Grabel

Genna Rivieccio1 Comment
The Opiate Books

The Opiate Books Presents: Brontosaurus Illustrated by Leanne Grabel

Regular readers of The Opiate may recognize Leanne Grabel’s work from the pages of our magazine, where we previously serialized Brontosaurus. Now available as Brontosaurus Illustrated, this is the work as you’ve never seen it–gorgeously illustrated and beautifully designed with the help of Robin Chilstrom. Don’t miss out on this truly unique and unprecedented memoir that turns a lasting trauma into something triumphant and hopeful. … Continue reading The Opiate Books Presents: Brontosaurus Illustrated by Leanne Grabel

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Criticism

Joan Didion Knows Where to Cut: Plucking Flowers With “Pretty Nancy”

The excitement surrounding Joan Didion’s release of a “new” book called Let Me Tell You What I Mean needn’t be mitigated by the fact that it is a collection of older essays (previously unreleased, therefore everything old is new again), gathered from 1968 to 2000. For Didion is perhaps at her most signaturely eviscerating during this period, and one wonders if a release of truly … Continue reading Joan Didion Knows Where to Cut: Plucking Flowers With “Pretty Nancy”

Genna Rivieccio1 Comment