We're in Love With the Living and the Dead

 

This week in Indie Literature:

Fiction Reviews from Daniel and Micah.

Black Heron Press has always been one of our favorites, and their latest release, a posthumous novel by Frederick Kohner is nothing short of magnificent.

$16.00  Available from Black Heron Press, Midpoint Trade books, Ingram, Baker & Taylor and Most Other Wholesalers.  However, the publisher would prefer you purchase Early Pleasures from your local Independent Bookstore.

Written in the early 1970’s, Kohner’s Early Pleasures was discovered only after his death. This first, posthumous edition released by Black Heron Press marks yet another reason to hail the indie publishing world as the foundation of modern literature.  Kohner’s fictionalized account of his adolescent sexual adventures in Austria and Paris in the early years following World War I comes across as an absorbing, beautiful and tender journey through the human condition. Flashes of Proustian recollections, complimented by a subtle, yet poetic elegance make Early Pleasures not only an important work, but a necessary chronicling of Peacetime Europe, as seen through the eyes of a brilliant and reclusive young poet.

From the frustrations of unrequited love, to the suicidal tendencies of the desperate and lovelorn, Kohner’s glimpse into the wine of youth lacks nothing.  I’ve read Early Pleasures, and I am reading it again, as this magnificent piece of literature has the potential to mean as much to my generation as it may have to Kohner’s had it been published thirty of forty years earlier.

—Daniel Kine, Author of Between Nowhere and Happiness  

The Drunken Tourist, by Chris Santana

Victor Press, 2010

What Chris Santana has accomplished with The Drunken Tourist is no more or less than what he set out to do.  He’s delivered exactly what this book’s title promises: an off-the-chart tour guide, which just so happens to be an adventure story.  Yet, the real feat here is that Santana has managed to write a book that is as useful as it is entertaining.  Perhaps this has been done before, although I’ve never come across such a thing myself. 

Meticulous, inimitable maps alongside brilliantly detailed accounts of landmarks and debauchery, The Drunken Tourist paints an Americanized portrait of the down-and-out wayfarer drinking and smoking his way through Europe’s tourist scene by day, and subculture by night.  A nonfiction report of a lost soul staggering in-and-out of vices and museums, Santana has produced a work that wavers the line between a Lonely Planet Guidebook and George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London. 

Had this book been written earlier in his career, one might be inclined to label it as a coming-of-age memoir; however, it should suffice to settle on deeming The Drunken Tourist a coming-of-consciousness tale of forewarning and reconciliation. 

                                                 —Micah Loosen, Indie Literature Now

Be sure to keep your eye on us for upcoming reviews, interviews and other nonsense.  Also, mark your calendars for April 1^st, as Lidia Yuknavitch’s critically acclaimed memoir is set to be released by Hawthorne Books, which we here at Indie Literature Now will be celebrating with our Author-on-Author interview between Mrs. Yuknavitch and Daniel Kine.

 

 

A Spring Without Borders

Indie Literature Now's Author-on-Author interview series will kick off April 1st with a conversation between two talented and daring contemporary writers. Daniel Kine, Author of Between Nowhere and Happiness, sits down to interview woman writer and activist Lidia Yuknavitch, Author of Real to Reel, Liberty’s Excess, Her Other Mouths, about her upcoming memoir, The Chronology of Water (April, Hawthorne Books).


“If you’ve never read anything by Lidia Yuknavitch, I will tell you this: she's fucking brilliant, and you’re going to be hearing a lot about her very soon.”

Daniel Kine on what to expect from his upcoming interview with Lidia, set to appear April 1st, (April 1st is also Hawthorne Books’ publication date for her new memoir, The Chronology of Water).

Lidia Yuknavitch, Author of Real to Reel, Liberty’s Excess, Her Other Mouths, and the upcoming memoir, The Chronology of Water (April 1st, Hawthorne Books).


Daniel Kine, Author of Between Nowhere and Happiness.












Other things to look into from The New York Times and other Boring sources of literary media:

Book Review Leads to Criminal Libel Charge
By ADAM LIPTAK
An author claims criticism damaged her reputation and lodged a criminal complaint in a country with almost no connection to the book or the review.
February 21, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: SUITS AND LITIGATION, FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION

‘Henry’s Demons’ and ‘The Memory Palace’ - The Pain of Schizophrenia
By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.
A father and son write about their experiences, and a daughter writes about her mother’s illness.
February 21, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: SCHIZOPHRENIA, MENTAL HEALTH AND DISORDERS, BARTOK, MIRA, COCKBURN, PATRICK

‘Alone Together’ by Sherry Turkle - Review
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
In “Alone Together,” Sherry Turkle waves a caution flag at the technological devices, from social media to robotics, we use to build our emotional lives.
February 21, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: TURKLE, SHERRY

Shakespeare the Pirate: An Internet Tale
Readers respond to a recent Op-Ed about culture and the Internet.
February 21, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: COPYRIGHTS AND COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS, COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM

Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins
By DIRK JOHNSON
In a digital world, scholars see an uncertain fate for an old and valued practice.
February 20, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: WRITING AND WRITERS, NEWBERRY LIBRARY

‘Moby-Duck,’ by Donovan Hohn - Review
By JANET MASLIN
Donovan Hohn’s “Moby-Duck” is a book that works as a lively travelogue as well as a voyage of discovery and a philosophical inquiry.
February 20, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: TOYS

In ‘Ugly Beauty,’ a Look at Two Cosmetics Giants
By BRYAN BURROUGH
A new book offers concise historical looks at Helena Rubinstein and Eugène Schueller, the founder of L’Oréal.
February 19, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: COSMETICS AND TOILETRIES, L'OREAL SA, RUBINSTEIN, HELENA, BRANDON, RUTH, SCHUELLER, EUGENE

Young Readers in Dystopia
By CHARLES MCGRATH
After the vampires come aliens, alienation and elimination games.
February 19, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: TEENAGERS AND ADOLESCENCE, FREY, JAMES

Mets’ Dickey Writing a Self-Portrait, Warts and All
By DAVID WALDSTEIN
In a memoir to be published next year, R. A. Dickey will detail how a new grip on the baseball accompanied a fresh grasp of life.
February 19, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: BASEBALL, NEW YORK METS, DICKEY, R A
Germany: Defense Minister Accused of Plagiarizing Ph.D. Dissertation
By REUTERS
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s heir apparent pulled out of an election rally on Thursday amid a plagiarism scandal that could cost him credibility, his Ph.D. title, and possibly even his job.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: PLAGIARISM, GERMANY, GUTTENBERG, KARL-THEODOR ZU

Visual Books Reviewed
By STEVEN HELLER
Visual histories of fanzines, horror magazines and banned comics, and of the Italian shelter magazine Abitare.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: COMIC BOOKS AND STRIPS, INTERIOR DESIGN AND FURNISHINGS, DESIGN
Paperback Row
By IHSAN TAYLOR
Paperback books of particular interest.
February 18, 2011

Perry Moore Dies at 39; Author of Book About Gay Superhero
By DENNIS HEVESI
Mr. Moore, the author of “Hero,” was also an executive producer of the movie series “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: DEATHS (OBITUARIES), MOVIES, HOMOSEXUALITY, MOORE, PERRY

Book Review - Revolution- By Deb Olin Unferth
By JULIA SCHEERES
The author, 18 and in love, dropped out of college and headed for Central America to hunt for a revolution.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: EL SALVADOR, NICARAGUA, CENTRAL AMERICA, UNFERTH, DEB OLIN
Bruno Littlemore’s Lineage
Letter in response to Christopher R. Beha’s review of Benjamin Hale’s novel, “The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore.”
February 18, 2011
Read the Book Instead
Nicholas Delbanco, the author of “Lastingness: The Art of Old Age,” responds to the review of his book.
February 18, 2011
Market Values
Letter in response to Megan Buskey’s review of “The Price of Everything,” by Eduardo Porter.
February 18, 2011

Up Front: Walter Isaacson
By THE EDITORS
Walter Isaacson has led CNN and Time magazine, and he now runs the Aspen Institute. But he is perhaps even more distinguished as one of the country’s most talented biographers.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: ISAACSON, WALTER
Unkind and Unnecessary
Letter in response to Neil Genzlinger’s review of Allen Shawn’s memoir “Twin.”
February 18, 2011
Editors’ Choice
Recently reviewed books of particular interest.
February 18, 2011

Wesley Stace’s ‘Charles Jessold,’ Musical Murder Mystery
By CHARLES MCGRATH
“Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer” by Wesley Stace, also known as John Wesley Harding, is both a murder mystery and a novel about classical music.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: MUSIC
Bogart’s Lonely Place
Letter in response to Holly Brubach’s review of Stefan Kanfer’s “Tough Without A Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart.”
February 18, 2011

Book Review - The Hemlock Cup - Biography of Socrates - By Bettany Hughes
By WALTER ISAACSON
Bettany Hughes examines the life and death of Socrates, and the city that nurtured and killed him.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: PHILOSOPHY, GREEK CIVILIZATION, ATHENS (GREECE), HUGHES, BETTANY

Deal With the Devil
By WILLIAM LOGAN
Three new collections illuminate the life and work of Elizabeth Bishop, including her time as a poet for The New Yorker.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: POETRY AND POETS, NEW YORKER, BISHOP, ELIZABETH

Book Review - West of Here - By Jonathan Evison
By MIKE PEED
Jonathan Evison’s panoramic novel contrasts a group of visionary settlers with their pussyfooting descendants.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: WASHINGTON (STATE)

Book Review - When the Killing’s Done - By T. Coraghessan Boyle
By BARBARA KINGSOLVER
A habitat restorer and an animal lover square off in T. C. Boyle’s rollicking novel set in California’s Channel Islands.
February 18, 2011
MORE ON BOOKS AND LITERATURE AND: ENDANGERED AND EXTINCT SPECIES, CHANNEL ISLANDS, CALIFORNIA, BOYLE, T CORAGHESSAN

Book Review - The Old Romantic - By Louise Dean
By SYLVIA BROWNRIGG
An acerbic comic novel about an old divorced couple gradually finding a spark of reconnection.
February 18, 2011