Welcome Distractions
New music, book reviews, short stories and more from blog this week
Plus lots of links to other good stuff that didn’t get there (yet)
Hi! You’re here! Thank you.
It’s been a slow couple of weeks on the site. July’s a quiet time for new music, and the weather makes it hard to carve out time to listen and write. That’s all fine with me.
Elmore Leonard, man. It’s a short list of authors who I can read 1,000 pages of and be ready for the next one, but that’s where we are. Reading C. M. Kushins’ biography before diving in was such a rewarding thing: read the review of Get Shorty and Be Cool for some of the context about those books that I got from Cooler than Cool. Leonard was a singular talent.
The other thing, and I’ve linked to this here before, is Leonard writing on his own drinking. Someone transcribed a chapter that he contributed to a sobriety book called Courage to Change, and it’s really worth reading. Timely, too: I’m gonna hit 5 years sober next month.
People frequently comment on how much I read, and as much as I credit my schoolteacher mother’s science fiction fandom, and how I don’t really watch TV, my real superpower is sobriety. When you get sober it feels like there’s 300 hours in every day. On top of that, there was a lot of external chaos that cleared up in the past couple years.
The last three years have been peaceful and predictable (mostly). Before I started Turn & Work I was reading even more - 258 books in 2021(!). I don’t do it out of some demented desire to show off - it’s just that I spend most of my free time reading or writing.
Some people run marathons, some people do social things. Some people do wordworking or whatever. I read.
Anyway, thanks for hanging around, you’re the best.
Got something to share? Lay it on me. And now:
Off the blog: links you shouldn’t miss
Neko Case on Sinéad O’Connor. This is a must read, even if you’re not a fan of either artist. Case is an incredible writer. Read this then read her memoir.
…it’s irrelevant if O’Connor herself is gay or straight or man or woman or they/them, because she sings it like an avalanche, with passion and abandon and desperation, and she respects herself and respects all of us who could possibly be out there listening so hard to hear even a shred of ourselves in a song. The sacredness of vulnerability and intimacy is more religion than performance here.
Pixel Grip is a dark electronic band from Chicago who recently got sampled on a Travis Scott song without credit (or payment). They’ve been talking about it on their Instagram here and here. The band’s being pretty cool about it, and they built a playlist called “The Intersection of Goth and Hip Hop”.
Investigating Fraud on the Billboard Charts. An excerpt Chris Dalla Riva’s upcoming book, this chapter looks at Payola in the 70s and has a great photo of Casey Kasem.
Six films better than the books they’re based on. Having just finished Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, I have a hard time figuring the movie could be better. I would add Die Hard, Fight Club and Shawshank Redemption to the list. You?
4 Columns is shutting down and LitHub links some great pieces from their archives. I always find that site a little unfocused, maybe that was the appeal to others?
Acree Graham Macam writes about Carson McCullers stories. I included “The Haunted Boy” in my Personal Anthology, and The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is a book you should read now if you haven’t.
To Hugh, his mother is just that: his mother. His own burgeoning manhood demands her constant presence and the sacrifice of her selfhood. His worry, therefore, is not only personal but existential: If she dies, what happens to him?
Caroline Crampton is done with social media. I just got her book a couple days ago, because I read this post, because I found it on social media. Nothing makes sense anymore, but the post is a good read.
The Kottke.org Rolodex. This is something I’ve been considering doing on the site during the dog days of August — sharing the love by citing my sources for things. Jason’s is a really good list.
What got your attention this week? Got a hot take on something? Hit reply and let me know.
On the Blog
Reading:
Elmore Leonard week was incredible. I read five of his books in a row plus a massive biography, and I’m not at all sick of him. It was a fun ride:
The biography: Cooler than Cool set up the books I was about to read. Turns out that the five books I’d selected were fairly seminal to his career. I appreciated C.M. Kushins’ biography even more as I read the novels
The Westerns: Leonard’s first book The Bounty Hunters was kinda bad, his second, The Law at Randado was pretty good, and his last (ish), Valdez is Coming, is a stone classic.
The Hollywood books: Get Shorty and Be Cool are both among his best, and Kushins’ book adds a ton to the reading experience for both of them.
The Shortlist: There’s even an Elmore Leonard story in there. Plus five others from Kiddo Cunningham, TE Cowell, Kelli Dianne Rule, James Krehbiel and Anthony Schneck.
Got a short story? Send it my way
Listening:
HONEYMOAN’s record from April, Pink Hell, has been overlooked here until now, it’s one of my favourites from the year.
Bleach Lab’s new EP Close to the Flame is warm and luxe.
The debut record from Mount Mural is complicated and textural MBV-style shoegaze
The Setlist: 2 hours of great music. Standout tracks from Tiberius, Sugah and harrry, and forever ☆.
Listen on Apple Music or Spotify.
What’s on your playlist? Send me your faves
Next week: All Patricia Highsmith. I’ve never read her books before this year, but she’s come up a few times in other things I’ve read so I figured it was time. I’ll be watching the adaptations of her work with each piece.
Thanks for being here!
-hugh
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