SLAMBANG

THAT'S THE WORD FOR MY CV IN AUGUST

August was less productive than July, but I had many more bylines (so many that this newsletter is absurdly long). Some of them added a great deal to my life, and some of them subtracted a bit.

For BUST, I wrote about Gross Anatomy, a new book of essays by Mara Altman. A longer version of this essay was kinder, but I stand behind everything in this shorter version. Altman didn't look deeply enough into the body of feminism before she wrote this book.

For Popscure, I rounded up five silly-serious sci-fi films from the 1970s (leading to unfortunate alliteration problems: I summarized silly, serious seventies sci-fi). I had fun writing this piece and my editor rolled with me like a champ. I stole (not even adapted but stole) the "hijinks ensue" repetition bit from a website I have long since forgotten, or I would credit it.

For Crixeo, I wrote about how my husband and I play video games together. I'm a little horrified by the image header they chose to accompany the article, and the constant videos were the publication's additions, not mine. But I'm glad I aired this gaming habit of ours; I find, among our friends, it's not uncommon.

For The Big Smoke, I wrote about what people are missing in the James Gunn firing. As I wrote on my blog, this article has garnered me little except heartache, so I'm happy to drop the subject now.

Recent Book Reviews (it's a lot):

For the Kenyon Review, Hunting Party by Agnés Desarthe. I loved the book, and I think the KR was a great outlet for it. A winding road, that one, but a good outcome.
For the Chicago Review of Books, Nothing Good Can Come From This by Kristi Coulter. Kristi and I became friends in between when I got this ARC and when the book came out, but I wrote the review as objectively as possible.
For sinkhole, Perfect Conditions by Vanessa Blakeslee. I also interviewed Blakeslee. Extremely precise short stories.
For the Masters Review, This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Many reviewers seemed to find this a beautiful, galloping read. I struggled like hell to read it and admitted as much in the review.
For the Los Angeles Review, irradiated cities by Mariko Nagai. I loved this book, and it was one of those rare poetry books that I found myself capable of reviewing instead of just stammering in foolishness.
Also for the Los Angeles Review, SELF-Ish by Chloe Schwenke. I wish I'd had more nice things to say about this important, badly executed book.
For Barrelhouse, Come as You Are, an anthology edited by E. Kristin Anderson and featuring a slew of talented writers on 1990s culture.
Here are the two reviews, now posted online, which I wrote for last month's print edition of Locus: City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp and Echoes of Understorey by Thoraiya Dyer.

What I'm thinking about:

This on Electric Literature about women electing not to write sprawling work. It's been so long since I felt insecure about taking up space in the world that it's hard for me to relate to the sensation, but I know it's really common for women, and this is one of those knock-on effects that you'd never think about otherwise.
This incredibly useful blog post from Trish Hopkinson that helps you submit your work if you have no idea where to start.
Another blog post, this one from Submittable, with EXTREMELY GOOD ADVICE about what not to do when writing. Trust it. (Memorize it.)
This sustained fist-raise from Kelly Marie Tran, which has so much necessary epiphany in it. Women, bodies, foreignness, fame, Hollywood.

What I'm reading:

The Woman Upstairs, Claire Messud. I ached for a good novel after several batches of short stories and not-very-good novels for review, and this one fit the bill nicely.
Impressions of Africa, Raymond Roussel. Well, in truth, I skimmed it after I read the Vorrh trilogy. Too many thoughts for this small space. But I don't recommend it.
The Last Englishmen, Deborah Baker. I nabbed this from Graywolf in the spring in the hope of reviewing it, but didn't land the pitch anywhere. I wish I had, because I would have raved. It's an extraordinary, complex, vivid book.

Upcoming:

There's so much to report this month that I didn't include a review coming next week at the Mantle or the Books I Hate for August. So...those things.
Reviews at LARB, 3:AM, the Arts Fuse, Cleaver, and - extremely thrillingly for me - River Teeth.
A piece for the Bind that's part book review and part not. A piece at Memoir Mixtapes that is great fun.
An essay at Nailed adapted from my graduate project. Only took me a year to excerpt something and submit it!

Recently on the Fictator:

The 500th (!) Fictator post.
A full explanation of what I expect from loved ones when I share bylines, and how I feel about their proliferation.
Matt saves the day again. Like Data saving the Enterprise.