Syntax of Things

Steve Gillis Wrapping Up

The end of the day, end of the road, end of my time on the Syntax of Things and I want to thank Jeff for inviting me and sharing his space.  Means a lot.  Awkward of course hawking my wares, but I do hope those of you inclined to give my novel, Temporary People, a read, that you enjoy.  And those of you interested in Dzanc and possibly considering submitting a work, please know we are here to support and publish the best writing we can find and are pleased to already have in our stable such great writers as Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Peter Markus, Suzanne Burns, Robert Lopez, Mike Czyzniejewski, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Laura van den Berg, Stefan Kiesbye, and Hesh Kestin.  We are equally excited by our imprints, OV Books - edited by the great Gina Frangello, and Black Lawrence Press, edited by the dynamic duo Diane Goettel and Colleen Ryor, as well as Monkeybicycle Lit Journal, edited by our brilliant design guru at Dzanc, Steven Seighman.  Peace and love, my friends.  Let's remember that.  Now go out there and elect the best damn democratic candidate and read 100 new books this year and lets see if we can't right this ship.  It's a glorious world.  Let's try not to get complacent again and allow the bad guys to take over.  There's too much at stake.  Thanks for all.   Steve Gillis

The Writing Process

I am reserved by nature, am always then red faced and surprised when people want to know more about me.  "How do you write?  What is your process?"  The question gets posed and has been posed here again so I will tell you in short, for me, writing is - as Edison said of work and genius - in general 5% inspiration and 95% drugs.  No, I mean 95% perspiration.  I write everyday, 365 days a year.  I get up ridiculously early  -  don't ask  - go for a run, come home, shower and write.  And write.  I wrestle my ideas to the ground, get thrashed about, bruise my knees and bloody my head.  I don't ever quit.  I respect the process and learn from it, even now, after all these years.  Temporary People went though many many drafts.  I had an idea what I wanted to write, but getting there is not linear.  I just rely on faith (not religious faith but real faith) and no sleep and forge on.  I don't ever go "diminishing returns" on the entire novel or story, am aware of not beating a dead horse, but if a passage or chapter isnt working I labor until I figure out why.  In short, it is never the muse I wait on, but just the old fashioned nose to the grindstone and even on the worst of days, I remind myself there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing.

A fan of the author

What blog would be complete without some name dropping?  At the risk of leaving someone out, a list then of authors I have recently read or am forever returning to and thus recommend:  Mark Sarvas, Samantha Hunt, Eileen Pollack, Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Jeff Parker, Lee K. Abbott, George Saunders, Pinckney Benedict, John Cheever, Lydia Davis, Keith Taylor, Philip F. Deaver, Steven Almond, Sam Lipsyte, Stephen Dixon, Jason Ockert, Andre Dubus, Jim Shepard, Stephen Elliott, Suzanne Burns, Brian Evenson, Elizabeth Ellen, Jim Harrison, Yasunari Kawabata, Jonathan Lethem, Lee Martin, Cormac McCarthy, Erin McGraw, Chris Bachelder, Flannery O'Connor, Don Pollock, Robert Lopez, Peter Markus, Peter Ho Davies, Aimee Bender, Ben Percy, Tod Goldberg, Rusty Barnes, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, David Morse, Mike Czyzniejewski, Stefan Kiesbye, Anton Chekhov, Gunter Grass, Fyodor Doestoyevski, Jo Neace Krause, Felicia Sullivan, Norman Waksler, Kevin Moffitt, Corey Messler,  Hesh Kestin,  Louella Bryant, Allison Amend, Daniel Chacon,  Peter Selgin,  Laura van den Berg, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Norman Rush, Christine Hume, Janet Kaufman, TC Boyle, Aaron Burch, Harold Pinter, HannahTinti, Jim Tomlinson, Colson Whitehead and Kellie Wells.  And a host of others to be sure that I apologize for excluding off the top of my head.

Gillis Day, Again

Because of some technical difficulties yesterday afternoon, we were unable to put up all of Steve's posts, so I'm more than happy to step aside for another day.  Mr. Gillis, take it away...

Dzanc Books

At the risk of taking advantage of this forum offered me, I'd be remiss if I didn't write a bit about Dzanc Books.  Dan Wickett and I founded Dzanc in 2006  with the aim of bringing great writing to a wider audience.  With lots of sweat and focus and support from folks like Steven Sieghman and Keith Taylor, we have put together a list of authors which we feel rivals the top tier presses in the country.  We are a hands-on, here to help you, buddy up to the bar, publishing house and damn proud of it.  Consortium now distributes our books nationally, as well as the books of our imprints, Black Lawrence Press, Monkeybicycle and OV Books.  Our Dzanc Writers in Residency Program, our Dzanc Prize and dozens of workshops further extends the Dzanc vision for giving something back to the community.  Its been a grand 2 years and we are looking to run for 100 years more.  After that, it's anyone's guess.  Now, if anyone can tell me what Dzanc stands for, we'll send you a copy of Roy Kesey's great Dzanc Book,  All Over.

Detroit loves literature. It also loves sports.

Having finished the task of describing the fundament of Temporary People, I can move on to more imperative concerns:  SPORTS.  Let us not pretend there is anything more significant or moving than the mark and measure of the home team.  I am a homer.  A Detroit boy forever rooting and what can I say?  Right now, without exception, there is no better sports city in America.  Go ahead and differ with me, the proof is in the pundit, I mean the pudding.  Pistons?  Second round of the playoffs and up 3-1.  Red Wings?  Western Conference finals and up 2-0.  Tigers?  On the move after a tough start, the team to beat for sure after 40 games and having just taken the Yankees in 2 series winning 5 games.  Lions?  Ok, so we have a blip on our screen.  Are we going to focus on the mole on Cindy Crawford's cheek or look at the body in total?

Guest Post - Steven Gillis

Hey All:

    Steve Gillis here.  I've been invited to blog away, to rant and riff and indulge myself today on Syntax of Things, and I want to thank Jeff for this opportunity.  I am well pleased the Syntax of Things dug my novel, Temporary People, (Black Lawrence Press, April 2008) and figured a good place to start the day would be with a brief bit about the book.
    I got the idea for TP around the time George W. Bush was elected president.  In short, I wondered with a good deal of shock how the hell this happened.  (And not once but twice!)  How did a moron become the leader of the free world?  It's an astonishing development and one which lead me from there to ask the question:  What can we do about it?  This is the fundamental question being raised in TP.  What can any one of us do to when we find ourselves under an oppressive government, one that is intent on taking away our liberties, distorting reality and messing with our lives.  What if the called for response clashes with our personal philosophies?  I am by nature a pacifist - though those who have argued with me might disagree.  I am against the war, against violence.  Yet, what if the only way to get rid of a despot was to put a bullet in his brain pan?  Is it ok?  Is it indeed the intelligent decision or must one maintain their personal convictions in the face of adversity?
    Temporary People has been described as:  "A political fable of the first order, sharp and satirical, a hilariously insightful romp."  I hope this is true.  My intent when writing the book was to examine every option from all sides, the pros and cons of passive resistance, bloody coups and rebellions and collective indifference.  The story - I hope - works well in subscribing to what Swift said about relying on humor and a hint of satire when addressing a serious issue.  In the end, I reach no easy conclusions.  Hell, I'm not so smug as to assume it is in my purview to reach any conclusions at all.  I am, as a writer, an observer.  The only truth I know is that, at least for me, ultimately, all we can do is follow our hearts.   What else is there?

SoT Presents: Steve Gillis

We hear enough criticism of blogs and how they are somehow reducing things to their lowest common denominator.  Perhaps some of the criticism is justified.  But I only have to go as far as the stack of books sitting next to me as I type this to demonstrate, at least to myself, what is right about litblogs.  I daresay that at least a dozen of the twenty or so books that I've read this year have been the direct result of recommendations I've received not by way of the book review section but through a mention or review on one of the many litblogs that I read daily.  More specifically, if it weren't for the litblogs, there's a better than good chance that I would never have read Steve Gillis's Temporary People, a book that I'm sure will be a strong contender for my favorite book of the year.

I tell you that as way of an introduction to today's special guest.  I was introduced to Steve Gillis last year by none other than his partner at Dzanc Books, Dan Wickett.  While putting together the 2006 Underrated Writers list, Dan sent me an email aside to say that even though he wanted to include Steve as one of his nominees he felt that he couldn't because of their working relationship.  Dan made sure that I received a copy of Gillis's story collection, Giraffes,  and I became an instant fan.  That's why when Dan blogged about Steve's new novel several months ago I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Temporary People is a fable of sorts.  It's the story of a floating island country, Bamerita, which is ruled over by Teddy, a failed television actor turned dictator who has converted the island into his own movie set. Or as the novel's narrator, Andre, puts it.  "Our suspicion had long been that Teddy was more interested in blurring the lines of reality than finishing a film, that he was looking for a way to present all acts of violence as make believe, and in so doing, confuse what was and wasn't part of our normal daily life."  The citizen/actors live in constant fear because "Teddy’s impatient with people who disappoint him. Those found deficient are removed from the film and rarely heard from again."  Against all of this, Andre, who after many years and many a battle and through numerous revolutions, finds himself in the middle of the charge to overthrow Teddy.  The problem for Andre is how to do this and remain true to his non-violent ways, especially with the pressure put on him by his fellow revolutionaries who want to see an end sooner rather than later, whether it ends in blood or not.

Gillis masterfully handles this fable-thriller, and while one can easily pick out some rather contemporary themes scattered throughout the book, it never becomes too overbearing, too obvious, or too polemic.

Again, I'm excited to have Steve take over Syntax of Things for a day.  The only guideline I gave him was that he should write about whatever he wants to write about, so with that, as Dan Wickett would say, "Enjoy!"

I Hope Neil Young Will Remember

A new species of spider discovered in Alabama has been named after Neil Young:

An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.

"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.

"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."

I wonder if Mr. Bond knows anything of Neil Young's love of the state in which he found his spider.

Cash Cow

In the most recent edition of his occasional column in which he "reconsiders notable and/or neglected books," Jonathan Yardley finds himself not only somewhat disappointed by Steinbeck's Cannery Row but he also questions why Steinbeck continues to be popular today:

But why do adults continue to read Steinbeck in such numbers? Four decades after his death, his books are cash cows for his publisher; he is to Viking Penguin what Khalil Gibran is to Knopf, an endless source of revenue, some of which presumably underwrites riskier books of a more literary nature. From "Cup of Gold" (1929) to "America and Americans" (1967), Steinbeck's books remain in print, along with various posthumous volumes of letters, collected miscellany and so forth. My copy of "Cannery Row" is part of a "Steinbeck Centennial Edition" issued by Penguin in 2002, a handsome paperback complete with jacket flaps, looking for all the world like a European publication. This centennial edition clearly is aimed at adult readers, and clearly it is reaching them; at this writing, its Amazon.com sales rating is far higher than that enjoyed by most recent, well-received books.

Probably the explanation for this will forever be a mystery. It cannot have much to do with the Nobel Prize in Literature that Steinbeck won in 1962; if Nobel Prizes sent American readers into bookstores, they'd still be reading Pearl Buck and Sinclair Lewis. Nor can it have much to do with relevance to the country today, since his books mostly are period pieces. Grace of literary style would send no one to his books, as they have precious little of it.

Why do people still read Steinbeck today while his contemporary William Saroyan ("The Human Comedy," "My Name Is Aram," Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Time of Your Life") is almost completely forgotten? The two writers were remarkably similar in their affection for ordinary people, their belief in the United States and their persistent sentimentality, and in their day both were hugely popular, yet now probably no more than one reader in 25 would be likely to recognize Saroyan's name. The only reason I can come up with for the high esteem in which Steinbeck is still held is his transparent sincerity. It has long been my pet theory that in the popular marketplace, readers instinctively distinguish between writers whose work draws on genuine feeling and those who rely on art or artifice, and that they reward the former while repudiating the latter. From Jacqueline Susann to Danielle Steel, from James Michener to James Patterson, readers have recognized the sincerity of feeling beneath the utter lack of literary merit, and have rewarded it accordingly.

Head's Is Gonna Role

Woops!  Excuse me while I make sure I've never done any freelance proofreading for PUP:

Princeton University Press has recalled all copies of one of its spring titles after discovering more than 90 spelling and grammar errors in the 245-page work. The book, Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District, by Peter Moskos, was published on Thursday in an initial press run of 4,000 copies.

In what appears to be a first, the press plans to reprint the book and have it back in stores later this month, after the errors have been corrected.

Mr. Moskos is an assistant professor of law, police science, and criminal-justice administration at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. From 1999 to 2001, as part of his graduate work in sociology at Harvard University, he worked as a police officer in Baltimore.

No one alleges any wrongdoing by Mr. Moskos, nor has the book’s factual substance been impugned. The errors came to light when the author’s friends and family members began sending him lists of the numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes they had noticed.

“I was flabbergasted and embarrassed,” said Peter Dougherty, the press’s director. “This is a terribly embarrassing matter for Princeton University Press.”

Rich Soil

This link goes out to my wife who I hope realizes that despite the fact that new stacks seem to be randomly sprouting and growing faster than Alabama kudzu, things could always be worse:

The books and documents took over the house. The family - two wives, three daughters of the first marriage - knew their place: second best to the books and to boxes, some of which stood for several years waiting to be unpacked. They were pressed into service, unpacking, sorting, and stacking shelves. The walls of the once-fine house were stained and peeling; there was never money to pay for repairs. Regular visitors - for Sir Thomas, for all his faults, was unfailingly generous to serious scholars - noted mournfully as they escaped down the almost impassable track towards Broadway that the state of Middle Hill House was even more grievous now than the last time they'd seen it, with every room filled with heaps of paper, manuscripts, books, charters, lying on the floor or piled up against walls, on tables, chairs and beds.

His daughters took the earliest chances they could to get married and move away. That led to one of the bitterest of the baronet's many feuds. A bright young scholar called Halliwell had come to the house and been generously counselled and entertained. In time, he asked Sir Thomas for the hand of his eldest daughter, Henrietta. Sir Thomas refused his assent. Halliwell and Henrietta disappeared one morning to Broadway and came back husband and wife.

Sir Thomas was an accomplished hater. Most of all, he hated the Catholic church: the access he readily granted to most who wanted to see his collections was firmly denied to Catholics. But from now on, he hated the Halliwells with equivalent fervour. The terms under which he'd inherited Middle Hill meant that on his death the place would pass to the Halliwells. When all other attempts to prevent this failed, he simply abandoned Middle Hill and moved to a large house in Cheltenham. It took the whole of the summer of 1864 to transport his books and manuscripts. He left Middle Hill to the elements. Rain poured in through the roof. Marauders made off with whatever they fancied. Handrails, banisters, even in time the staircase, were gone. Not a pane of glass, it was said, remained in the windows.

Hard Times at Twain House

The Hartford Advocate's Adam Bulger writes about the challenges to keep The Mark Twain House open to the public:

There's a lot of loose gossip about the dire state of the Mark Twain House. But although it continues to face a difficult financial situation, its death may be greatly — well, I think you can guess where I'm going with this.

In 2006, things looked dark for the Mark Twain House. The Hartford cultural institution opened an $18 million, state-of-the-art visitor's center in 2003, but its financing was not completely in place. By 2006, paying down the money loaned by Webster Bank seemed increasingly difficult. Then director Debra Petke fretted to the Hartford Courant that the museum was running out of cash, and had been "paralyzed as an institution."

The state stepped in, providing $3.5 million in bond money to help pay down the $11 million remaining on the debt from the construction. The Mark Twain House trimmed staff, leaving a marketing position vacant, and scaled back on revolving exhibitions.

The following year, Petke left the museum for a job at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme. Former deputy director Jeffrey Nichols became the third person to act as executive director of the museum in five years — John Boyers, who helmed the institution for 16 years, left in 2003.

The organization sold its former administrative offices at 66 Flower St. and currently have a second building on the market. The Mark Twain House has continued to trim staff, while maintaining an impressive program of events, including a lecture series with an upcoming appearance by political satirist Andy Borowitz.

In recent conversation, Nichols said the museum was facing challenges, but he emphasized that the challenges are the same ones all arts and cultural non-profits are facing in the current economic climate.

"Like many other non-profits, it's been a challenging period for us. With the new buildings project in particular, it increased our expenses, and has been a challenge for the museum to manage," Nichols said. "With any new project, those are the kind of things that one would expect to have happen."

Cassady

A new biopic, Neal Cassady, premiered last week on IFC.  Unfortunately I forgot to set the DVR and now can only hope that they run it again in the near future.  Or I guess I can wait for the DVD.  Here's the trailer:

And here's more on the film from IFC:

IFC Festival Direct presents a film that poses the question: What happens to someone's life when they become famous through a fictionalized account? Noah Buschel's intelligent and unusual new biopic focuses on the life of Neal Cassady, one of the central figures of the Beat Generation. Chronicled by greats like Allen Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson, Cassady became an antihero for a new age. But, it was as Dean Moriarity, the lead character in Jack Keroucac's historic On the Road, that he was immortalized. Later in life Cassady hopes to settle into an ordinary family life, but the pressure from Beat fans to act like Moriarty haunts him. Shot gorgeously with a searing dreamy tone that mirrors the writing of the generation, "Neal Cassady" is the story of a man trying to live down his own legend. Before it kills him.

Glitter and Doom

Just this weekend, I was explaining to a friend that unlike the good old days when I would drive hours to see favorite bands, I can only think of one artist whom I would leave the state of my residence to go see perform.  And wouldn't you know it, that artist held a press conference this weekend to announce tour dates:

The last time Mr. Waits came within driving distance from me happened to be two days after the birth of Marlie.  I often joke that if that happened to be my last best chance to see him that I would be reminding her when she gets older and starts giving me grief over how I don't do this and won't do that.  "Ah, you'll never know the sacrifices I made, kid," I'll tell her.

Anyway, looks like I need to start figuring out a way to get to Alabama in July.  Here are the announced dates for the Glitter and Doom Tour:

June 17- Phoenix, Orpheum
June 18 - Phoenix, Orpheum
June 20 - El Paso, Plaza Theatre
June 22 - Houston, Jones Hall
June 23 - Dallas, Palladium
June 25 - Tulsa, Brady Theatre
June 26 - Saint Louis, Fox Theatre
June 28 - Columbus, Ohio Theatre
June 29 - Knoxville, Civic Theatre
July 1 - Jacksonville, Moran Theatre
July 2 - Mobile, Saenger Theatre
July 3 - Birmingham, Alabama Theatre
July 5 - Atlanta, Fox Theatre