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Archive for the ‘20 Under 40’ Category

Allegra Goodman–”The Local Production of Cinderella” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Allegra Goodman, New Yorker, Short Story, Superchunk, WXYC 89.3 FM--Chapel Hill, NC on October 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-Laughter Guns EP (1996).

The first track “A Small Definition” is a surprisingly slow track from them.  Even when the band kicks in about midway through, it’s still a fairly mellow sound  And yet it is not a light track by any means.  (A nice squalling guitar solo certainly helps.)  But in case you thought the band had mellowed, track two “Her Royal Fisticuffs” brings back their punky bratty sound.

The third track, “The Mine Has Been Returned…” brings in a new sound altogether.  It opens with a heavy heavy destorted bass riff (instead of the usual guitars).  But the real surprise comes with the very distorted organ sound that throws the bass into sharp relief

The final song, “Hero,” is part surf rock part detective song, and continues the interesting departures that Superchunk explore on this disc.

And then there’s the bonus track.  It’s a radio broadcast from WXYC a radio station in Chapel Hill.  The track is a 42 minute deconstruction of “Hyper Enough.”  It’s a few guys (and radio callers) dissecting the song in incredible detail.  (hey listen to one verse about 20 times).   The track starts about 20 minutes into the show, and they have just gotten past the first verse).  At about 10 minutes into the track, the discussion turns into a fascinating look at deconstruction and the primacy of the author.  There’s a caller’s snide comment that the band is all on crack and they should stop wasting their time–which of course, leads to a discussion of how drugs might impact the lyrics of the songs.  It’s a crazy track and a crazy radio show.  And shows how much fun college students can have when they really enjoy something.  I listened to it when it came out, but haven’t listened to it again until this week.   And I enjoyed it just as much this time. Perhaps I’ll try again in another 15 years.  Oh, and until iTunes, I never knew the song was called, “Cool-Ass Mutherfuckin’ Bonus Track.”

[READ: October 1, 2010] “The Local Production of Cinderella”

Allegra Goodman was the next writer in the 1999 New Yorker 20 Under 40 issue.

The opening paragraph of this story confused me greatly.  I wasn’t sure exactly what the author was trying to say.  I re-read it three times, and then it finally clicked.  And after that, the story flowed very nicely.   The story is set in Hawaii in 1978.  Two women, Roselva and Helen, have worked at the Hawaii Dept of Human Services at adjoining desks for years.

Roselva is Chinese-Hawaiian, very religious and a real believer in her job.  Helen is of German descent and was born in Maine.  She wanted out of human services. (more…)

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A.M. Homes–”Raft in Water, Floating” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, A.M. Homes, Masturbation, New Yorker, Short Story, Superchunk, The Cure on October 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-Hyper Enough (1995).

“Hyper Enough” is one of my favorite songs of all time. I don’t know if there’s much more that i can say about it.

“Never Too Young to Smoke” sounds surprisingly like a Cure song to me.  The guitar seems very unSuperchunk and Mac’s voice even has traces of Robert Smith in it.  It’ s neat trick.  And it’s good song, too.  It’s got a lot of slow building tension (again, unusual).  And it really pays off.

The final track, “Detroit Has a Skyline” is another acoustic version (original on Here’s Where the Strings Come In).  It has certain Cure-isms on it as well, but it is much more clearly Mac than Robert Smith.  It has a great chord progression in the bridge, but we knew that from the original.

[READ: September 30, 2010] “Raft in Water, Floating”

A.M. Homes was the fifth writer in the New Yorker’s 1999 20 Under 40 collection.

I’ve really enjoyed A.M. Homes’ books.  I liked The End of Alice, and I really liked This Book Will Save Your Life.  She has a few books in between these, but I’ve been remiss about reading her.

And this story was definitely not my favorite.  It is written in an exceedingly detached tone.  A young woman is floating on a raft.  She is described by an almost uninterested 3rd person voice.  Even the young woman’s conversations are robotic and emotionless.  In many ways it reminded me of Bret Easton Ellis’ style of distant characters.

Her boyfriend comes over, he gives himself an orgasm which she is complicit in and yet somewhat oblivious to, and then it gets really strange. (more…)

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Rick Moody–”Hawaiian Night” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Death, Funny (strange), New Yorker, Rick Moody, Short Story, Superchunk on October 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-“Driveway to Driveway” (1994).

This disc is a first for Superchunk EPs.  The three “B” sides are all acoustic.  One of the nice things about that is that it showcases how good the songs are underneath all of the noise and distortion.

“Seed Toss” is from No Pocky for Kitty & “Sick to Move” is from Superchunk.  Obviously, they’re good songs or they wouldn’t have chosen them (out of all the back catalog…I mean, they could have chosen “Slack Motherfucker” after all).  And these acoustic versions are fun and interesting.

The final track is an acoustic “Driveway to Driveway.”  This is the most immediate in terms of comparison to the original (not least of which is the acoustic is a minute longer).  It allows them to breathe a little bit (and to make the lyrics more clear).

I’m not suggesting that Superchuink should be acoustic by any means, but it’s nice to hear the heart underneath the noise.

[READ: September 30, 2010] “Hawaiian Night”

Rick Moody is the fourth New Yorker 20 Under 40 author in the 1999 issue.

I’ve enjoyed a few of Rick Moody’s works (although now that I looked him up I found that he wrote a book called Garden State set in Haledon NJ (right near where I grew up…how did I not know this?…I shall have to read it very soon).

This piece seems like an experimental scene rather than a short story (or perhaps it’s from a longer work?).  It begins quite fascinatingly in a stark narrative style.  Pieces of information are doled out.  The information sets a scene with more and more detail. It is “Hawaiian Night” at a corporate picnic.  We see the limbo and the tuna skewers.  And then we meet the cast: dozens of interchangeable children having sanctioned fun amidst the adult workers.

And then suddenly things grow dark.   (more…)

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New Yorker 20 Under 40, 1999

Posted in 20 Under 40, A.M. Homes, Allegra Goodman, Antonya Nelson, Chang-Rae Lee, Chris Ware, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Donald Antrim, Edwidge Danticat, Ethan Canin, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Franzen, Junot Díaz, Matthew Klam, Michael Chabon, Nathan Englander, New Yorker, Rick Moody, Sex, Sherman Alexie, Tony Earley, William T. Vollmann on October 19, 2010| 3 Comments »

While I was looking around for Jonathan Franzen pieces in the New Yorker, I stumbled upon the first 20 Under 40 collection from 1999.  Since I had received so much enjoyment from the 2010 version, I decided to read all of the 1999 stories as well.  It was interesting to see how many of the authors I knew (and knew well), how many I had heard of but hadn’t read, and how many were completely off my radar.

I initially thought that they had published all 20 authors in this one issue, but there are five stories (including Franzen’s) that were just excerpted rather than published in full.  And I will track down and read those five in their entirety.  But otherwise, that’s a lot of fiction in one magazine (a few of the stories were quite short).  And it features a cover by Chris Ware!

So here’s the list from 1999.

**George Saunders-“I Can Speak™”
**David Foster Wallace-“Asset”
*Sherman Alexie-“The Toughest Indian in the World”
*Rick Moody-“Hawaiian Night”
*A.M. Homes-“Raft in Water, Floating”
Allegra Goodman-“The Local Production of Cinderella”
*William T. Vollmann-“The Saviors”
Antonya Nelson-“Party of One”
Chang-rae Lee-“The Volunteers”
*Michael Chabon-“The Hofzinser Club” [excerpt]
Ethan Canin-“Vins Fins” [excerpt]
*Donald Antrim-“An Actor Prepares”
Tony Earley-“The Wide Sea”
*Jeffrey Eugenides-“The Oracular Vulva”
*Junot Diaz-“Otra Vida, Otra Vez”
*Jonathan Franzen-“The Failure” [excerpt]
***Edwidge Danticat-“The Book of the Dead”
*Jhumpa Lahiri-“The Third and Final Continent”
*Nathan Englander-“Peep Show” [excerpt]
Matthew Klam-“Issues I Dealt with in Therapy” [excerpt] (more…)

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Chris Adrain–“The Warm Fuzzies” (New Yorker, September 27, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Boredom, Chris Adrian, Funny (ha ha), McSweeney's, Morality, New Yorker, Religion, Superchunk on October 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-Mower (1993).

It was a robin’s egg and it was blue. Such is the oft-repeated line in the title track. It’s another great single from Superchunk:  poppy and cool and fun to bounce around to.

The second song, “On the Mouth” is a much faster, more punk track, apparently about frustrated love.

The final track is a live version of the song “Fishing.”  It’s one of the few live Superchunk tracks that I’ve heard (and it lasts over 5 minutes!).  It’s full of feedback squalls and lots of noise.  When the drums eventually kick in, it’s a fast-paced thundering experience.  The squealing guitar (and feedbacking outro) leads me to suspect that their lives shows were even more energetic than their albums.

[READ: October 4, 2010] “The Warm Fuzzies”

I have The Children’s Hospital from Adrian which I’ve been meaning to read for ages, but so many other things get in the way.  I have read a few of his short stories in McSweeney’s and the New Yorker. Adrian’s story was the final one of the 20 Under 40 stories in this year’s New Yorker list.

I felt this story was a little clunky at first.  I had a hard time keeping the story straight. And yet, once it settled down I found it really engaging and rather fascinating.

The story is about the Carter Family.  Not that Carter family, but another singing Carter Family. One day both mother and father Carter woke up and decided to stop being just the Carters; they decided to devote their life to Jesus in song.  And so, as it opens, we see The Carter Family practicing another one of their four chord songs.

In this particular practice, a new kid is playing the tambourine.   This new kid is, like all of the other new kids, a foster child and black.  This new foster child is named Paul, although he tells them all his name is Peabo.

The confusing thing in the beginning was just getting the hang of who all the family members were.  But once they were settled in, it was very easy to keep straight, and more importantly, to get hooked into the story.  We get a brief look at the family before music enter their lives, and we see how the children treat each other.  Each new foster child brings something new to the sound. And Paul/Peabo brings a bit of unexpected flair to their rather tepid music.  But the only one who seems to notice is Molly.  And really, this is Molly’s story. (more…)

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie–”Birdsong” (New Yorker, September 20, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Romance, Short Story, Superchunk, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me on October 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-The Question is How Fast (1992).

With a new CD out, and–even more impressive–an appearance on NPR’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, I thought it would be fun to revisit Superchunk’s output (starting with their EPs).

This is the earliest Superchunk EP that I own.  The title track is a bracing four minute blast of speedy alt-rock.  It has a poppy structure but the guitar is distorted enough to keep the song interesting over repeated listens.  Of course, it’s the catchy chorus that sells the song.  And it sets the tone for future Superchunk tracks: high pitched vocals sung loud and with unimpeachable pop sensibility.

The second track is “Forged It” a more punk-sounding track that, when the chord changes come in, makes it sound like it’s moving even faster.  A blistering guitar solo muscles its way into the song, too.  The final track is “100,000 Fireflies” a cover of The Magnetic Fields song (and one that they play quite often, it seems).  It’s given suitable bratty treatment from the band.

[READ: October 2, 2010] “Birdsong”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the second to last 20 Under 40 author from the New Yorker. This story has the delightful exoticism of being set in Lagos.

And yet, the basic premise is quite simple: a wealthy married man falls for a woman and they begin an affair.  It’s a fairly typical story of illicit love and jealous.  However, some details are rather different: he allows her to move into his “work” house (he bought it to turn it into condos, but he liked it so much he kept it as an office).  And she lives with him in this way for around 18 months.

Her office mate, a judgmental woman who she would never be friendly with if they didn’t work together is very disapproving of this affair, and always calls him, “your man” knowing fully well that he is actually someone else’s man.

And that, in addition to the love he clearly shows to his wife eats away at her.  So, in many ways, this is a fairly conventional story. (more…)

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Daniel Alarcón–“Second Lives” (New Yorker, August 16 & 23, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Barenaked Ladies, Daniel Alarcón, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Public Enemy, Travel on September 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-The Yellow Tape (1991).

The Yellow Tape is legendary in terms of demos.  It was an indie cassette-only release and it went platinum in Canada.

Before the internet, it was really hard to come across this cassette (again, even though it went platinum in Canada, I don’t know that it ever even made it south of the border).  Of course, now with the web, you can hear all 5 tracks on the cassette (thanks YouTube).

Four of the 5 songs appeared on their first album anyhow, and they don’t sound dramatically different from the “Yellow” versions (“Brian Wilson” still has that awesome bass from Jim Creeggan for instance). It basically sounds like an early live recording.  (The harmonies are spot on, the only difference is Steven Page’s vamping, which is a bit more than on the release).  Although I think “Blame It on Me” sounds a little less exciting than the Gordon version.

And of course, the final track is their original cover of “Fight the Power.”

It’s interesting that the band chose these 5 songs, two of which talk about famous people and are sort of funny. (And then a cover of a Public Enemy song!)  It really sets them up as a goofy band (which they are, although they are much more than that), but it kind of put them in a novelty niche right off the bat.   A niche which they never really outgrew, even if their later discs were much more serious.

[READ: August 17, 2010] “Second Lives”

Daniel Alarcón is another New Yorker 20 Under 40.

I love the way this story begins.  It informs us that the narrator’s parents had the foresight to have their first child in the United States.  His parents were in Baltimore on a visa.  His father enrolled in school and his mother worked in the health care profession.  They were comfortable enough in their lives to have their son Francisco there.  But then a coup broke out back home, their visas are not renewed and they were forced to return home.  Their second son, the narrator, with whom his mother was pregnant at the time wound up being born not in America.

And so, when your brother has American citizenship and can freely roam the American countryside, what exactly are you supposed to think when you are denied this freedom? (more…)

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Nell Freudenberger–“An Arranged Marriage” (New Yorker, September 6, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Barenaked Ladies, Marriage (Happy), Nell Freudenberger, New Yorker, Public Enemy, Religion, Short Story, Travel, Virginity (Loss of) on September 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-“Fight the Power” (1993).

Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” is one of the greatest anthems of the late 80s and 90s.  It’s got everything: noise, strength, rebellion great lyrics and Chuck D.  So, what can five white Canadians do with it?

Well, they keep the intensity of the song very strong–even in an acoustic setting–by overloading their version with a whole mess of music.  Between the noisy piano, the occasional sound effects and the fantastic noisy drumming, they manage to really capture what a great “song” this is (as opposed to being a powerful anthem and protest).  Divorced from the awesome cacophony of the original, you realize that it’s really catchy, too.

BNL are usually goofy, and they do put a bit of nonsense in the song (during the Elvis was a hero to most section).  And they clean up one of the words, with a great twist (changing “motherfuck” to David Duke” in “David Duke him and John Wayne).

BNL has been performing this song for years.  Their first version appeared on The Yellow Tape [1991] (a much simpler version with drums, bass and two vocals).  But this version (which as far as I can tell only appears on the Coneheads soundtrack, ugh) is really solid and (aside from the fact that nobody’s voice could ever compare to Chuck D’s) sounds like an good Unplugged version of the track.

[READ: September 14, 2010] “An Arranged Marriage”

Freudenberger is one of the New Yorker‘s 20 Under 40.  I have to say I was (unfairly) surprised that a story written by a woman named Freudenberger was about a woman named Amina who lived in Bangladesh.

Nevertheless, the story was a good one and was an interesting twist on the concept of the titular arranged marriage.  Amina meets George online at AsianEuro.com (after having met several men who were not what they said they were).  Amina (and her parents) had always planned for her to move to America.  Somehow.   She had considered applying for a college degree, but found that even that was prohibitively expensive.  So why not, as the Voice of America radio suggested, find a mate? (more…)

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Wells Tower–“The Landlord”(New Yorker, September 13, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Art, Consumerism, Dromedary Records, Footstone, Friends Romans Countrymen, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, New Yorker, Outside, Short Story, Wells Tower on September 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STUYVESANT-Jihad Me at Hello (2010).

Stuyvesant (one of the hardest band names to spell) is an amalgam of the defunct New Jersey bands Footstone and Friends, Romans, Countrymen.  And so, as you might expect if you know these other bands, they play noisy rock with a healthy dose of pop.

The opener, “Bi-Polar Bears” is a great example of their punky pop (complete with an unexpected horn section).  The second track, “Tape Hiss” sounds like Footstone (Ralphie’s voice is very distinct here) although the “do-do-do” harmonies are something new to the sound.

There’s more surprise from a major break in “Ode to Bish” which features a “waka jawacka” guitar and a horn solo.  “Liars Poker” also features some cool bass vocal harmonies (something of a rare treat in rock music).

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the slow opening of “Broken Red Wing.”  I was pleasantly surprised that after the slow opening, it did not jump quickly into a song that sounded like the rest on the disc.  Guitars kick in but they are not the same crunchy style.  The track shows an unexpected diversity on the disc.

While I have enjoyed both the Footstone and FRC releases, I think this conflation of the two makes for the best overall package.  It’s a great EP, and I’m looking forward to the full length.  This EP is available for free.  That’s right, for free.  So even if you hate it, you can still download it for free.  In any format, and then you can burn it to a CD, in the format that music is meant to be enjoyed.

[READ: September 8, 2010] “The Landlord”

Wells Tower is another 20 Under 40.  I’ve enjoyed the few short stories(although I haven’t read his collection yet) and the non-fiction he’s written for Outside magazine.

This story feels like an excerpt from a longer piece because there are a lot of different characters who seem like there’s more to them.

The main character is the landlord, Mr Pruitt.  He owns a lot of properties, but in the current market he has had to sell a number of them.  And, of course, his tenants are paying him less and less frequently.  As the story opens we meet one of those tenants, Armando Colón, who is three months overdue.  Armando has a solution to his problem which he presents to Mr Pruitt.  When Armando leaves, Mr Pruitt’s worker, Todd Toole mocks him for letting people fuck him over. (more…)

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Yiyun Li–“The Science of Flight” (New Yorker, August 30, 2010)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Footstone, Friends Romans Countrymen, New Yorker, Short Story, Travel, Yiyun Li on September 10, 2010| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: FRIENDS, ROMANS, COUNTRYMEN-I am Spartacus (2010).

I’ve been aware of Friends, Romans, Countrymen for a number of years, but I’d never heard them.  The bio on the Dromedary site suggests that they broke up some time around 2003.  So, I’m not entirely sure if this CD was released back then or if this is the first time it’s seeing the light of day.

I’ve been streaming the disc all day (and yes, I will buy it as soon as can find my wallet, which, no is not in El Segundo–ooh, old school!)).  I don’t know if it’s my crappy work headphones but the recording sounds distorted in a way that makes me think it was recorded too loud.  Of course as I say it could be the headphones.

Getting beyond that, the band reminds me a lot of middle era Hüsker Dü.  They don’t sound like them necessarily, but the feel: noisy guitars, kind of sloppy (but cool) solos, smooth vocals (at times there is definitely a resemblance to Bob Mould) and harmonies, and fast, rocking beats.

The Dromedary site calls them “burly pop-core” and that’s a really apt description.  The opening song is a tribute to a fellow New Jersey band: “The Day Footstone Died.”  (Footstone’s releases have been covered here).  It’s got some great catchy guitars and a great bridge.  (And the live version that’s on the site sounds like the band never broke up).

There’s some really interesting guitar sounds on “Lee1Blu” (as well as some cool harmonies).  The rest of the disc is equally infectious, all the way down to the two closing instrumentals, “Warm” and, um, “Instrumental.”

So you get about 40 minutes of pretty fine, pretty loud alt-rock.  You can stream the disc (and buy it) here.

[READ: September 8, 2010] “The Science of Flight”

So this post really missed the point of the story.  If you read the comments below you’ll get more details.  Because of the comment, I have re-posted about the story.  You can read it here.

———-

Yiyun Li’s is one of the 20 Under 40 from the New Yorker.  This story (which I assume is not an excerpt) is about Zichen.  Zichen (whose name is unpronounceable to Westerners) emigrated from China to live in America with her then new husband.

As the story opens, we see Zichen at work at an animal-care center.  She is talking with her coworkers about her upcoming visit to England (this will be her first-ever vacation that is not to China).  The men are teasing her about the trip (why would she want to go to the ocean in the winter, she doesn’t know anyone there, etc).  The teasing is friendly, because they are friendly, although Zichen is very reserved around them.  Of course, of all the people she has known, she has opened up to them the most–which still isn’t very much. (more…)

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