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Archive for the ‘The Beatles’ Category

Rohinton Mistry–“Empire Records” (New Yorker, October 11, 2010)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Books about music, Harvey Milk, New Yorker, Rohinton Mistry, Swans, The Beatles, The Melvins, Travel on January 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: HARVEY MILK-“I Did Not Call Out” (2010).

This album is #2 on Viking’s Metal and Outer Sound list of 2010 CDs (from NPR).  During the radio show when Viking revealed his Top Ten albums, he mentioned that Harvey Milk is his favoirte band of all time.  I’d never heard them before, so this was eye opening (confusing them with Harvey Danger is a big mistake).  This song comes from the album A Small Turn of Human Kindness.

The melody is dark (pretty but in a bleak sort of way), but the instrumentation is sludgy and menacing.  It is very slow-paced with occasional “riffs” that run through the “verses.”  It has a sort of Melvins meets Swans kind of vibe, but run through the menace of a black metal band.

The lyrics are sung/growled, but unlike a lot of growled vocals, there are only a few words and they are stretched and held for several beats.  It’s a weird thing to hear the demon voice hold notes and actually sound like it is singing!

Interspersed within the ponderous heaviness are some beautiful if not uplifting guitar melodies and soaring solos.  Until, that is, the very end when the song slows to a crawl… deep notes and ambient noise stretch out and the track ends with crackling silence.

It’s menacing, but after several listens, I’m hooked.

[READ: December 30, 2010] “Empire Records”

This is the second of the one page articles labelled “Something Borrowed.”  I have also never read anything by Mistry before.

A few months before leaving Bombay for Toronto, Mistry loaned a friend his LP of A Hard Day’s Night (this was circa 1975).  Albums were very important to him because his father ritualized the playing of the gramophone.  When they eventually progressed to 45s and LPs the family got into pop music and from there, obviously, The Beatles. (more…)

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Roberto Bolaño–The Return (1997/2001) [translated 2010]

Posted in All Songs Considered, bolanobolano.com, Books about writers, Chris Andrews, Culture Shock, Death, Drinking, Dungen, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), My Bloody Valentine, Neurotics, Poets, Pornography, Pregnancy, Prison, Prostitution, Roberto Bolaño, Sex, Short Story, Tame Impala, The Beatles, The Who, Translation, Unreliable narrator, Violence, War on January 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TAME IMPALA-“Lucidity” (2010).

I heard this song on the NPR’s 5 Artists You Should Have Known in 2010.  The album, Innerspace, is only available in Australia (imported on Amazon for big bucks) but I guess that’s why people download music.

This song is really cool. It feels very My Bloody Valentine to me.  However, inevitable comparisons to The Beatles abound, but that’s mostly in the vocals (which is kind of funny since they are Australian).  But it’s really a very sixties British vocal sound–not unlike early Who).

The big difference comes in the music which is psychedelic and wild in ways that The Beatles never quite managed.  There are great big washes of noise, and the sound quality sounds retro, even though it obviously isn’t.  Comparisons to the great Swedish band Dungen are not misplaced either.

I’ve listened to a few more tracks by them on YouTube, and I think this album could easily be one of the best of 2010 if only more people could hear it!

[READ: January 3, 2010] The Return

With the completion of this collection of short stories, I have now caught up with all of the published works of Roberto Bolaño (in English of course).  [The next book, Between Parentheses, a collection of nonfiction, is slated for June].

So The Return contains the 13 short stories that were not published in Last Evenings on Earth.  That collection inexplicably took shorts stories from his two Spanish collections Llamadas telefónicas (1997) and Putas asesinas (2001) and combined them into one collection in English.  It wasn’t quite as evident in Last Evenings, but it seems more obvious here that the stories in Putas asesinas are grouped together for a stylistic reason.  So, to have them split up is a bit of a bummer.  And yet, having them all translated is really the important thing.  And, again, Chris Andrews does an amazing job in the translation

This collection of stories was very strong.  I had read a few pieces in Harper’s and the New Yorker, but the majority were new to me.  Bolaño is an excellent short story writer.  Even if his stories don’t go anywhere (like his novels that never quite reach their destination), it’s his writing that is compelling and absorbing.

This collection also had some different subject matter for Bolaño (it wasn’t all poets on searches). (more…)

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Herman Melville–Moby-Dick [Week 4] (1851)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Barenaked Ladies, Big Books, Canadian Music, Death, Demons, Fishing, Herman Melville, Infinite Zombies, Moby, Neil Peart, Paul Quarrington, Rheostatics, The Beatles, The Replacements, Violence, Whale Music, Whales, Yuck! on June 14, 2010| 7 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Whale Music (1992).

The Rheostatics are from Etobicoke Canada.  Their second album was called Melville (named after a town in Saskatchewan, but it has a whale on the cover so…).  Their third album (this one) is called Whale Music (inspired by the novel by Paul Quarrington).  When they made a film of Whale Music, the Rheostatics were asked to make the soundtrack for it, which they released as Whale Music.  So, the band have 2 albums called Whale Music and one called Melville.  Perfect soundtrack to Moby-Dick.

The album is chock full of all kinds of music: country tracks, folky tracks, metal tracks, and hooks galore.  And it’s all wrapped up in the oddity that is the Rheostatics.  This album features guest spots by the Barenaked Ladies and Neil Peart as well as horns, strings, spoken word parts, and “power tools”.

“Self Serve Gas Station” is a great opening.  It begins with swirling guitars and a beautiful solo (Rheostatics guitar lines sound so elemental as to seem like they’ve always been around).  But just as the vocals begin, the song becomes a sort of country track: a folkie song about adolescnece.  But it returns to a good rocking (and falsetto fueled) rock track.

“California Dreamline” is a wonderfully weird track, with more gorgeous guitar melodies.  It also has a disjointed section with squealing guitars.   While “Rain, Rain, Rain” opens with a lengthy percussion section (played by Neil Peart of Rush) with a weird time signature.  It’s a fun singalong.  “Queer” meanwhile has some great chugga guitars that turn into a rocking tale of an ostracized brother (and features the great line: “But I wish you were there to see it/When I scored a hat-trick on the team/That called you a fucking queer.”

“King of the Past” is another great track, with a wondrous string sound near the end.  It’s a gorgeous song with (again) different sections conveying shanties and jigs (and you can dance to it).  Like Moby from last week, Rheostatics, also bust out a fast metal track, but this one works well: “RDA (Rock Death America)” has a major hook and name checks everyone from The Beatles to The Replacements.

“Legal Age Life at Variety Store” is a great folky singalong (and features the piercing harmonies of Martin Tielli).  “What’s Going On Around Here?” is the most traditional song of the bunch, a poppy little ditty which avoids complacency with a rocking coda.

“Shaved Head” is a moody piece, wonderful for its roller coaster sensibilities, which is followed by the beautiful Tim Vesely sung ballad “Palomar.”  This track is followed by the humorous (but serious) shouted-word piece “Guns” which also features Neil Peart.

“Sickening Song” is an accordion based shanty song.  Followed by another pretty, poppy-sounding track, “Soul Glue.”  Drummer Dave Clark sings “Beerbash,” an upbeat song.  And tye final track is the epic, “Dope Fiends and Boozehounds.”  It opens with a beautiful acoustic intro and a wonderfully catchy wheedling guitar solo.  It ends delightfully: “Where the dope fiends laugh And say it’s too soon, They all go home and listen to
The Dark Side of the Moon.”

I had been listening to the band live a lot recently, and they play these songs a lot.  So it was quite a treat to go back and hear the original with all its full instrumentation.

[READ: Week of June 14, 2010] Moby-Dick [Chapters 62-86]

I never thought I’d ever say this, but I really enjoyed Moby-Dick this week.  So far, these twentysome chapters have been my favorite (even the gruesome whale sections), there weren’t any chapters that I thought really dragged.  So, good for me!

This week’s read begins with Ishmael stating that harpooners should not have to paddle and then be expected to harpoon as well.  They should save their strength for that last, all important act.  And that seems logical to me, although one also expects that the harpooners would feel kind of bad while everyone else is paddling. (more…)

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David Somar & Jackie Davis–Ladybug Girl [series] (2008-)

Posted in Children's Books, David Somar, Fantasy, Fears, Jacky Davis, The Beatles on June 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Revolver (1966).

My first exposure to this album came when I received this vinyl LP as a free gift with a purchase from a mail order record store.  I assume the store is long out of business (or maybe not).  But I had ordered something (funny i don’t remember what) and they sent Revolver as a free gift.

Pretty nice free gift!  Of course such was my Beatles ignorance that I didn’t even know it was  proper release at the time.  [This LP (and a few other classic rock albums) were subsequently stolen from me at a party–boo hiss!].

Turns out it is probably my favorite disc of theirs.  In the past I have said Sgt Pepper, but I think I like this one better.  To say there’s not a bad song is kind of obvious, but yeah, every song is fantastic.  The crazy rhythms of “Taxman,” the gorgeousness of “Eleanor Rigby.” What has recently become my favorite Beatles song: “And Your Bird Can Sing” (that guitar riff is wonderful).

And of course, there’s the big time huh? (circa 1966) of tabla, sitar and tambura on George Harrison’s, “Love You To.”

Even the utter nonsense of “Yellow Submarine” is a treat.  (But really, Huh?).

But let’s talk experimentation.  Backwards guitars!  Whatever the craziness is of “Tomorrow Never Knows” (seagulls?  drones?).  The band were just playing around with every effect they could think of.  (Of course, it helped that they had a ton of money for studio time).  But what really blows my mind about this disc is that even though it is their seventh record, it came out just three years…THREE YEARS after their first record.  That’s an amazing progression from clean cut rock n roll to this incredible mind bending release.  Amazing.

[READ: June 2010] Ladybug Girl (series)

I intended to include the books that I read to my kids on this blog, but somehow, my own books always take precedence. But we have enjoyed this new (to us) series so much that we had to buy the books ourselves.

I don’t know a thing about the author or illustrator, but I really enjoy these stories (and the pictures).  I mean, look at how charming (and how beautiful) this is with so few lines!

So the premise of the series is that Lulu is Ladybug Girl, a young girl who suffers simple trials of daily life (and the slings and arrows of an older brother).  She finds herself daunted by these things, but then she remembers that she is Ladybug Girl, and she is able to overcome these crises. (more…)

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Guy Billout–Something’s Not Quite Right (2004)

Posted in Art, Children's Books, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Guy Billout, The Beatles on June 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEATLES-Rubber Soul (1965).

After the breakthrough of Help!, the Beatles followed up with their first proper album that is full of all original songs and which really pushes the envelope.

The opening song, “Drive My Car” opens the disc with a unique sound and style.  And yet, lyrically, “Baby you can drive my car, and baby I love you,” is as lame as The Doors, “Hello, I love you won’t you tell me your name?” in terms of dealing with the opposite sex.

But with “Norwegian Wood” things really get interesting.  It introduces the sitar–the first inclination towards their flirtation with Eastern/Indian influences.  And I can’t help but think it must have been rather shocking in a rock song in 1965.  It also features “Nowhere Man,” a song featured in the Yellow Submarine movie.  The song is a standout, from the harmonies to the language play.

I suppose everyone knows a person named Michelle who hates the song “Michelle.”

They really mix up the styles on  this disc (while always sounding like The Beatles). “What Goes On” is a sort of country tinged rocker, while “Girl” feels sort of tin pan alley ish, (the big sighs during the chorus are a bit excessive, but work within the song).

The disc ends with the really distrubing, murderous boyfriend lyrics of “Run for Your Life.”  I’m not sure what inspired this song, but frankly it’s lyrics are really dreadful. It’s not the first “I’ll kill you if you date someone else” song and it’s certainly not the last, but it mars an otherwise really catchy song.

Amazingly, all of the songs still clock in under 3 minutes, except “You Won’t See Me”.  While Rubber Soul is probably their first fully realized disc, it’s not until the next album (just a few months down the line) that they blow the lid of the joint.

[READ: May 28, 2010] Something’s Not Quite Right

This book almost doesn’t count a there are virtually no words (one per page). But the book is so awesome that it has to be included just because.

Something’s Not Quite Right is 32 pages of oversized pictures in which, yes, something is not quite right.  Note the cover illustration for an idea.

So, each page features a brilliantly rendered piece of art.  There’s a caption for each picture which reflects (often humorously) on the picture.  The book is a children’s book (Clark enjoyed the nonsense very much).  But even adults will say, Whoa, cool, when they look at these pictures that are just…wrong. (more…)

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Dagoberto Gilb–“please, thank you” (Harper’s, June 2010)

Posted in Dagoberto Gilb, Huh?, Language, New Yorker, Racism, Short Story, The Beatles, Unreliable narrator on May 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Help! (1965).

At last, a Beatles album that I knew from start to finish.  And here it is, another soundtrack album.  This disc is the first that starts to really embrace the diversity that The Beatles were capable of.

The title track starts out with the fairly shocking screams of “Help!” but it settles nicely into a poppy Beatles track.  Of course, I’ve yet to see the film of Help, so I don’t know how these songs fit in the movie. But as with A Hard Day’s Night, the first half of the songs were in the movie and the second half were not.  And somehow I’m surprised that “Act Naturally” (one of their funnier songs, even if they didn’t write it themselves) was not in the film.

Their other cover, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” is probably my least favorite track (I just don’t like their cover choices).  But by then, the disc has well proven itself to be fantastic.

This also leads me to my first “huh?” moment with Beatles lyrics.  I have never understood “Ticket to Ride.” “She’s got a ticket to ride and she don’t care.”  Okay.  Why should I care, then?  I suppose the verses reveal more of the story, but from a chorus point of view, that’s a head scratcher.

To me, this is where The Beatles became THE BEATLES.

Oh, and did you know the semaphore doesn’t actually spell “HELP”?  They were going to do that, but the photographer didn’t like the way those semaphore letters looked.  So, he created this arrangement, which spells “NUJV.”

[READ: May 25, 2010] “please, thank you”

This story is written from the point of view of a stroke victim.  Mr Sanchez had a stroke and is hospitalized.  And we see him watching, unable to communicate, frustrated as people–nurses and others–hover around him, asking questions, turning on lights when he’s trying to sleep, and–the nerve–speaking to him in Spanish as if that was why he didn’t answer.

As the story progresses, we watch Mr Sanchez get stronger, go to therapy, feel better about himself and even, kind of, become friendly with the nurses and others who work in the hospital.

The story is basically that simple: regrowth after a stroke.  However, the writing style–the first person narrative–was absolutely compelling.  I enjoyed that the story was from his point of view, so we learned details as he felt they were worth revealing.  I enjoyed slowly learning more about his family.  And I really enjoyed learning why the story was written with no capital letters. (more…)

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John Barth–“Lost in the Funhouse” (1967)

Posted in David Foster Wallace, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), John Barth, Meta, Postmoderism, Short Story, Summer, The Beatles on May 20, 2010| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Beatles for Sale (1964).

After the riotous fun of A Hard Day’s Night, I expected that this disc would not only continue the fun, but also be full of songs that I’d heard all the time on the radio.

But wow, this disc is kind of a downer.  “I’m a Loser.”  Really? It’s catchy as all get out but what happened to these guys in this last year?  “Baby’s in Black.”  Wow, these guys are serious now.  The opener, “No Reply” is all about getting rejected.  And “I’ll Follow the Sun” is about leaving and losing a friend.

But there are some good times as well. The cover of “Rock n Roll Music” is a little too stiff for such a rollicking song (kind of like how “Roll Over Beethoven was a little too stiff previously).  But “Eight Days a Week” is a rocking good time.  Fun for all and the first sign that the fun Beatles haven’t grown up completely.

The second half of the disc I barely recognized at all.  One or two songs were kind of familiar, but I wasn’t singing along with abandon.

Yet despite my unfamiliarity, the disc shows remarkable progression in songwriting, in structure (and even recording techniques–again, the liner notes were really informative about the technology they used).  I doubt many people consider this their favorite Beatles disc, but I think it’s a fine transition into what’s to come.

It’s also quite surprising to see how much their hair has grown in a year.

[READ: May 16, 2010] “Lost in the Funhouse”

I read this short story because it is something of the foundation of David Foster Wallace’s story “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.”  This story is part of Barth’s larger collection also called Lost in the Funhouse.  And, based on this story, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the collection.  But this story works in an of itself and, since it forms the backbone of the other story I’m going to mention it by itself.

This story is written in a thoroughly postmodern way.  As the story opens, with the enigmatic line, “For whom is the funhouse fun?,” we are introduced to Ambrose.  Ambrose has come with his family to the shore for “the holiday, the occasion of their visit is Independence Day, the most important secular holiday of the United States of America.”

Shortly after this italicized part, the story interrupts itself with this:

Italics are also employed, in fiction stories especially, for “outside,” intrusive, or artificial voices, such as radio announcements, the texts of telegrams and newspaper articles, et cetera. They should be used sparingly.

And so it goes with the rest of the story.  The author (one assumes) interrupts the flow of the narrative, letting the reader know that there is far more at foot here than just the story of Ambrose at the beach.

The story eventually gets back to the matter at hand: Ambrose, his brother Peter and Peter’s girlfriend Magda are driving with Ambrose’ parents to Ocean City.  This trip is made three times a year but this is the first time that Magda has come with them.  They play car games (spot the towers), and generally act like a family on a long car trip.

At this point the author interrupts again to note that:

So far there’s been no real dialogue, very little sensory detail, and nothing in the way of a theme. And a long time has gone by already without anything happening; it makes a person wonder.

Oh, and all along it is quite apparent that Ambrose is, as the title suggests, lost in the funhouse at the beach.

When they finally arrive at the beach, there has been an oil spill and no one wants to swim, so they stay on the boardwalk (not under the boardwalk).  Then the family decides to go for a swim in the pool.  At which point the author jumps in again and stops the meandering:

There’s no point in going farther; this isn’t getting anybody anywhere; they haven’t even come to the funhouse yet. Ambrose is off the track, in some new or old part of the place that’s not supposed to be used; he strayed into it by some one-in-a-million chance….

When the funhouse is finally mentioned as an activity, there is general hilarity and nudging and winking about what happens in funhouses (which Ambrose is too young to understand).  At this point, it’s worth noting that Ambrose has a pretty big crush on Magda.  He has spent many an afternoon with her while the three of them were playing (although she clearly thinks nothing of it).  When he suggests that he and Magda go in the funhouse together, everyone wonders what he’s thinking, but no one says anything (again, he’s too young).

Ultimately, the three kids make it to the funhouse, the entrance of which blows girls’ skirts up (and then Ambrose realizes the point of the funhouse!).  And he realizes that the funhouse is not meant for him.  And then he gets lost.

From there the story turns into fantasy, imagination and future possibilities.

It’s a fascinating piece of work.  I certainly wouldn’t want all of my stories to be constructed in this way, but I really appreciate this point of view and the, in my opinion, funny intrusions that break the fourth wall.

For reasons I’m not entirely clear about, the whole story is available here as a Word doc.

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Kaitlin Fontana–“The Flight Album” (The Walrus, May 2010)

Posted in Books about writers, Canadian Content, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Kaitlin Fontana, Memoirs, The Beatles, The Walrus, Word usage on May 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-A Hard Day’s Night (1964).

Despite my CD player trying to eat this disc, I still managed to listen to the whole thing.

This album came out just a few months after their second disc.  But it is quite a leap forward musically.  Rather than the simple rock and roll sound of the first two discs, there’s more depth of sound (attributable to George’s 12 string guitar?)  Perhaps also because of the use of the 4 track, rather than the 2 track mixer.  Also, Lennon and McCartney wrote all of the songs, so they weren’t bogged down by covers,

At first I thought that I had gotten to my first Beatles disc where I knew all the songs.  But that turned out not to be true.  I knew the first half of the disc (the songs that are in the movie).  But when we got to the second half (and I learned that the US version was different in that in included George Martin’s score for the movie (!)) there were a couple of tracks I didn’t know at all.

With the tracks sequenced as they are, you don’t get a big crunching finale at the end of the disc, like on the first two.  However, those first few songs are pretty classic (even if “Can’t Buy Me Love” completely contradicts the sentiment of “Money” from the previous album.  This is a really enjoyable fun disc from start to finish, even the songs I didn’t know.

I was pretty certain that after this disc, I’d recognize all of the songs.  But I had one more surprise waiting for me.

I also brought the movie home from the library one night but I couldn’t get through most of it.  Guess you had to be there.

[READ: May 13, 2010] “The Flight Album”

This is a memoir of the a Vancouver author’s stay in New York City.   I wasn’t really sure how interesting this story would be, I mean, there are a million stories in the City, so why should this transplant’s story be worth reading?

The piece starts with the author’s awkward assimilation to New York (and the almost offensive Dave Chapelle joke she relates to a cabbie).  His mild reaction lets her know that maybe she can make it there.

For me the best part was the author’s insert of Shit: A Guide to Canadian Usage.  The most notable difference between Canadians and Americans, she has found, is that Canadians use the word “shit” all over the place, and in many ways that Americans do not (in fact it is more all purpose than fuck.  The things that started it all was her use of the phrase “What the shit.”)  It is quite a funny section. (more…)

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Scott Teplin, Mac Barnett & Eli Horowitz–The Clock Without a Face: A Gus Twintig Mystery (2010)

Posted in Adam Rex, Adventure, Art, Children's Books, Chuck BB, Collecting, Contests, Eli Horowitz, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Mystery, Puzzles, Rheostatics, Scott Teplin, Short Books, Smarty Pants, The Beatles, Travel, YA Books on May 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: My Volkwagen Jetta hates The Beatles.

Lately, I have been playing some Beatles discs in my car.  And my Jetta clearly hates them.

First it was Please Please Me, when the entire CD player shut off mid-song.  It had lost all power.  I had to bang on it for about 5 minutes before it came back on.

The player played other discs fine after that.  Then, last night I played A Hard Day’s Night and half way through the disc it shut itself off again.  This time I was able to power it back on, but it wouldn’t play the disc anymore.  I ejected it and put in a new disc which worked fine.  When I put A Hard Day’s Night back in, same spot on the disc (“Can’t Buy Me Love”), and the player was totally off: no power at all.

A bit more pounding on the face and it came back on, and today played a Rheostatics disc with no trouble.  I guess I’ll not be listening to The Beatles in the car again.  Is it because the Beatles recorded versions of their songs in German but they weren’t included on the disc?

[READ: May 8, 2010] The Clock Without a Face

This review is about my first read of this book.  When I get to the end you’ll realize why there will have to be a second read and updated review.

This is an amusing tale.  And also a confounding (and evidently very real–see the bottom paragraph!–) mystery. (more…)

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Nathan Englander–“Free Fruit for Young Widows” (New Yorker, May 17, 2010)

Posted in Death, Holocaust, Nathan Englander, Nazis, New Yorker, Short Story, The Beatles, War on May 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: The Beatles-With the Beatles (1963).

Reading the liner notes to these discs gives me a greater appreciation for what the Beatles did.  They put out these first two records in the span of eight months and recorded both of the discs in a matter of like 26 hours each.  That’s pretty amazing.

I’m also starting to think that mono may be the way to go with these early discs.  I mean I’m a stereo guy, but I’m listening to these discs in the car, and it’s weird to have all the instruments on my side and all the vocals over by the passenger seat.

As for this disc itself, again, I was surprised by how many songs I didn’t know on it.  It’s also funny to hear so many cover songs (although it makes sense this early in their career).  Especially since, for the most part, their originals are quite a bit better.  It’s also funny how many of these covers I think of as Beatles songs.  Especially, “Money.”  This disc closer is like “Twist and Shout” in that it really rocks the house down at the close of the disc.  It’s not quite as intense as “Twist” but it’s close.

The only real dud on the disc is “Roll Over Beethoven” which is remarkably stiff for a song about rock and roll.

Whether it’s the production or the amount of time they spent in the studio, this disc sounds more accomplished than the first.  And I can really see  what all the excitement must have been about.  Four good-looking guys singing about love.  What could be better than that?

[READ: May 11, 2010] “Free Fruit for Young Widows”

After reading the Holocaust-based story in McSweeney’s (post coming soon), and the Holocaust section of 2666, the last thing I was ready for was another Holocaust story.  And what a doozy this one is.

Sometimes, when reading a Holocaust based story, I worry that my emotions about the Holocaust will overshadow the quality of the story.  In other words, is it a cheap ploy, an easy setting to get a reaction from the reader.  This story definitely is not. (more…)

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