An heroic L Magazine contributor read all 1,597 pages of Jan Kjaerstad‘s Wergerland Trilogy (brought to you by our friends at Overlook and Open Letter) to bring you this review.
Seducing, Conquering, Discovering
Tweet Like a Fiend
“Keep a close eye on your Twitter account. Important things may be said there that you will be expected to weigh in on, and if you don’t, everyone will wonder if you fell asleep in the bathroom stall of the bar last night and are still there, head sunken low next to the toilet, one lost contact lens embedded somewhere in the floor grime. Make sure they know you’re not; that was the you of 100 million years ago.” Jen Doll on writing and not-writing.
On the Most External of Hard Drives
Scared of relying on the cloud? Worried your book-in-progress might disappear into cyberspace? How would you feel if you could save your files on — wait for it — the Moon?
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“Yeah, American, boom boom”
In a head-scratching piece of writing for the New Statesman, Dave Eggers (whose novel The Circle just cracked our Top Ten) reflects on a cross-country drive he took from Jeddah to Riyadh. The journey, and in particular a comment made by his chauffeur, caused Eggers to ponder the significance of his nationality, his ability to perceive danger, and the intentions of others. The short of it: Some people from other countries are nice. Who knew?
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“Dying is totally mainstream.”
Millions staffer Mark O’Connell immersed himself in the “transhumanist” movement for more than a year, checking in on such characters as Zoltan Istvan, the quixotic U.S. presidential candidate perhaps best-known for driving a coffin across the country. O’Connell’s book, To Be a Machine, which details dreamers like Istvan envisioning human existence liberated from the outmoded confines of the human body, publishes this month.
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Appearing Elsewhere
In anticipation of their 30 Below Story Contest, Narrative Magazine is highlighting work published on their site by writers under 30. Today my story, “I am the Lion Now,” has been added to the list.
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The Pioneer Detectives in San Francisco
The Pioneer Detectives is coming to San Francisco! Join author Konstantin Kakaes and Gelf Magazine editor David Goldenberg at The Knockout in the Mission, Tuesday, September 17 at 6.30.