Orange Spotlight

Aaron Burch How To Take Yourself Apart, How To Make Yourself Anew (Pank)

I am not sure exactly what I just read, but I know I was transfixed by each and every word. This collection reads somewhat like an instructional guide, but it is more of a guide on how to explore the levels of dementia of Aaron Burch. From the opening short on how to dissect yourself and the multiple other sections on self-mutilation to the sections about folding yourself and others like paper cranes, it is strange but orderly.

This collection is a sanitized look at torture, and a guide on how to seem rational in your insanity, and explain it others with ease. My favorite story is “You Are Here”, and it revolves around an unhealthy obsession with birthmarks. The main character pours various liquids on his skin in an attempt to match the shade and shape of a past love. He describes his skins condition vividly through out the collection, and makes it a clear and key factor throughout. I promise you won't be able to stop reading once you start.

Bust Down The Doors and Eat All The Chickens #9 (Summer Edition)

I have had an electronic version of the latest collection of stories from Bust Down The Doors and Eat All The Chickens and Bradley Sands in my possession since last August. I have read the stories, reread some of the stories, but haven't written a review. Bradley has been very understanding and has only asked me about a handful of times. Finally, after this weeks follow-up I sat down and asked myself why have I not reviewed this collection.

High Places High Places Vs. Mankind (Thrill Jockey, April 6th)

I had been impressed with the inventiveness and creativity of High Places long before I saw them perform live at Pitchfork music festival two years ago. Yet, seeing them live standing in front of this lengthy table of homemade instruments and electronics turned me into a lifelong follower. It was the organic sound of the bells tied the wrist of Mary Pearson mixed with electronic drumming and mixing of Rob Barber, mixed shells and baselines, and all of the other sounds and pieces. Mary's voice was fragile, innocent, a little unsure of itself floating in and out of the mix almost wishing it was not there. High Places was endearing and fresh, this was the summer of 2008 and they had just released their collection of singles and eps called 03/07-09/07 on Thrill Jockey Records.

What to Tell The Sleeping Babies by MRB Chelko (Sunnyoutside, Feb. 2010)

"One day you will cry over/a peeled orange. Hold its bright/ripped skin in your hands."

The latest addition to the Sunnyoutside catalog is a thread-bound little chap from MRB Chelko called What To Tell The Sleeping Babies. Filled with imagery that takes a few reads to grasp, this chap is insightful and unique. Chelko has a voice that will catch you off-guard, it will walk up casually, extend a hand, and then completely blow you away. It is almost like she has this internal language, this world filled with ghosts, orchards of enormous fruit, and strange and twisted dreams.

"a song, opens like dandelion seed, its small hopeful sail unfolded as a hand or an origami bird"

Angles of Disorder by Zachary C. Bush (BlazeVOX, July, 2009)

"There are children trapped inside my face!"

I have had this collection/novel by Zachary C. Bush on my desk for awhile, and it took me some time to figure out why I hadn't picked it up and read it. I think it was the word disorder that keep me from cracking the cover. The distance between order and disorder is extremely slim, and one I feel closing in on me often. Yet, I recently cracked the cover and beneath it found a world chaos that was not as scary as I had anticipated.

In Angles of Disorder, Bush creates through poetry what ultimately feels like a novel. Well, a novel in the loosest sense of the word. These poems link together through references to "The Others", and through the act of assigning feelings to object (Or maybe it's objects to feelings). This is the deconstruction of life. Days become objects or animals, dysfunction is everywhere, and it seems like the process of recoding it all was painful. Just as the poems connect there is also a connecting stick figure drawing that slowly disappears through out the book. It further stresses the breakdown of thought and humanity.

Scott McClanahan "Stories II" (Six Gallery Press)

"Quit checking your goddamn e-mail so much. Flush that cell phone down the toilet. There's a whole world outside. Let's break into blossom."

The more I read from Scott McClahanhan the deeper I find myself slipping into his world. It may be the way his characters seem to be consistent, be it his parents, Kim, or himself for that matter, but he writes in a way that draws you in. I cracked his his latest collection, Stories II, at the start of a 4 hour flight to Phoenix and finished well before we landed. I was consumed by stories of everyday life with a slightly deranged twist. I soon found that I was no longer on a plane, but working the phones as a telemarketer or watching "The Couple" implode as I ate from above, or teaching English in prison. Scott's stories were vibrantly flowing through out my thoughts.

Rest In Black Haw by Emily Elizabeth Schulten (New Plains Press, 2009)

"Around the trees I hide/and seek with myself,/press my back to the uneven bark/and try to slow my breath"

I spent a good portion of my childhood running through the cornfields, playing on the farms, jumping over the ditches of the rural Midwest. I remember the summer days that would never seem to end, backyards that connected friends and families, and trees that were perfect for climbing. In her latest collection, Rest In Black Haw, Emily Elizabeth Schulten recalls a world that does not seem all that distant from the one I grew up in. It is a world drunk with nature, sweet and swirling around the heart of a young girl on the verge of losing innocence but still very present in the peak of youthfulness.

"I think what a year might feel like and picture those aphids at the mercy of wind, hoping to rest in the black haw before winter."

Alcove by Lavie Tidhar (Mud Luscious Press)

Over the holidays I had replied to a tweet by JA Tyler and in turn received a Mud Luscious Press chapbook. The book I received was Alcove by the talented Lavie Tidhar. A small yellow pocket chap that contains a lofty load. Tidhar makes me want to travel, to explore an island, meet a tribe, and expirience a new life. Alcove is a small slice of an expience that Tidhar makes universal through his langauge. Through out the story he use "I-We" or "My-Our", and allows the reader to join with his adventure.

"Here is a story, my-our story. I-we have escaped silence into noise, but silence always claims its just reward. I-we sail a mighty river - ho!"

Mel Bosworth When The Cats Razzed the Chickens & Other Stories (Folded Word, Handcrafted Batch Dec. 29th)

After both holding this book in my hand and then reading it cover to cover in one sitting, I still can not decide if I am more impressed by the words of Mel Bosworth or the passionate craftsmanship of Folded Word. The edition that I have of Mel's When The Cats Razzed the Chickens & Other Stories is from the Signature Series run and my copy is #49.

Tao Lin Shoplifting From American Apparel (Melville House, Sept. 2009)

I am all for minimalism, in fact, I strive for an honest simplicity everyday, but I feel I am missing something every time I read the work of Tao Lin. When Tao sent me his novella I was excited because I had read through the mixed reviews and wanted to see for myself what had some comparing him to Mark Twain and other saying he had no talent beyond his PR skills. I suppose I fall somewhere in the middle, I do see the humor and fundamental sadness in this book, but just as in his debut novel he fails to really tell a story.