Orange Spotlight

Chelsea Martin The Really Funny Thing About Apathy (Sunnyoutside, Nov. 4th, 2010)

The new collection from Chelsea Martin contains four short stories that attempt to capture the depths of youthful apathy. Although apathy seems to be a common theme in flash fiction these days Chelsea take on life is refreshing and compelling.

In the first story, "At The End of This Story the Door Will Open and Eight Seconds Will Have Passed", she examines the mathematical likelihood of who may be knocking at her door. The key is exploring that inner thought pattern and admitting to her own doubts and needs. The key themes that seem to run through out this collection are love (mostly unrequited) and family. When I say family, I mean the absent father, the harmful words, and the loving grandmother. My favorite story is "McDonald's Is Impossible". It unfolds in reverse through a lengthy series of paired statements, and explains why it is impossible to eat a McDonald's.

J.D. Nelson "Noise Difficulty Flower" (Argotist Ebooks, August 2010)

It wouldn't be J.D. Nelson if wasn't difficult, but the flow and general tone in his latest collection seems less experimental then his past work. Nelson seems more focused in Noise Difficulty Flower. He is finding himself consumed and consuming, and isn't at all satisfied. This collection is filled with pop culture, but it's culture as filtered through the complex filter of Nelson.

Noise difficulty Flower is a collection that spans from 2007 to 2010. Nelson considers these near science-fiction, and that comparison seems fitting in many places through out the collection. It's currently available for free here. The very cool cover art is by Rich Cortis.

The Zoo, a Going (The Tropic House) by J.A. Tyler (Sunnyoutside, August 2010)

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a book of fiction from my friends at Sunnyoutside, and from the prolific J.A. Tyler no less. If my memory serves it is their first since the release of Rusty Barnes' Breaking It Down back in 2007. The Zoo, a Going finds Tyler playing the role of a young child viewing his family as only a child can. There is feeling of innocence that is constantly being shattered and step on by the sort sighted words and actions of parents. When you are forced to see what seem like the tiniest moments or disagreements through the eyes of a child they become so much more vivid and unnecessary. The child picks up on words and feeling in a way that parents do often understand or care to try to understand.

Beautiful Piece by Joseph G. Peterson (Switchgrass Books, Oct. 2009)

"We always fall asleep smoking one more cigarette in bed."

And so begins the meditative, gritty, and near o.c.d novel Beautiful Piece by Joseph G. Peterson. Set in the middle of a Chicago heat wave, Beautiful Piece follows Robert through a looping tale of sex, friendship, and necessity of action. If you have ever made a decision that has drastically altered the course of your live then you will relate to the way that Peterson examines over and over the events of an hour or so of one day in his life. Every time he loops through the event of this one encounter he reveals a new piece of information or explains it in a slightly different way until the very end and a big pay off.

Rough Travel by Jeffrey S. Callico (Graffiti-Kolkata July, 2010)

The latest collection from Jeffrey S. Callico is a brutally honest look at domestic life. It is a series of glimpse at how rough our travels through life can be, but it is also a look at how shallow these arguments and downturns can be. He captures the pinnacle of the moment, but does it in such a way that it removes the emotion.

"Finished my coffee early
Slammed the door
Against your anger

Heard your screams
Even from the car
I looked up at the window

Your face was a mouth
I saw your teeth
Glinting in the sun"

Amazon, The Fame of God by AJ Kaufmann (Kendra Steiner Edition, July 2010)

The latest collection from Aj Kaufmann is set in the Amazon and tells the cryptic
story of Aguirre. He a character that feels both disconnected from his family and
haunting by demons both literal and perhaps figurative. He is on a journey to escape
what haunts him and to reconnect to his family at the same time. In that sense this
may seem like a traditional tale, but it is told with some really compelling imagery.

The Margins of a Central Man by Yannis Livadas (Graffiti Kolkata, June 2010)

"What I am, a bucketful of stars
I kick it and spread
Fleeting impressions
Around the world."

The margins can mean a few things. I first thought it would be the words scribbled in
the spaces around memos and agendas during meetings through out the day. However,
afte reading through this new collection from Yannis Livadas and Graffiti Kolkata I see that Livadas means a different type of margin. It's the idea that your life has a central purpose but there are a multitude of events that pull your focus away.

Under The Small Lights by John Cotter (Miami University Press, May 2010)

John Cotter calls his debut novel a coming-of-age story, but the truth is that the main character never really figures too much out. What Cotter captures is the feeling in youth that someone else is everything you what to be. The book is about aspiration but on an almost disturbed level. The main character, Jack spends more of his time trying to live the life that he feels others around him are living. He wants so badly to be with the woman that two his friends were with, and although she is married to his friend he still pursues. His life seems to be a constant play filled with new characters to emulate. Yet he is not the only one living this way. His friend Star also finds herself chasing various lives that are not her own. It really is a valuable commentary on life at twenty and how friendships are formed and lost because of our own confusion.

Howie Good "This is The Way The World Ends"

Maybe it is because we are quickly approaching 2012, but for the second week in a row I am talking about the "End Times". I think the reason that this subject is so fascinating is that it is the ultimate unknown. We feel we are moving toward something and we know we are abusing life, but we aren't sure what it will look like or how it will feel.

Through the eyes of Howie Good the end will come in a flash of light. Yet before it comes he will continue to dissect life around him. This collection is about the various details, loves, and subtleties of life. Perhaps with the world ending our senses are heightened and we can discover more details.

Chris Connelly "How This Ends"

"The bloodflow moves like jagged ants in the strobe of the conflicted sunset."

How This Ends is an epic poem written by author/musician Chris Connelly. For me, it is a deep and dark look at what the end times might look like. It's a look through the the pen of a man that has spent time in bands like The Revolting Cocks and Ministry. It's a look by someone who clearly feels we are on a path to destruction.

"Bodies under the bridge trying to generate magic hoping and loping from rubble to dismal paradise, post war architecture, yellow stained, cold and wet from piss and spilled solvent."