My food blog, flavor a deux, is now accepting submissions. Read this poem, “Gastronomic Geographic”, by GC Smith, and look for more of his work in upcoming weeks.


Roy Kesey’s short story collection, All Over, forthcoming from Dzanc Books in October, is now available for pre-order. Kesey’s work is smart and inventive. You won’t be disappointed. Visit Dzanc Books’ website (click!) and select the pre-order button. Signed copies are also available, but won’t arrive until the end of October, a week after the collection is made publicly available. Still, you want Kesey’s signature on there, don’t ya?! Also, look forward to Dzanc reissuing Kesey’s debut novella, Nothing in the World, originally published by Bullfight Media in 2006, next year. Yay! A novel will follow that. Can it get any better?

If you haven’t yet discovered Jack Pendarvis, you’re missing out. I’m currently reading his short story collection The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure, and I have to say, I’m in awe. The stories inside are wildly original and hilarious. Last night, I stayed up past our usual bedtime, reading in bed, and I woke up my husband by laughing so hard. Take the story “The Pipe,” for example. A radio station takes one of their DJs into the sticks and buries him in a box underground. They insert a pipe through which he receives fresh air. A hired security guard and EMT are required to be on site at all times. Doesn’t mean they are, or that they are in any way stable, responsible people. In fact, both are a bit nutso in their own way. The DJ is in the box for 46 days, during which time many mishaps occur, which make you ask over and over and over and over: Is the DJ still alive? I won’t spoil the ending. Buy the collection to find out. I will say that the story couldn’t have ended any other way. Oh, yeah, and Jack Pendarvis is The Man. That and he doesn’t look like Michael Moore. Just so you know.


Filed Under: Pimping, Recommendations |