1. V. by Thomas PynchonOpened my eyes to what modern writing could do 2. Little, Big by John CrowleyThe best American magic-realist novel ever 3. Dhalgren by Samuel R. DelanyBlew my mind 4. … [Read more...]
A William S. Burroughs top ten from Jed B. with his comments
comment: So you have read Naked Lunch and Junkie and maybe even paged though the Nova Trilogy of Soft Machine, The Ticket That Exploded and Nova Express, you think you know William Burroughs. Well … [Read more...]
Peter’s Top Ten Favorite Books
Dune by Frank Herbert A magnificent creation, we come back for the religion, the politics and the myths, which are so much more powerful precisely because he does not expound them. The Collector … [Read more...]
Jim Camp’s Ten Favorite Books
1. You Can't Win by Jack Black Here's a book that was way ahead of its time, and right now, it's my all-time favorite. Next week, I'll have another new favorite...in fact, probably by next week I'll … [Read more...]
Typewriter Experiment #1: Getting to Know You
A few months ago I bought an Olivetti typewriter with the goal of experimenting with the way the creative process changes when writing on a typewriter versus writing on a computer. This image is a … [Read more...]
Book review: Beatitude, a novel by Larry Closs
Beatitude by Larry Closs / Rebel Satori Press / 2011 / 978-1608640294 / 272 pages Empty Mirror received a copy of Beatitude from the author, with no obligation. Larry Closs' debut novel focuses … [Read more...]
Wankers, Burds, and Skag: Heteroglossia in Trainspotting
Mikhail Bakhtin, a twentieth century Russian philosopher and semiotician, was a theorist who worked heavily in literary theory, as well as the philosophy of language. One of his major concepts … [Read more...]
An Interview with Poet Jack Leaf Willetts
Jack, your new poetry collection, The Beauty of being Hated, has just been published. What can you tell us about it? It was hard to live and hard to write. It was written out of a series of … [Read more...]
The Beauty in Hatred: Oscar Wilde’s Aesthetic Theory in De Profundis
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. Psalm 130 Composed in January through March of 1897 in Reading Prison, Berkshire, … [Read more...]
Uncle Fred: remembering artist and poet F.N. Wright
[Editor's note: F.N. Wright was a novelist, artist, and poet, whose work was published widely in the small press.] Uncle Fred and I once thought up a name for our dream bookstore. It would be … [Read more...]
Remembering poet Lawrence McGaugh
Bay Area poet Lawrence McGaugh (October 11, 1940-July 26, 2006) was the author of "A Fifth Sunday" and several other volumes of poetry. His work was also published in literary periodicals and … [Read more...]
17 Syllables: The Death of Traditional Haiku
Recently, I came across a poetry site touting the virtues of the winning work of a Haiku contest. The "Haiku" in question was an ode to the writer's car. Something small but vitally important died … [Read more...]
Who the Hell is Stew Albert? A Memoir, reviewed by Hammond Guthrie
Who the Hell is Stew Albert? by Stew Albert / Red Hen Press / 2004 / 216 pages / 978-1888996630 Cover photo by Robert Altman Author Larry "Ratso" Sloman was appearing on The Howard Stern Show … [Read more...]