An Interview with Toure
Carla Murphy01.04.08
Carla Murphy caught up with journalist, author, and now reality television host (“I’ll Try Anything Once”) Touré over the holidays. Of course she’d have preferred to have challenged him to some mildly absurd athletic contest to throw him off the question game (like Touré did over hoops when he interviewed Prince), but alas had to match wits via email. Murphy and Touré discuss surviving prep school, the future of hip hop, and Presidential contender (and as of this posting Iowa caucus winner) Senator Barack Obama.
Silent Teacher Remembered: Hannah Weiner’s Open House
Thom Donovan12.20.07
It’s been ten years since poet, artist, and self-professed "clairvoyant" journalist Hannah Weiner died. This past month, people gathered at St. Mark’s Church in New York City’s Lower East Side to remember this unique individual, to share slides and stories, and perhaps act as she often did, as mediums, to recall her spirit to our present. Thom Donovan was there, and here is his account of the happening (which included a reading of Hannah Weiner’s Open House) and thoughts on the artist in general.
Talk Show 6: Susan Cheever, Rachel Kadish, Daphne Kalotay, Mameve Medwed, Hannah Tinti, Vendela Vida
Jaime Clarke12.17.07
In Talk Show 6, Jaime Clarke asks authors Susan Cheever, Rachel Kadish, Mameve Medwed, Hannah Tinti, and Vendela Vida to conjure memories of their first day of school. Art by Danny Jock.
Is it Over Yet?: Overtime in College Football
Adam Underhill11.27.07
Are you over it yet? College Football’s overtime? Goes on a fortnight right? After two important games this past weeked went on ad infinitum (it seemed), Adam Underhill laments that these college guys can’t get it together and wrap up a game like a pro. Art by Danny Jock.
Talk Show 5: with Maud Casey, Myla Goldberg, Karl Iagnemma, Christopher Sorrentino
Jaime Clarke11.26.07
In the 5th installment of Talk Show, Fanzine’s regular hot seat thing-a-ma-jig for writers, host Jaime Clarke speaks with authors Maud Casey, Myla Goldberg, Karl Iagnemma and Christopher Sorrentino. The conversation is framed by this challenge: "Name an historical event you wish you would’ve witnessed/participated in and why." Art by Danny Jock.
The Pugilist at Rest: Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
Andrew Lewis Conn11.13.07
Was Norman Mailer a "pampered superbrat" as Martin Amis put it, a chauvinist pig as Gore Vidal would have it, or America’s finest writer as pugilist – an activist, novelist and journalist who didn’t simply cover the story but was always, "indelibly, part of the story." "If American life" in our times, Andrew Lewis Conn writes, "was getting crazier all the time, filtering it through the prism of a crazy, and crazy-making, personality like Mailer’s made better sense than not." Mailer drawing by Danny Jock.
Desire in Syracuse: the ‘Come On’ Controversy
Yvonne Olivas11.07.07
This piece shouldn’t require a subtitle with the word “controversy” in it; it should simply be about three talented artists’ work. But alas, the exhibition in Syracuse titled "Come On: Desire Under the Female Gaze" recently drew headlines when its curator Astria Suparak was fired following the show’s opening (and huge success). Yvonne Olivas talks to artists Juliet Jacobson, Rachel Rampleman, Jo-Anne Balcaen, and curator Astria Suparak about the art involved and what exactly happened in the wake of their recent exhibition.
Talk Show 4 with T Cooper, Lisa Selin Davis, Ellen Litman, Elissa Schappell, and Amanda Eyre Ward
Jaime Clarke11.01.07
Talk Show 4 theme? – childhood hero. It’s surprising and I guess telling who some writers’ heroes of youth were and why. I mean T-Cooper? Everyone who’s read this seems to ask wait, what about Radar, or that guy in drag? In any case, M*A*S*H* to most of my generation was in general a stay up late re-run privelege that tended to bleed into the burdensome when older fanatics hogged control of the remote, in a post prime time herb and Cheetohs induced existential coma. But it’s a great unexpected off the waller (the young sly Alda) and there’s a good variety of heoric fanfare from a fine selection of writers this month. Hosted by Jaime Clarke and with art as usual by Danny Jock.
World Series 2007 Blog
Dallas Hudgens10.26.07
Well that was quick…fun for Red Sox Fans, a little boring for writers to cover though. Here’s the summation which you can also check on Hudgens’ personal blog. Art by Danny Jock
Barry McGee: Mature Works
Zoey Mondt10.12.07
Have this funny feeling we’ll get some flak for this review. What with our magazine’s seeming anarachic name and all that it implies. But what the hell, Ms. Mondt says what needs to be said here about Mr. McGee’s ‘Mature Works’ and the art establishment that bottom feeds off so called Lowbrow or Street Art.
