The Walking Dead

So the other day I was shopping around Barnes and Noble, getting ready to spend a birthday gift card. After finding a Murakami book, I wandered, as I do, into the sci fi/fantasy section. One thing I found was a first volume of a two volume series of zombie short stories, each of which was quite thick (the first one, which I bought, clocks in at 483 pages). Now, this is not the first collection of zombie short fiction that I own. And the one other that I own is not the only other collection. It seems like, these days, you walk into the sci fi section of a book store, close your eyes, and touch the spine of a book, odds are you’re touching, or within 3 books of touching, a zombie book. Novels, collections, “survival guides”, fake zombie memoirs, zombies are everywhere in book stores. And it isn’t just trashy SF Horror writers any more, either. This collection that I’ve just purchased, for instance, has some surprises. Aside from big names Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin (who just so happens to be my all-time favorite author, next to, perhaps, Douglas Adams), this collection also features stories by Kelly Link and – most surprising of all – Sherman Alexie. That’s right, I have a zombie short story by Sherman Alexie that I bought at Barnes and Noble. Chew that one over for a second. Like a bit of human intestine.
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This evening, I am limiting my investigation to books on my shelves, which hold many issues of Willow Springs. So, let’s look at some of the greatest moments of Willow Springs interviews.

How about this: “Kafka is always down here with us, and I don’t get that feeling with some of Pynchon and I don’t get it with Gaddis or some of the others” (91). This is Charles Baxter, responding to a question by Jonathan Frey about what makes Kafka’s handling of postmodernism better than that of others. Baxter argues that Kafka’s stories transcend putting characters into chessboard-like worlds in that, “In Kafka you don’t even know what the system is. The characters are trying to figure out what they’re enmeshed in, and there’s an overflow of feeling—mostly claustrophobia, but there can be other emotions, too. Kafka is down here with us, looking around, trying.” I like this answer because Baxter is offering comparisons and patterns that we can look for in postmodern literature. He has done work for us, and now we can read Kafka, Pynchon, and Gaddis, with specific things to look for. Read more »

i declare that "electric literature no. 3" is greater than, or equal to, an entire container of fudge tracks ice cream. if you know me at all, you know this is not a small gesture.

so we’ve had a bit of chatter here about electric literature.  but really, that was more about the organization, or the concept, than the stuff they’re putting out—via print, and e-book, and iPhone, and animation, and possibly invisible microwaves sent straight to your brain.  seems only fair to follow up with a look at the actual work—especially since after all the hype they’ve received, i could only find one other review of this latest issue. (full disclosure: i’m currently on staff at willow springs—though i like to think of electric lit as more of a colleague than a competitor.  we all just want people to read more, right?)

i read electric literature no. 3 over the course of a sunday afternoon.  of the first things i noted, a few aesthetic points:  it looks nice.  and feels nice.  it’s got some crazy painting wrapping both front & back covers, with simple, minimalist text, printed on a glossy stock.  the pages inside were a soft, creamy white, occasionally punctuated with whimsical line drawings (not unlike something from mcsweeney’s), and carefully laid out.  i know it’s a small thing, but it seems like *way* too many journals ignore these easy touches and print on a glaring white page loaded with text—not to mention the intimidating size of some of them.  because, you know, i & the rest of america were so anxious to read their magazines in the first place.  but electric lit is a travel-friendly 6″x9″ size, with only five stories; it’s a slim 120 page book, but only about 65 pages of fiction after accounting for blanks and illustrations and whatnot.  totally manageable.  inviting, even.

as a partial rebuttal to those concerned about electric literature focusing too heavily on already established authors: the thing is, sometimes you publish a big name because there’s a reason they’re a big name—they got game.  this issue starts off with a story from aimee bender, who’s got three books out, with a fourth on the way, and publishing credits at pretty much all the places a writer wants to be published at.  and you know what?  her piece kicks ass.

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