Stirrings (of a Personal Regard) | John Reed

Eliza Goose

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:19 -0400

Eliza Goose

My five-year-old daughter and I made this in 2009. She looked at the pictures and came up with the lines. I'm afraid it takes a second to load. If you have it, full screen of course. Voice over in the works.

This browser cannot play the embedded video file.

Pax Americana: Frankie Felt Fucking Fine

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:00:19 -0400

Pax Americana: Frankie Felt Fucking Fine

Ok, I'm scouring around for something to read tonight, and I know there will be a rockband there, which is always a tough audience. Something short and punchy, right? I had this idea of finding this very short story of mine from a few years back (2009), which was published in Pax Americana, which is a literary site that is now … a wristwatch site. So, I'm posting it here. Alas, I fear it's too coarse for this evening.

As Published in PAX Americana

Frankie felt fucking fine. A bit of news like that—and Frankie didn’t want to be mercenary about it—but a bit of news like that and Angela would be quivering in his hands. He’d have a smoke at his lips and an ashtray on his crotch and a quart can hanging from his loose fingers, and a little beer would be dribbling off the flip-top like the cum off the tip of a cock—and the suds would be foaming in a sopping circle on the carpet, that red carpet of hers he and Bobby had dragged out of the lot next to the Motel, and he’d be drunkenly reclining with her head on his chest and his arm, tattooed and scaly, draped over her waist and she’d weep and he’d watch tv all night. TV and beers and weeping and sex.

Dr. Shathley Q: Tales of Woe, full gchat

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:00:19 -0500

Dr. Shathley Q: Tales of Woe, full gchat

A little while back, I had a long g-chat with Dr. Shathley Q, who was looking at Woe for Popmatters. Always thought it'd be fun to throw up the whole winding thing. Sitting here going over the new website one last time (before I post it), and well, why not. Here it is. Something like 5/23/10:

swordschool: hi is it John?

me: Hi

It's me

Shathley?

swordschool: excellent

yes Sir

me: You know, I chat all the time

but it is amazing

you're in australia?

swordschool: south africa

me: holy moly

my favorite old girlfriend is there

swordschool: actually I'm just back from a trip to Japan

me: I envy all of it

envy

isn't the right word

swordschool: lol my gf's with me

me: I'm enjoying vicariously

mine was too crazy

but she was dynamite

and a red head

swordschool: aww man

red heads

me: yep

curly red

sort of brown red

swordschool: if only there were some kind of league for red heads

red-headed men particularly

me: some semblance of sanity

PopMatters: All the World's a Grave

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:00:19 -0500

PopMatters: All the World's a Grave

Dr. Shathley Q bestows a nice mention of Grave: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/153171-you-are-who-you-learn-to-become-the-new-crusaders-exclusive

“Nobody can write like Shakespeare, the visionary John Reed reminds us in “Gist” the first part of the closing meditation to his All the World’s a Grave. Nobody can write like Shakespeare primarily because that copypasta style of cutting-and-thieving plot, character, poetry that Shakespeare relied on itself relies on a much greater archive of writing in the public domain. What’s at stake is as much the cultural ownership of great literature, as the definition of the same. ...” —Shathley Q, Popmatters

Huffington Post: All the World's a Grave

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:00:19 -0400

Huffington Post: All the World's a Grave

Allan Jalon: "Arts Lust: Shakespearean Storms on Stage and Page."

... Reed's performance (classical post-Modernism, I guess you could call it) turned out to be a fabulously imaginative reinvention of existing Shakespearean plays into a completely new one, like a chemistry experiment re-linking polymers into new fabric. "A New Play by William Shakespeare," the cover announces, though the fine print says: "Adapted from the works of William Shakespeare."

Reed, a proven Thomas Edison type among fiction writers (Tales of Woe, an anti-sentimental stories-plus-graphics collection about awful things that happen to people, was his latest light bulb) turns five tragedies (in play form, with stage directions) into a convincing new five-act tragedy. The woven layers sometimes feel as rich and subtle as a three-dimensional Swiss lace, but it all becomes wonderfully clear, sophisticated fun. ...

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allan-m-jalon/all-the-worlds-a-grave_b_951036.html

PopMatters Fourth of July: Snowball's Chance

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:00:19 -0400

PopMatters Fourth of July: Snowball's Chance

Shathley Q’s articles: perfect, and extraordinarily timely. And a nice mention of Snowball’s Chance and Tales of Woe, too. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/144840-bought-on-the-fourth-of-july/

"The ideal of A Better Life is, simply put, too much to ask for ... We’ve read the amazing John Reed weaponize this idea for his magnificent Snowball’s Chance and its thematic successor Tales of Woe." —Shathley Q, Popmatters

Utne Reader: All the World's a Grave

Fri, 20 May 2011 16:00:19 -0400

Utne Reader: All the World's a Grave

Thanks to David Doody of the UTNE Reader, for picking up the InDigest interview in his “Great Writing” blog:

http://www.utne.com/Great-Writing/Rewriting-Shakespeare-Arthur-Phillips-Chris-Adrian-John-Reed.aspx

I wrote about the day this interview happened: http://www.brooklynrail.org/2011/11/express/arthur-phillips-stole-my-bike

KGB Bar Lit Magazine: Heaven Help Us Heaven Forgive Us

Thu, 19 May 2011 16:00:19 -0400

KGB Bar Lit Magazine: Heaven Help Us Heaven Forgive Us

Many thanks to Caroline Falzone and Suzanne Dottino of KGB Bar Lit Magazine, who just posted this very short story of mine:*

http://www.kgbbar.com/lit/fiction/heaven_help_us_heaven_forgive_us

*Since I posted this, the story has been anthologized in American Wasteland.

InDigest InDialogue: All the World's a Grave

Tue, 17 May 2011 16:00:19 -0400

InDigest InDialogue: All the World's a Grave

I talked with Arthur Phillips and Dustin Luke Nelson about Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Arthur, All The World’s A Grave: A New Play by William Shakespeare.

http://indigestmag.com/blog/?p=8187

Thanks to Dustin Luke Nelson, Ashleigh A. Lambert and InDigest.

InDigest: All the World's a Grave

Fri, 06 May 2011 16:00:19 -0400

InDigest: All the World's a Grave

Podcast of sonnets I started working on while working on All The World’s A Grave: A New Play by William Shakespeare. Thanks to Dustin Luke Nelson, Ashleigh A. Lambert and InDigest:

http://indigestmag.com/blog/?p=7934

Barnes and Noble Book Club: Tales of Woe

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:00:19 -0500

Barnes and Noble Book Club: Tales of Woe

Jill Dearman at the Barnes and Noble Book Club Blog, Unabashedly Bookish recently talked to me about Woe: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Unabashedly-Bookish-The-BN/Tales-from-the-Dark-Side/ba-p/875760

Newsarama: Tales of Woe

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:00:19 -0500

Newsarama: Tales of Woe

Thanks to Chris Arrant for talking to me about Tales of Woe for Newsarama: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/tales-of-woe-mtv-press-100902.html

“A truly memorable and heart-wrenching book.” —Chris Arrant, Newsarama

Rain Taxi, Powell’s Review A Day: Tales of Woe

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:00:19 -0500

Rain Taxi, Powell’s Review A Day: Tales of Woe

A cautious take on Tales of Woe from Rain Taxi, by Jesse Tangen-Mills. I’m not sure the book is quite so slapstick. Picked up by Powell's Books "Review-a-Day."

http://www.powells.com/review/2011_02_07.html?utm_source=overview&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_overview&utm_content=Tales%20of%20Woe&PID=18

"The Grotesque is alive and well ... a dash of Rod Sterling with a touch of Alfred E. Neuman." —Rain Taxi, Jesse Tangen-Mills

PopMatters: Tales of Woe

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:00:19 -0500

PopMatters: Tales of Woe

Dr. Shathley Q is taking a long look at Tales of Woe for Popmatters. I believe this is the first of several parts: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/129725-tomorrow-on-the-day-before-tales-of-woe/

“Tales of Woe, a book that will undoubtedly come define our generational zeitgeist, in it's overturning of the thrall of commercialist catharsis. ... after Friends and The X-Files, Boston Legal, House and The Corrections, reading Tales of Woe feels like a beginning, like the fertile soil of a generational nightmare has at last been properly tilled and readied for something to grow.” —Shathley Q, Popmatters

“It feels good in my hands, heavy, shaped. Small and black, tight. Like an airport-hotel room bible, like it’s the right shape to fill in the gaps. And heavy, like it’s otherworldly, alien or improbably shriven of all need to fit into the world. Hand-made alien object, like the kind Karl Marx denigrated in Capital.” —Shathley Q, Popmatters

Evergreen: Tales of Woe

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:00:19 -0500

Evergreen: Tales of Woe

I’m grateful to Rami Shamir for his thoughtful, in-depth look at Tales of Woe: http://www.evergreenreview.com/125/review-tales-of-woe.html

“John Reed’s Tales of Woe presents a sprawling landscape of contemporary apocalyptic vistas painted in the sweeping vignette brushstrokes of a master artist’s hand. Reed, whose previous All the World’s a Grave alerted the world to a timbre of postmodern genius never before seen in American letters, cements his historical legacy with Tales of Woe.” —Rami Shamir, Evergreen Review

Los Angeles Times, my version: "The Two Types of Assholes"

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:00:19 -0500

Los Angeles Times, my version: "The Two Types of Assholes"

Well, as it turns out, my fault, but we put up the wrong version. That was on Jacket Copy for the Los Angeles Times.:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/08/summer-reading-john-reed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+JacketCopy+(Jacket+Copy)

I’m posting my version, uncensored, here.

Jacket Copy, Summer Reading: John Reed on 'The Dark Knight Returns'

John Reed has written novels -- "A Still Small Voice" and "Snowball's Chance" -- as well as stranger assemblages. What do you call a play made up entirely of mixed-up lines from six of Shakespeare's best-known plays? Reed called it "All the World's a Grave," and Penguin published it in 2008. This month, Reed returns to shelves with "Tales of Woe," a bleak, black book full of true tales of undeserved suffering, illustrated with grim original art by Kiki Jones and others. "This is not Hollywood catharsis," the book proclaims on its back cover. "This is Greek catharsis: You watch people suffer horribly, then feel better about your own life." John Reed took a sideways response to our questions: This is, sort of, his essay about summer reading, and growing up.

West Side Spirit: Tales of Woe

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:00:19 -0400

West Side Spirit: Tales of Woe

Lauren Betesh put together this look at Tales of Woe for the West Side Spirit and Our Town New York.

http://westsidespirit.com/2010/10/06/making-sense-of-suffering/

http://ourtownny.com/2010/10/06/making-sense-of-suffering/#more-8881

Rather a thrill for me; my wife, visiting one of these fancy friends of hers (they intimidate me), saw me on the cover of a newspaper she picked up in the lobby.

"Stories are so dark that they cast no light. Don’t expect happy endings here." —Lauren Betesh, West Side Spirit

Brooklyn Rail: Art Attack

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:00:19 -0400

Brooklyn Rail: Art Attack

An story from Tales of Woe, which looks better here: http://brooklynrail.org/2010/09/express/art-attack

ART ATTACK

by John Reed

From John Reed’s Tales of Woe, (MTV PRESS, August 2010)

“Art Attack,” from Tales of Woe (MTV Press). Art by Ralph Niese.

City Council Leader Warren Bradley: “Brouhaha is one of Liverpool’s most colorful, vibrant, and diverse cultural celebrations. To see so many people from so many communities getting involved in activities from dance to costume-making, and from music to carnival parades, really captures what Capital of Culture is all about—creativity, inclusion and participation.”

Two hundred artists from 20 different countries: to entertain, educate, and edify.

In the midst of festival fever Maurice Agis, acclaimed artist, opened his “Dreamspace V” at the Metropolitan Cathedral. The work, consisting of 157 interconnected ovoid cells constructed from colorful PVC sheeting, invited guests to an experience that was described by the artist as “surreal, magic, like swimming in a sea of changing colors.”

New York Press: Tales of Woe

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:00:19 -0400

New York Press: Tales of Woe

Many thanks to Sean Patrick Kelly, who has an enviable gig at the New York Press. I owe the Press and now Sean.

http://www.nypress.com/blog-7134-tales-of-woe-john-reed-wanted-uncensored-stories-to-convey-real-pain.html

“Tales of Woe is a macabre compilation of 25 true stories of misfortune, pain and suffering presented in their naked, stark reality without resolution or justice. ... Tales of Woe violently strips the silver lining off of tragedy and presents it as it is most often experienced—without hope.” —Sean Patrick Kelly, New York Press

The Faster Times: Tales of Woe

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:00:19 -0400

The Faster Times: Tales of Woe

Gchatting with Nicolle Elizabeth at The Faster Times about Tales of Woe: http://thefastertimes.com/indiebooks/2010/09/24/woe-is-you-tft-interview-with-tales-of-woe-author-john-reed/

"Tales of Woe is epic." —Nicolle Elizabeth, The Faster Times