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It ain't called SHOW FRIENDS...
DrunkSkull Books and the Dead Bird Gang bring you another animated drunk poem from A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST, this one read by William Boyle, and steeped in the Hollywood tradition of the screw-job!
If you want to watch more ANIMATED DRUNK POEMS, just click the button below!
If you want to buy a copy of THIRST, click here!
At long last, Jose Pepe Arroyo’s book, SONGS OF DESPERATION AND REVENGE has made its way into the world. Arroyo has been involved in the small press, both writing and also making beautiful woodcuts, for years, though he remains relatively unknown. And, if you enjoy my work, you may well enjoy his work as well. So, if you don’t know him, here’s a small introduction.
We’re also hosting a giveaway right here on this very thread, so stay tuned!
7 QUESTIONS
Why should people give a shit about art?
Because it’s the only way. Politics and religion are confusing and misleading; art will always tell the truth. And also because society continues to idolize (and consequently bankroll the lavish lifestyles of ) the talentless while our great novelists, people that have been doing the work for decades, are on food stamps and Medi-Cal, it’s fucking pathetic.
I’m glad to see you’ve recently put together a website/store mariachiblues.bigcartel.com, why’d you put it off for so long?
Because I have ADD, haha, which, as it turns out, can be a good thing, but for the most part has been disastrous for me, especially when dealing with administrative stuff. Time management is tricky and reading boring ass instructions on something I don’t find interesting will instantly put me to sleep. The thing that motivated me was that in the past few months eBay raised their fees. I’ve been trafficking hats there since 2014 and was trying to figure out where else to do business when the editor who published my book suggested big cartel. At ten bucks a month you really can’t go wrong if you’re selling your art work or even just displaying it. I then decided to not only make it a place to hustle my hats but to display some of my other work as well.
What's better: writing or woodcuts?
They’re both good for me in their own way but in the end, it’s all fruit that falls from the same tree. I also fuck around with junk art and I make hats and do air conditioning for a living. I say this because it gets complicated when it comes to presenting my work, say on instagram. I’m a terrible instagrammer and what I have noticed is that some people follow me for my writing stuff and then unfollow me because I post too many hats, and vice versa. lol.
Who’s your favorite artist that no one seems to know about?
I have a few. One of them is my friend Mario who I went to high school with. He wrote beautifully back then but he gave it up, kinda like Rimbaud, except in his case he became a contractor. Still, every time I am around him, I am treated to his poetry. He just talks it now, he’s a poet that doesn’t write.
There’s this musician/poet named Fizzy Water. https://tenantrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/fizzy-water-predecessor
He’s brilliant and has written some of the most heartbreaking lines…
Lastly, my brother. He has this god-given gift. His paintings are so full of life. Hopefully, someday the world will get to see them.
What's the funniest book you can think of?
A Confederacy of Dunces. Long live John Kennedy Toole. Some say it was the publishing houses that killed him, but I say they had an accomplice: his mom.
What mistake do new writers make?
Being their own editor. You know what they say, “If you are editing your own stuff, you got a fool for a fucking editor…” or something like that, haha. I’m not talking about editing as you go when you’re writing either. I’m talking about putting out your stuff without putting it through some critical process that doesn’t involve you. One of the things I learned from Gerald Locklin is to trust the wisdom of editors.
What mistake do old writers make?
If you made it to old age and you’re still writing, I say make all the fucking mistakes you want. Hell, edit yourself even, that inner fool should have gained some hard-earned wisdom by then.
Lastly — I heard, there’s a second printing in the works…but I just happen to have an extra first printing — and I’m giving it away to one lucky winner here!
If you’d like to be in the running for it, just post a comment below. I’ll draw a winner in a week or so.
LEAVE A COMMENT/ENTER GIVEAWAY
So…T & I took a trip to Ireland. The kiddo was going on a school trip abroad and we thought we’d worry less if we were 1) geographically closer to him, and 2) if we had something big to distract us. So we booked a flight, rented a car and a house and, just like that — it happened. It was a terrific reminder that travel can be a simple thing — even a big trip — if you just have the means and the will…something that’s easy to forget if you haven’t done it in decades!
And as soon as we knew we were going, I knew I wanted to meet up with a couple of long-time writing/publishing friends, Brian McGettrick and Sean Lynch. As with many online friendships, the years of “knowing” one another seem to race by, even if you’ve never physically met…and the opportunity to change that always feels like an unexpected gift. If you’ve poked around our HQ, you’ll recognize both names, as we’ve been connected going as far back as the GPP, and Sean’s designed most if not all of MANY of the things you’ve read from me.
And so it happened. And, as expected, both of them were aces. man — terrifically interesting, and I loved hearing about their lives and times, and just a few of the yarns from their decades-long friendship. As an even kinder surprise, Brian wanted to write up the whole event, along with some questions about writing, Ireland, and life in general he’d prepared. He set up his camera and recorded it for posterity’s sake, if not the drunken annuls of history! So if you’ve got 15 minutes to kill, hopefully there’s a couple laughs and a decent idea or two to be had in it.
Rumor has it that someone drank the entire bottle of Powers (Three Swallow) mentioned therein, but sources will neither confirm or deny as much on the record. Sources were also very patient with that someone, and managed to find the good hunks among the rest of his drunken blather…for which that someone is truly grateful.
READ AT MCGETTRICK'S WEBSITE
GET BRIAN’S BOOKS
CHECK OUT SEAN’S WORK
SHOW ME SOMETHING COOL