Ellis Archives
"I think in the last five years or so there's been a rather ominous silence," said Jonathon Keats, a San Francisco critic and artist who admires Ellis' work. "It seems like Ellis has never been given the benefit of a test of time. He's gone from being poster boy for everything extreme to a name that's quaintly nostalgic -- a moment from the past."
But talk to some of the more serious writers of his generation and a different picture emerges.Many see him as an overlooked figure, one whose literary heft grows with time. It may be that like a lot of things that emerge from California, the style and vision of Ellis' work creates problems for East Coast intellectuals, but will become as enduring as psychedelia, surfing, the hard-boiled novel or fast food.
[via goldenfiddle]
The reading last night was brilliant. BEE came out promptly at 7 p.m., said a few words and the started reading from Lunar Park. He read an early chapter where the BEE character in the book meets Clay. And then, responding to a bet a friend made him, he read the description of Teenage Pussy, the novel that the BEE character in Lunar Park was about to start writing. Anyone that has read LP will know how hilarious those few pages were. BEE said it was the first, and most likely last, time he had read that in public. He probably says that at every tour stop.
After he was done, we got to the Q&A session and near the end, I worked up enough bravado to ask him a question.
ilb: "Were you mad when Ben Stiller more or less appropriated the plot from Glamorama to make Zoolander?"
BEE: "Of course I was. I sued Ben Stiller."
ilb: "Really? You did?"
BEE: "Yep." Pause. "No, really I didn't." Another pause. "But I wanted to. Calls were made, but in the end there wasn't a whole lot I could do."
So best. Afterwards he started signing books and I almost didn't ask him to hold up my sign, because he was very confrontational and agitated during the reading (and he was a strange shade of pink, methinks he was a little tipsy), but I mustered up the courage by the time I got up to him and broke the ice by asking him to sign my Glamorama paperback to "Fuck Ben Stiller." He was extremely friendly and gracious to all the fans and did not hesitate to let me take his picture holding my sign. Respect.
Peep the video for the new Supergrass track, "St. Petersburg" in glorious Quicktime.
information leafblower is a knife that hasn't gone on any murderous rampages yet, removes stubborn stains and looks bigger than it really is. What do you get?
Top 50 basslines ever according to Stylus Magazine, part one. All I have to say is there will be hell to pay if either "Rusholme Ruffians" or "Barbarism Begins At Home" (or both) aren't in part two. [via Largehearted Best]
I hate it when Mark Cuban is right. But he is on point when he says it wasn't just the government that dropped theball in the Katrina aftermath. The communication from the Red Cross and FEMA could be much better too.
Don't forget the DCist birthday party tonight! See you at 7 p.m.!
“Don’t do this Victor.”
“Do What?”
“I’m happy for you, Victor,” she says, strained, just standing there in front of me, exhausted. “I’m really happy for you about tonight.”
“You look faux-orgasmic, baby, and nibbling on that giant mint really doesn’t help matters much.” I brush past her again.
“Is this about Baxter?” she asks.
“That twerp? Spare Me. It’s freezing in this apartment.”
“Hey Victor, look at me.”
I stop, sigh, turn around.
“I don’t want to apologize about how good my boyfriend is at irritating people, okay?”
I’m just staring at nothing or what I imagine is nothing until I’m finally moved to say, “As a general rule you shouldn’t expect too much from people, darling,” and then I kiss her on the cheek.
“I just had my makeup done, so you can’t make me cry.”
Bret Easton Ellis at Olsonn's books. 7 p.m.
I'm going to try and do this again.
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