Steve Erickson

Just finished reading that [blog] myself. Intend to stop by the Barnes store later tonight to scoop Black Clocks, based on Clev's suggestion. LOL, Baer said "Erickson owns my ass". Yeah, Im looking forward to this author. Still havent yet put the time in to finish Toture the Artist [by Goebel], but Ill get it all done. Soon.

Was a great blog to read. Clev said:
"Yeah, real smooth. Here, Miles, I've got a spare trumpet. Help yourself."
LMAO

kabol

AAHAHAAA That was a really great post!! Kicked off my morning just right!

That "owned my ass" statement is exactly what brought my ass to purchase a couple Erickson books. You know if these fuckers are hooked, it has to be good!

Goebel on the other hand....not to blaspheme on the site, but that shit is garbage. I read The Anomalies a few months ago and wanted to take a gun to my head. Average at best, but not worth the marble that built the pedestal a few members on this site put it up on. Very unimpressed. I guess I shouldn't be so harsh...what the fuck do I have published???

I've read all of Steve Erickson's books. He is excellent. His latest just came out: Our Ecstatic Days. His hallucinaotry geography swims over the 20th century in a way reminiscent of Pynchon (who endorsed his first book: Days Between Stations) minus the absurdist humor and enclopedic referencing.

But, in it's place, you'll have the labyrinthine twists of Erickson's strange dream-vistas to navigate, where sign-signifiers are not always direct corallaries and plot, such as it is, isn't the most important aspect of the books.

He does indeed "own" Baer's ass, as well as Chuck's and largely any author's in this neo-nihilistic vein.

I ordered the two Erickson books Craig mentioned today too. Under $3.00 for both then double that for shipping. Two new books for under $10 isn't a bad deal.

[QUOTE=rjw104]I ordered the two Erickson books Craig mentioned today too. Under $3.00 for both then double that for shipping. Two new books for under $10 isn't a bad deal.[/QUOTE]

AAAHAHHAAA I made the same play! The shipping was a killer, but for that price, you can't go wrong. Did you catch 'em new or used? I found new copies of Black Clocks and Rubicon Beach for less than $2 each!

[QUOTE=milehighmancini]AAAHAHHAAA I made the same play! The shipping was a killer, but for that price, you can't go wrong. Did you catch 'em new or used? I found new copies of Black Clocks and Rubicon Beach for less than $2 each![/QUOTE]
yeah they were both new. Like $1 something each and $6 to ship.

I picked up Rubicon Beach and The Sea Came in at Midnight. Both new. I think one will have a remainder mark though. They seemed pretty interesting, and all the talk made me want them.

Yeah, i'm probably going to jump on this bandwagon soon.

i can't decide if i should call you all fanboys yet...

parka, did you like OED? i felt like it maybe tried a little too hard, one-trick-ponyish.

[QUOTE=moe.ron]i can't decide if i should call you all fanboys yet...

parka, did you like OED? i felt like it maybe tried a little too hard, one-trick-ponyish.[/QUOTE]Yeah lol kinda like we're sheep

But really, how often do we get to hear about a Baer, or a Clev, or a Chuck for the first time, and to find out that there are several books out there by that author ... It's always great news to find someone new, someone bad-ass.

Picked up Our Ecstatic Days at the Barnes store last night. Very damn interesting, to say the least. And on top of that, I am currently working on my first novella and this book is written in a very similar fashion to how Ive been seeing my narration heading and so this novel is answering a lot of the questions Ive been asking myself. Coincidence. Strange. Eerie sounds in the eerie distance.
kabol

i'm only kidding about the fanboy thing, kabol-guy, just a little bit of teasing to show i care

is OED the first erickson you're reading?

Yeah. Id not heard of him before and wasnt familiar with his works, so I had to get what I could get quickly.

And yeah, I know you were teasing, woman

Yes, it was the only one I could find in a store, and there were like five copies. It came out this year, according to the copywrite page. Is it a re-release ?

I did just now get done ordering his first novel off of amazon. Im excited.
kabol

[IMG]http://img134.exs.cx/img134/5739/fanboy3tl.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE=moe.ron]i can't decide if i should call you all fanboys yet...

parka, did you like OED? i felt like it maybe tried a little too hard, one-trick-ponyish.[/QUOTE]
That one I have to read still, it's sitting by my bed but I have to finish some research and V. first.

I liked The Sea Came in at Midnight, so revisiting that will be interesting.

Hey, is the title from ecstatic temporality, Heidegger's idea?

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]Hey, is the title from ecstatic temporality, Heidegger's idea?[/QUOTE]
as in past and future events influencing the present? PERHAPSSS...hmmmmmm!!! i don't want to ruin it for you, but just know one of the characters is named kirk as in, kierkegaard. i think i dun spelt that rong.

[QUOTE=glamhoth]Yeah, i'm probably going to jump on this bandwagon soon.[/QUOTE]

I didn't know taking recommendations from people constituted as bandwagon jumping.

Joke comment or not, kind of a dick statement to make. Maybe we should all just keep our blinders on and read what the NY Times tells us to. I hear John Grisham has a new book out.

Piss mood today....that just set me the fuck off. It even sickens me that you have a Don Hertzfeldt cartoon as your avatar. Did the Spike and Mike wagon some through your town lately?

easy with it, killer!! if you have agression you want to take out on someone, it should be me; i'm the one who called you a fanboy, afterall. glamhoth meant "jump on the bandwagon" in its most literal sense and is following up on the recommendation. let's not start a flamewar by calling each other grisham readers.

[QUOTE=moe.ron]as in past and future events influencing the present? PERHAPSSS...hmmmmmm!!! i don't want to ruin it for you, but just know one of the characters is named kirk as in, kierkegaard. i think i dun spelt that rong.[/QUOTE]
You spelled it right. I need to read it ASAP.

Grisham Reader!!!!

whatever, closet DANIELLE STEEL reader!!

[QUOTE=moe.ron]whatever, closet DANIELLE STEEL reader!![/QUOTE]

ouch. mean words hurt others. Im gonna go see if they have this guy in my schools bookstore. Anyone know if clevengar has anything new coming out anytime? Contortionist' Handbook was awesome.

[QUOTE=sacredchao23]ouch. mean words hurt others. Im gonna go see if they have this guy in my schools bookstore. Anyone know if clevengar has anything new coming out anytime? Contortionist' Handbook was awesome.[/QUOTE]
[I]Dermaphobia[/I] I believe is his next wrok, coming out next year.

JACKIE COLLINS READER!!!!

My mood is better now! HAHAHAHAAAA

[QUOTE=milehighmancini]JACKIE COLLINS READER!!!!

My mood is better now! HAHAHAHAAAA[/QUOTE]
at least she's got some good sex scenes in her books, NICHOLAS SPARKS reader!!

It is next year:

[i]Darm[/i] is coming out this year; same with Chuck's new one, in May; and Baer has at least one book [of short stories] but maybe two, counting the (3rd person narrative) novel [i]Godspeed[/i].

Im excited. Loving Erickson's OED. Took Goeb's place for my attention for the moment:
Also liking Torture the Artist, although I heard that Goebel's first novel wasn't too good, but Ima have to wait until OED's final page before I get back to that one guy that is in love with that sad genius little boy...

done.
reading.

[QUOTE=milehighmancini]I didn't know taking recommendations from people constituted as bandwagon jumping.

Joke comment or not, kind of a dick statement to make. Maybe we should all just keep our blinders on and read what the NY Times tells us to. I hear John Grisham has a new book out.

Piss mood today....that just set me the fuck off. It even sickens me that you have a Don Hertzfeldt cartoon as your avatar. Did the Spike and Mike wagon some through your town lately?[/QUOTE]
...
I meant that i was probably going to purchase the books and read them in the near future based on the recommendation... i didn't realize that "jumping on the bandwagon" had such a negative connotation. I meant it in more of a: "phrase used in the sense of 'joining an increasingly popular trend'" way, since many other people were also purchasing the books based on Clevenger and Baer's recommendation. There was not even the slightest malice (jokingly or otherwise) meant in my statement.

Heh, was at the bookstore today and picked up Tours of the Black Clock even though i have way too many books to read already. bah.

Here's a cool site with interview with him, articles by him, and articles about his books.
[url=http://www.studiolarz.com/erickson/]Here[/url]

I finished Rubicon Beach last night. The way it was written was awesome. It read like a dream almost. It should have been hard to follow, but it wasn't. The only thing I didn't understand was the ending. If anybody else has read this, let me know what you think.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01]I finished Rubicon Beach last night. The way it was written was awesome. It read like a dream almost. It should have been hard to follow, but it wasn't. The only thing I didn't understand was the ending. If anybody else has read this, let me know what you think.[/QUOTE]
Remind me how it ended... I went through the whole Erickson Oeuvre in like three weeks so some of it jumbles...

Damn, I am trying to rack my brain as to the ending...

all I come up with are the sequential tattoos... that was Rubicon wasn't it, not Amnesiascope?

OK, I just went to Amazon to remind me what Rubicon was about... I have only the vaguest recollection of it.

I do know it wasn't my favorite of his though...

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]Remind me how it ended... I went through the whole Erickson Oeuvre in like three weeks so some of it jumbles...

Damn, I am trying to rack my brain as to the ending...

all I come up with are the sequential tattoos... that was Rubicon wasn't it, not Amnesiascope?[/QUOTE]
No tattoos...
I don't want to say too much, because there are people that are going to read it or are reading it right now. It ends on traintracks and that's the only thing I can give away.

Last week I made my monthly trip to the Chicago public library to reload. While heading deep into the literature section in search of "The Room" by Hubert Shelby (a letdown, by the way), I happened to glance at a stack of books waiting to be shelved. Saw the name Steve Erickson and thought I remembered somebody talking about him on The Velvet. Snagged "Amnesiascope" and now I'm hooked. I've heard its not even one of his best, but it kicks ass. I highly recommend it.

[QUOTE=ahoff]Last week I made my monthly trip to the Chicago public library to reload. While heading deep into the literature section in search of "The Room" by Hubert Shelby (a letdown, by the way), I happened to glance at a stack of books waiting to be shelved. Saw the name Steve Erickson and thought I remembered somebody talking about him on The Velvet. Snagged "Amnesiascope" and now I'm hooked. I've heard its not even one of his best, but it kicks ass. I highly recommend it.[/QUOTE]
I need to pick up a copy of that one still. What's it about? What did you like about it?

I like Steve Erickson's books because it seems like anything can happen. His world is open and nothing can be trusted.

It deals heavily with sex, but also about a shifting reality. My favorite thing about it is the way he's created an aplocalypitc LA that exists in it's own world. Great nuance.