Chuck Palahniuk Interviews Donald Ray Pollock, Author of 'KNOCKEMSTIFF'
As you may have noticed, we have a new banner on the site for a book of short stories called KNOCKEMSTIFF. Chuck Palahniuk is a big advocate of this book. He not only had this to say:
In KNOCKEMSTIFF, Donald Ray Pollock gives us the impossible—fast, funny stories about the saddest people you’ll ever see in fiction. Here’s the America you haven’t seen since "Jesus' Son", only more heartbreaking. More absurd. More engaging than any new fiction in years. - CHUCK PALAHNIUK
But Chuck has gone even further this time, and conducted a 12 minute long audio interview with Donald. This is great stuff, folks. Chuck even talks about Snuff a little.
Listen to Chuck's Interview with Donald Ray Pollock here!
The book is on-sale starting today (Tuesday, 3/18) and you can order it here!
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Comments
I have not listened to the interview yet. I might have to check this one out though. I liked Jesus' Son Dennis Johnson is great.
Haha Chuck said, "You know for Snuff, I got to legally watch an enormous amount of pornography and write it off on my taxes. That's the best kind of research there is."
He could have just watched it on the internet for free. Dennis knows all the good sites,
Does anyone know more about pigmy?
I tried to buy this today, but barnes and nobles didn't have it in. Oh well.
The stories in this book are funny...disturbing...you'll gaffaw, cry, be left in awe by it's eloquence and bluntness blended into a bittersweet treat. Buy it!
"I tried to buy this today, but barnes and nobles didn't have it in. Oh well."
B&N has one book buyer who determintes what will appear on shelves for every store location in the chain. That means that if one particular buyer isn't convinced on the relative market value of a certain author, you won't see that person's titles on B&N shelves anywhere in the country.
This is bad for your choices as a reader. This is bad for small and independent presses. And this is bad for excellent authors whose work just hasn't been snapped up by the big, corporate machine.
Thus far, I've never seen a Craig Clevenger title at a B&N, for example. But the big independent bookstore in my area has stocked his books without me particularly asking them to do so.
That's another thing: when you shop at an independent bookstore, there's a chance the person who makes the buying decisions for that store will actually be there--physicall present--in that store. You might be able to talk to them. There's a chance that if you convince them to look into a certain author, that person's books will start getting stocked on the shelves, insead of just special ordered only for you. It's more like a person is making the buying decisions, instead of a corporation run by people you'll never see.
Don't let the corporate machine determine your choices. Buying all your books at Barnes & Noble is like buying all your clothes at Walmart. It's convenient, but there's a big trade-off involved. Find a great independent bookstore in your area. If a cool independent store isn't conveniently located for you, order your books online from Powells, The Strand, or Joseph-Beth Booksellers, instead of always feeding the Amazon. You'll sometimes be waiting a week or two for your book to show up in the mail, but you'll be voting with your dollars for a broader pallet of choices in the published word.
More voices and more choices trumps instant gratification in the world of books.