Will Christopher Baer
Born in Mississippi in 1966. Old southern family. Lived in Montreal and Italy as a child. Spent high school years in Memphis, TN. Attended college in New Orleans, LA (Tulane) but soon dropped out. Finished B.A. at Memphis State. Headed west in 1990 and lived in Oregon for several years (Portland & Eugene). Received MFA 1995 from Jack Kerouac School at Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO. Has lived in California since '96, primarily in Bay Area and L.A. Worked as homeless counselor, taxi driver, bartender, video store geek, college professor (Evergreen State, Olympia, WA) screenwriter and journalist. Short stories have been published in numerous places, notably Nerve and Bomb. First of the Phineas Poe novels, Kiss Me, Judas originally pub. in '99, selected as Barnes & Noble best new voice, translated into five languages. Penny Dreadful was pub. in 2001. Married, one child by previous marriage. One brother, parents still living.
Comments
Born in MS? I live here now. that's pretty cool. i think i will "check you out, sir"
hey, here's one of his first published short stories:
http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/shorts/suffer-the-fool
you can also check out this place for a play, a novella, and some non fiction of his:
http://www.willchristopherbaer.com/misc.php
oh, and welcome to the cult. and, um, the u.s.
Why can't he be found at B&N then?
This man is absolutely amazing, I HIGHLY reccomend his books. I stumbled upon the 2nd book in his trilogy (Penny Dreadful) and came to the realization it was a sequel so I found the first one online and now I own all 3... his book are defintely the type you want to re-read. I cannot seem to find another book of his "Godspeed"... if anyone knows how I can get my hands on a copy please let me know!
no one knows where WCB is let alone his manuscript for Godspeed. it's still unpublished. and we're all hanging out for it. I think there's still some excerpts up on at the velvet, or his website.
Godspeed is never coming out.
The C stands for Cocktease!
That was the single best Nate-joke since you've been back. And yeah, I'm starting to think it'll never come out, and if it does, it'll probably be like Chinese Democracy--all this wait for somethingnless than mediocre. I sincerely hope not, of course. I kind of hope he just comes out of the blue with some sufferer book that no one has heard of and it's so badass everyone forgets all about Godspeed.
he's my idol, and has shaped my work - the trilogy is a must read
True and beautiful words, Richard. KMJ is a pretty big influence on my writing too.
Question: What made you guys come back to this thread out of the blue? I noticed that goes on with a lot of threads -month gaps -how come? I think it's great the conversation picks up, don't get me wrong -since I missed a lot of earlier stuff, but... Just asking.
This isn't a forum thread, it is part of our recommendations system, so this stuff gets visits when people are looking for new stuff to read.
I came back because Richard Posted, and when I cult, I navigate from the Recent Posts page, so I noticed a new post.
Good to know. Thanks, Matty and Kirk. (How the hell are you by the way, Matthew? Haven't talked to you in a minute).
Going pretty sweet, mate. Just got word that a story of mine has been excepted for Short, Fast, and Deadly's annual print anthology, so I'm flying high. Working on my novel and a few shorts for specific publications. All good, man, all good. Just gotta get Christmas out the way so I can start the new year with a bang.
So how's that Baer fella, huh?
Think I might read Penny Dreadful again soon.
Matthew, Congratulations! That's music to my ears and I'm stoked for you. I want to see you go far. You're a great talent and peer. Seriously. That kind of news is the sweetest.
That Baer fella? Yeah, Kiss Me Judas is sort of Bible for me as far as modern literature goes. There are certain books that I re-read, but not too many. Yet that one, I Always read.
That opening paragraph floors me every single time. It's poetry. But not in a gay way.