Book Chat: Shameless Shilling

Well, here we go, shilling for a book called I Am Not Myself These Days. Why? Um, cause Josh Kilmer-Purcell asked us to (we're tots Myspace friends, doncha know).

Also, we truly enjoyed this book, and we want his publishers to be happy so they'll ensure his follow-up tomes reach the masses in a timely fashion. So, you know the drill--click on the image. You know you want to. It's all hypnotic and swirly.

Book Chat: Love and Sex

Everyone's favorite rocker/queen of New Year's resolutions Courtney Love was recently on hand to present the top prize at the Literary Review’s annual Bad Sex in Fiction awards. A natural choice to our minds, given her copious sexcapades and the fact that she is a (ahem) published author.

Below is the offending excerpt from winner Iain Hollingshead's novel Twenty Something, in all it's lit-porny glory:

"She's wearing a short, floaty skirt that's more suited to July than February. She leans forward to peck me on the cheek, which feels weird, as she's never kissed me on the cheek before. We'd kissed properly the first time we met. And that was over three years ago. But the peck on the cheek turns into a quick peck on the lips. She hugs me tight. I can feel her breasts against her chest. I cup my hands round her face and start to kiss her properly, She slides one of her slender legs in between mine. Oh Jack, she was moaning now, her curves pushed up against me, her crotch taut against my bulging trousers, her hands gripping fistfuls of my hair. She reaches for my belt. I groan too, in expectation. And then I'm inside her, and everything is pure white as we're lost in a commotion of grunts and squeaks, flashing unconnected images and explosions of a million little particles."

You can find the other nominated passages here. Good thing you have that KY and box of Kleenex by your computer already, because with steamy turns of phrase like "she made a noise like a tortured Moomintroll" you'll need 'em.

Sex Doesn't Get Much Worse...[Reuters]

Book Chat: The Junky's Christmas

Ah Christmas, a time for eggnog, mistletoe, yule logs...and William S. Burroughs (okay, maybe only in our world). Sit back and let papa Burroughs spin his holiday yarn "The Junky's Christmas," about an addict fiending for a hit on Christmas day, in his inimitable drawl. Hey, it's got claymation, so it's almost like that effin' reindeer special. Besides, why do you think Rudolph's nose is so red? Two words: coke whore.




Parts 2 and 3 are after the jump.

Book Chat: Mother's Bilk

With the big screen adaptation of his hit memoir Running with Scissors set for release, and the recent scandals of authors James Frey and JT Leroy, it's no wonder folks would want gauge the veracity of Augusten Burroughs' memories.

Well, NPR's All Things Considered went right to the prime source, Burroughs' mother Margaret Robison. Unfortunately, she remains rather tight-lipped, not really refuting the facts nor embracing them wholeheartedly, but some interesting tidbits slip out. Like, who knew Augusten Burroughs was christened, uh, Chris?

"First of all, Chris is Chris to me. Augusten Burroughs is a fiction to me," says Robison. "I know a little bit about Augusten Burroughs. I met him in San Francisco. When Chris called me and asked me to come. And he was lost, he said. I met Augusten Burroughs there. But Augusten Burroughs and Chris are not quite the same."

She remains aloof about the book and its impact on her life, preferring to focus on her own work:
"At this point, Running with Scissors the book and the movie are a great part of Chris' life," she says. "But it's part of his life. It's not a part of my life. That book really touches me very little. It's not my focus. My focus is on my spiritual growth, and largely through poetry. And that is what my life is about. That plus, certainly to do everything I can to hold my family in love."

Burrough's himself was asked to participate in the segment, but declined through his agent.
The interview doesn't really answer any questions, but offers a sad portrait of a woman who is still more concerned with her future than her past, and fiercely proud of her son's success, despite what it may have cost her.

Augusten Burroughs' Mother Speaks Out[All Things Considered]

Further Reading:
Margaret Robison [official site]
Augusten Burroughs [official site]


Augusten Burroughs ;Running with Scissors ;All Things Considered

Book Chat: Josh Kilmer Purcell

One of our favorite new authors, Josh Kilmer Purcell, did so well with his debut memoir "I Am Not Myself These Days" that he's been signed to pen two more books, one fiction (tentatively titled "Candy Everybody Wants") and another non-fiction tome.

"I Am Not Myself..." is probably the best drag queen/hustler-on-crack love story we've ever read. Hope his new works don't dissapoint.

Re-Ups from Hot Young Authors [Galleycat]
Josh Kilmer Purcell [myspace]

Authors ;Josh Kilmer Purcell ;Drag Queens

BookChat: F.U.B.A.R.

Unless you've been hooked on a steady diet of Fox News and Oxycontin (mmm...hillbilly heroin) you've probably noticed that the good ol' US of A is heading into the crapper, but you may not be aware of just how bad things have gotten. Thanks to Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill of The Majority Report, you now have a myriad of reasons to really be afraid. Their new book F.U.B.A.R.: America's Right-Wing Nightmare catalogs the countries woes with a healthy dose of sacrasm. The title is a military acronym that stands for "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition," and that's the premise the authors take in dissecting the state of the nation, answering such pertinent questions as:

I'm gay. Can I still be a Republican?
Do I need to own my own congressman, or is a time share okay?
Is New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman's mustache, in fact, the sign of the Beast?
I thought we ran the media. What happened?

Buy it for yourself or send it to a Republican frenemy of yours and let the healing begin.