AFTER years as a wine drinker, I've begun to reorient slightly back to beer -- I think this is happening to a lot of people, especially in LA. so I was delighted to come across the new book, "The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer." Author Christine Perozzi is a celebrated beer sommelier who founded beerforchicks.com and Hallie Beune helped manage Father's Office and taught at the … [Read more...]
The Torments of Stephen Elliott
SAN francisco writer stephen elliott is the baudelaire of the mission district. after reading his new book, "the adderall diaries" -- which begins with a possible murder and winds its way to a certain one -- i wasnt sure what kind of guy i'd be meeting for my interview at alcove cafe in los feliz. this is a man with numerous drug episodes, childhood years in rough group homes, a heroin OD after a … [Read more...]
Nordic Noir Finally Arrives
SOME called 1991 – a decade and a half after the rumbles in London – “the year punk broke.” If so, 2009 is shaping up as the year Nordic Noir finally arrived. Stieg Larsson – a Trotskyist sci-fi fan now, inconveniently, dead – is the movement’s Nirvana, and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” a mystery novel with Nordic Noir’s coolest heroine ever, his “Nevermind.” The book’s recent sequel, “The … [Read more...]
Eight Decades of Ursula K. Le Guin
TODAY one of the most innovative and intriguing writers in the english language marks her 80th birthday. there aren't many novelists who i enjoy as much today as i did when i was in elementary school; ursula le guin is one of them. here is the recent LA Times piece i wrote on her after visiting her in portland and re-immersing myself in her body of work and the debates around it. she was a very … [Read more...]
Steve Erickson’s West Coast Dreams
THE recent release of "a new literary history of america," has gotten me thinking again about longtime LA writer steve erickson. this fascinating volume, edited by greil marcus and werner sollors, includes a brilliantly counter-intuitive essay by erickson, which manages to wrap thomas jefferson and john adams around the songs of stephen foster. (he was born on the day in 1826 on which those two … [Read more...]
The Glorious Sprawl of Built to Spill
I KNOW i'm not alone in considering built to spill, the boise band that sometimes offers three guitars blaring in a kind of rough counterpoint, to be one of the key bands of the alt-rock heyday of the 90s. unlike a lot of those groups, they've managed to grow in feeling in each record, even if their style has not changed massively in 10 years or so.they are also one of the greatest live bands in … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday to Dune’s Frank Herbert
TODAY is would have been the 89th birthday of frank herbert, the west coast science fiction writer and journalist, best known for "dune," who died in 1986.when "dune" won the best sci-fi novel poll on my blog -- defeating heinlein's "stranger in a strange land," gibson's "neuromancer," and others -- i wrote a bit about the book, which you can find here. i recently reread herbert's novel and found … [Read more...]
The Delicate Beauty of the Clientele
SOME days my favorite newish british band is the clientele, a group from england's beautiful south who create an eerie, lonely sound rooted in chiming guitars. they are as english as nick drake but also rooted in west coast light psychedelia of the 1960s -- arthur lee and love, the byrds, perhaps the beach boys or mamas and the papas. they have been over-compared to belle & sebastian because of … [Read more...]
Greil Marcus and Five Centuries of the U.S. of A.
WHAT do thomas jefferson, linda lovelace, and pentecostalism all have in common? oh, probably a lot of things. but at the very least, they're all part of a huge new book called "a new literary history of america," which has just dropped on harvard university press. no anthology is perfect, but this one is full of fascinating stuff.HERE is my new LATimes piece.part of what makes the volume … [Read more...]
Robinson Jeffers and Big Sur
"NO major American poet has been treated worse by posterity than Robinson Jeffers," poet/critic dana gioia wrote in 1987, lamenting the lack of scholarly attention, an up-to-date selected poems, or a full-dress biography of this california writer who was once read voraciously and still inspires environmentalists. a few things have changed since then, but the great poet of california's central … [Read more...]