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NON-FICTION:
Generation Kill by Evan Wright
Wright’s story of the invasion into Iraq is a triumph of gutty journalism. The young men in this book fight, suffer, save lives, end lives, blow away vicious thugs, blow away innocent civilians, slay camels, don’t sleep, don’t shower, shit in boxes in front of their friends at the side of the road, follow obviously stupid orders into ambushes, follow obviously insane orders into deathtraps, occasionally rebel against commanders who give stupid, insane orders, binge on candy, slog through missile attacks, mortar attacks, sandstorms, and friendly fire, to achieve victories of very questionable worth. I finished the book feeling incredibly proud of what they had done, and angry that their lives count for so little to the suits who call the shots.
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THE SHORT STORY:
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman
Although it’s hard to pick a favorite out of Gaiman’s newest book of stories, Fragile Things, which has the distinction of being one of the only collections I’ve ever come across that reads like a page-turner. I flew from one story to another on a continuous high, as excited to find out what would happen on the next page as I’ve ever been reading a great thriller.
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THE MOVIE:
Pan's Labyrinth
A movie every bit as remarkable as The Devil’s Backbone, Guillermo Del Toro’s unjustly overlooked masterpiece of war and the supernatural. Backbone is, to my mind, one of the three or four best ghost stories ever put to film, and Pan’s Labyrinth is easily one of the most moving and beautiful fairy tales to find its way to the screen.
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THE VIDEO:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Shane Black more or less perfected the buddy-crime-shoot-‘em-up action film back in the 80s, and in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang he takes a hammer to the genre and smashes it to beautiful glimmering bits.
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THE FIGHT:
Castillo vs. Corrales I
Showtime was right to make the Castillo-Corrales matches available for download. Their first encounter is one of the most intense and unrelenting fights I’ve ever watched, and the ending is the kind of thing that only happens in movies.
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THE SINGLE:
"Beautiful Wreck" by Shawn Mullins
The way I’ve played this track, I think more or less everyone in the house knows all the lyrics by now. Even the cat.
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THE ALBUM:
SUPAGROUP - Supagroup
Okay, it isn’t new... but it’s new to me. In the title song, a shattering slab of AC/DC style rock, lead singer Chris Lee purrs: “Bon Scott was my godfather, he made an offer I can’t refuse, he said c’mon boy sit a while, let me tell you about the blooze...” Which is pretty much everything about Supagroup you need to know.
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THE GAME:
Guitar Hero
Probably the closest I’ll ever get to knowing what it must be like to be as cool as the guys in Supagroup. Yeah, it’s kinda fuckin' sad, I know.
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THE COMIC:
Blackhole by
Charles Burns
Try and imagine if David Cronenberg directed “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” as a horror movie, working from a script written by Kelly Link. Only you don’t need to imagine it because, conveniently, Charles Burns has already done that for you.
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THE MEAT:
Janey's Jerky
Which is the difference for me between getting one more page written in the morning, or having to break for lunch, just when things were going good. To place an order, click the above link and send an email for pricing.
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ANTICIPATED PLEASURE:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
Because Alan Moore didn’t do his best writing twenty years ago on Watchmen... he’s doing it right now, in the tales of the Extraordinary Gentlemen (and women).
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