October 27th, 2011
Released in 1998 — not coincidentally, about the time Gen Y was hitting 18 — Aeroplane’s un-self-conscious poetry was immediately recognized as an antidote (even when we hadn’t been looking for one) to the quotation-mark-laden Matador catalog, featuring the plausibly deniable plaints of Pavement, Guided By Voices, et. al. These bands were smart, clever, and knowing. Mangum, on the other hand, was smart, guileless, and unknowable. Aeroplane is an album Dave Eggers wished he could have written, if he hadn’t been back there with me — and others — on the other side of the dividing line.

In today’s column: In the Aeroplane over the Sea, revisited.

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PRAISE FOR
WHY THEY CRIED



"... demonstrates real insight into the way we live now."
 –The Rumpus

"Reminiscent of George Saunders and James Thurber, Why They Cried is a great collection of modern tales."
–Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief and co-founder of One Story

"Jim Hanas has a remarkable talent for imagining and crafting uncanny little worlds that make me vaguely nervous. And yet I never want to leave."
–Rob Walker, co-founder of Significant Objects

"A tender and smart assembly of fiction about people trying to communicate—with each other, the world—and all the ways they fail. Fail better, fail beautifully."
–Fiona Maazel, author of Last Last Chance

Jim Hanas is the author of the short story collection Why They Cried (Joyland eBooks/ECW Press) and director of audience development at HarperCollins Publishers.

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