October 17th, 2011
Zoom In today’s column: Happy Birthday, Nathanael West. 

In today’s column: Happy Birthday, Nathanael West. 

plus ça change
lit
October 5th, 2011
My story collection Why They Cried has been available — exclusively as a Joyland eBook from ECW Press — for one year. I want to share some lessons learned, but first, here’s how I got here.

In today’s Plus Ça Change column, lessons learned from the first year of Why They Cried.

plus ça change
lit
September 16th, 2011
Zoom Per Wikipedia, My Antonia is considered one of the greatest novels by American writer Willa Cather. Per some bored, listless student, the book becomes more interesting with a hint of cannibalism, or perhaps a zombie angle?I know this is the middle school version of the “between the sheets” fortune cookie thing, but it still tickles me.

Per Wikipedia, My Antonia is considered one of the greatest novels by American writer Willa Cather. Per some bored, listless student, the book becomes more interesting with a hint of cannibalism, or perhaps a zombie angle?

I know this is the middle school version of the “between the sheets” fortune cookie thing, but it still tickles me.

plus ça change
lit
September 14th, 2011
You know who I think about from time to time? The Underground Literary Alliance. Remember the ULA? If not, here’s what I (and Wikipedia) remember about them. They were a bunch of writers — of, to me, unknown talent — who showed up at various literary events from 2000 to 2006 to make trouble and bring attention to the elitist nature of publishing. They were like a cross between Smashwords and the Westboro Baptist Church. And, of course, they hated Rick Moody.

Today in Plus Ça Change, “Are We All ULA Now?”

lit
plus ça change
September 13th, 2011
overlookpress: Head over and “like” Brock Brower’s Facebook page to see the original, 1971 cover art for The Late Great Creature, being re-released by Overlook this October. Something fun we cooked up at Sonnet Media. You must see the covers from the “unshockable seventies.” (SPOILER: One of the covers actually has the phrase “unshockable seventies” on it.)

overlookpress:

Head over and “like” Brock Brower’s Facebook page to see the original, 1971 cover art for The Late Great Creature, being re-released by Overlook this October.

Something fun we cooked up at Sonnet Media. You must see the covers from the “unshockable seventies.” (SPOILER: One of the covers actually has the phrase “unshockable seventies” on it.)

Reblogged from THE OVERLOOK PRESS
10 notes
brock brower
cover art
facebook
the late great creature
throwbacks
lit
September 8th, 2011
With shrinking reviews pages — blah, blah, blah — authors have had to find alternative ways to promote the existence of their books. And since some people’s lives are too boring even for the “Lives” column (believe it or not), some number of these authors will decide to “take on” the issue of ebooks. They will do this whether or not they read them or know anything about them. And if they really know nothing about them, their publicists will pitch their perspective as “fresh.” The smell of books may be mentioned, although even the Times is getting tired of that. And these essays will mostly appear in the Times, under that new “Mechanic Muse” rubric that seems to have been created just to contain these, um, musings.

In today’s “Plus Ça Change” column on Google+, I try to come to terms with the ebook essay surplus.

plus ça change
lit
August 30th, 2011
Having an imaginary argument with a misremembered quote by David Foster Wallace might seem totally ridiculous—and it is—but I doubt that it’s so rare. I was too old to get the full John Lennon effect from Kurt Cobain’s suicide, but DFW’s? It didn’t even seem possible. He’s my Kurt Cobain. He’s the only writer of his (my?) generation with whom reckoning is not optional. His Hendrix-like virtuousity simply can’t be ignored, even when it’s maddening.

In today’s “Plus Ça Change” column over at Google+.

plus ça change
lit
August 25th, 2011
Books are being replaced by reading.

Not a month goes by that I don’t quote this observation from Jack Shafer, who was just laid off at Slate.

2 notes
lit
August 23rd, 2011
You always hear that Don DeLillo worked in advertising before he became a writer, but you never hear if he was any good at it—or about what happened on his last day. Did he give the appropriate notice? Did the office manager circulate a card in a manila envelope with “For Don DeLillo” written on the tab, and if so, what was the title of the highest ranking company official who signed it?

Today on Google+, “Don DeLillo’s Last Day.”

plus ça change
lit
August 18th, 2011
Zoom Here is the first — and, I presume, last — installment in a photo series I’m calling “Vernacular Remixes of Publishing Logos Spotted on HVAC Repair Trucks in NYC.”Who says publishers don’t have strong brands? Seriously, I think Penguin might have a case.

Here is the first — and, I presume, last — installment in a photo series I’m calling “Vernacular Remixes of Publishing Logos Spotted on HVAC Repair Trucks in NYC.”

Who says publishers don’t have strong brands? Seriously, I think Penguin might have a case.

3 notes
lit
publishing
very targeted humor
August 17th, 2011
Sometimes I think I (and perhaps others) persist in writing fiction for the sheer irresponsibility of it. Fiction writing is for daredevils. The likelihood that you will find a net waiting for you when you land is negligible.

Today on Google+, I’m of two minds about my book sales.

1 note
plus ça change
lit
August 16th, 2011
By now, I think we’re all familiar with ‘the kind of boost’ books can get from Amazon rankings. And, unlike hardcovers, ebooks are cheap and easy to store, bringing the sort of list manipulation once worthy of investigative journalism (!) to the masses. Which perhaps raises an ethical dilemma but most definitely leads to the first ever ‘Plus Ça Change’ poll.

Today on Google+, is it okay to buy your own book on Amazon?

7 notes
lit
plus ça change
ethics
August 15th, 2011
In the past—say, the 1990s—writers were rare enough that the presence of one or several could be used as bait to lure curiosity-seekers into dusty, mould-ridden enclosures known as bookstores, where they would listen to these hothouse flowers read words aloud from printed pages. This was paralytically boring, of course, but writers were exotic creatures. It seemed worthwhile to hang around and hear them explain how they “came up with their ideas” and dispense advice to “young writers, just starting out.” Then, before you knew it, you were speaking to a writer in person and watching him or her scratch your actual name into the front of a book, which you then had to buy because it was ruined. You had fallen for it again. Writers. They could not be resisted.

Today on Google+, “A Disruptive Approach to Literary Readings.” You can subscribe to “Plus Ça Change” — my daily G+ column — via email by signing up here.

22 notes
lit
plus ça change
August 4th, 2011
I also finished Jim Hanas’s collection Why They Cried, which abounded with the mixture of well-drawn characters and mild surrealism that hits my proverbial sweet spot.

Kind words for Why They Cried from Tobias Carroll, TONY-certified bachelor and nerd Jeopardy hustler. (Google Alerts failed to deliver this to me. It appeared a few weeks ago.)

1 note
lit
reviews
August 4th, 2011

I created a story-by-story Spotify playlist to go with my short story collection Why They Cried. Here are the tracks:

  1. “Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?” by The Cramps
  2. “Left of the Dial” by The Replacements
  3. “Comfort Eagle” by Cake
  4. “Los Angeles” by X
  5. “Simon (The Bird with the Candy Bar Head)” by Elf Power
  6. “All Sewn Up” by Lucero
  7. “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel
  8. “Everyday is Halloween” by Ministry
  9. “I Know It’s Over” by Jeff Buckley
  10. “Stop Your Sobbing” by The Pretenders

For a full explanation, check out today’s column on Google+.

4 notes
plus ça change
lit
spotify

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 social media editor at The New York Observer.

Contact