Anti-Twitter by Harold Jaffe

These 50-word stories are based on “found” texts from mainstream news sources and other public sites. Jaffe sculpts them to reveal their inner core, all niceties stripped away. Now the true motives, fears and sins of our age are on display for all who care to see. Amidst an internet-driven content boom, meaning has virtually disappeared. Anti-Twitter’s extreme brevity demonstrates by example that brief need not = dumbed-down. Though the stories describe a wide arc: high and pop culture, intimate and public, sordid and exalted, all subjects are equally laid bare by Jaffe’s incisive stratagems.

The Inflatable Volunteer by Steve Aylett

Lyrical insanity of the most vivid and unrepentent kind. As Aylett's narrator points out, we are all walking grave-fillers and he's happy to rub his best friend Eddie's nose in it. The reader is just a fly on the wall as he confesses everything, one unholy rant after another, to his possessed pal Eddie. There are no limits to his dastardly deeds beginning with helping the Mayor campaign for re-election by summoning a demon, a particularly cogent tactic since the Mayor's platform is 'Raise the Reeking Dead'. It's no wonder he winds up in front of a firing squad still telling outrageous tales. How long can Eddie withstand the full frontal assault of swirling implications, asides and fantastical insinuations while the true meaning of life is leaking out the sides.

My Heart Said No, But the Camera Crew Said Yes!
Bradley Sands

Forget everything you know about life, the world and all the objects in it. Bradley Sands can bend them to his will with a frightening disregard for reality. You never know who, or what, is lying in wait behind the next comma. Whether it's Super Noxious Air Man and his sidekick, Kid Centrifugal Force, or the next episode of Teddy the Rottweiler Spayer, Sands keeps you off-balance with laughter and astonishment. These stories are crammed with the delightfully odd and the scurrilously silly. From moment to moment My Heart Said No requires the most unexpected, perplexing and hilarious leaps of faith. But you'll be glad you took this exhilarating jump into uncharted territory.

A fabulous new bookstore just opened up in Massillon, OH called Backlist Books. It's located at 39 Lincoln Way E. Massillon, OH 44646. You'll find plenty of RDSP titles on the shelves there along with lots of other interesting books.

Check out their first video review for 15 Serial Killers.

You can also visit their web site: www.backlistbooks.net

Harold Jaffe will be giving a presentation about his upcoming release Anti-Twitter as part of Google's authors series on Friday, Feb 19, at noon, in San Francisco. Lunch will be provided afterwards. Anyone who would like to attend should contact him at hjaffe@mail.sdsu.edu for details.

The presentation will be video taped and will be available on YouTube a few days after the event.

Word Riot gets to the chewy center of D. Harlan Wilson

Jan 23 • 7 pm
Bluestockings Bookstore
FREE
Mickey Z.

Jan 28 • 7 pm
Real Art Ways
$5/Free for members
Writers & Readers: a gathering of minds passionate about writing, reading, and thinking. The theme is horror, featuring writers who will make your skin crawl. Participating writers include Adam Golaski, Elizabeth Hand, Brian Evenson, and Laura Sims.

Feb 19 • Noon
Authors@Google
San Francisco
Presentation by Harold Jaffe
lunch provided by Google
Email hjaffe@mail.sdsu.edu to attend