Faith In Fiction Survey

Want to help choose the publishing fait of someones novel? Ever look at a book cover and wonder, "What the crap does that mean?" Faith in Fiction is asking for people to take a survey to help choose the cover for a novel. Make your voices heard!!

Two By Ken

The youth pastor I have the pleasure of not only working with, but consider a good friend as well has written a great post and you can give a listen to his most recent sermon.

Article: Experiencing War From The Comfort Of Home

I just published my first article at Samantha Burns. It is more political than I usually write here, but I thought that forum was right for it. Hope you enjoy.

The Poets Voice

I am disapointed in myself. For years there was a recording archive of poets past and present reading their works. What makes it worse is a college right across the bridge from where I live created the sight. Plus, The Kelly Writer House offers a ton of progams which I should have been taking care of. Man, how could have I let this go for so long!?

UPDATE:
The greatest band in the world is coming to Philadelphia!!! I seriously would spend $100 for a scalped ticket. That is how much I love this band! I am stoked beyond imagination!

Just For Laughs

I am sorry I haven't been publishing here as often as I'd like. I wish I could blame it on time, but it was more a lack of inspiration and out right laziness on my part. I have a few irons in the works and will have more regular posts shortly. If any of you want to be a guest blogger please feel free to send me your ideas at cubicle.reverend@gmail.com and we will work something out. And for a few good yucks, here's Jeff Dunham & Peanut.

Writing Opportunity

I have just recently been asked to be a guest blogger on The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns. If you ever get the chance go and check her blog out.

Over Rated / Under Rated: Burroughs Vs. Mitchell

I admit I am totally stealing this idea from a magazine I read a few years back. I want to say it was the Utne Reader, but I am not too sure. Every so often they'd look at what was popular at that time and what is going unnoticed. Since I don't have any other ideas I figure it wouldn't hurt to do a few of my own from time to time. For the first I am looking at non-fiction writers.

Over Rated: Augusten Burroughs
This guy is the big man on campus right now. On top of the best seller list for an infinite number of life times this guy got rich telling all about his struggles with alcoholism and growing up in a wacko Doc's house. The premise sounded promising and potentially quite an amusing and touching book. I bought it with much glee just to give up on it with about 30 pages left to read when I realized I just didn't care what happened and I didn't believe a word the guy was saying. Having grown up on fantasy and sci-fi novels I have no problem dispelling disbelief if it's well done. This book doesn't cut it at all. For a book that is supposed to be about his life I am not sure if I believe he's telling the truth. More than likely he is, but I still find it hard to believe. They just finished making a movie based off the book. I'll probably go see it and be amused, but not too overwhelmed by it. Snakes on A Plane is a much more convincing premise.

Under Raterd: Joseph Mitchell
He had brief re-emergence of fame in the late nineties thanks to Stanley Tucci making a movie based on Joe Gould's Secret. Mitchell was a boring average everday guy. He didn't have a wacky life of misadventures. He wasn't a drunk or a social misfit (other than being a southerner in New York and extremely self-conscious). Mitchell wrote for the New Yorker ignoring the big news stories of the day to write about common characters, bums, rejects, street preachers, strippers, etc. because those are the stories worth hearing. He visited dive bars and cheap flop houses hoping to meet someone who was worth writing about. That's where he met Joe Gould an eccentric who came from a family of means who wandered the streets of New York looking for people to listen to in order to add their stories to his "Oral History Of The World". A book claimed to be ten times as long as the Bible. Mitchell wrote a profile of him for the new yorker which is part one of Joe Gould's Secret. The second part was written several decades later going into a more detailed account of their friendship. It is a strange book, but it is so believeable. It is a shame that Mitchell is forgotten. His writings have the truthfulness and honesty that is lacking in a lot of modern literature. No matter how strange or honest a subject is if you don't have the qualities Mitchell had all you are writing is a forgettable little story.



Pic of Joe Gould the eccentric. I also highly recommend: My Ears Are Bent & Mcsorely's Wonderful Saloon.