I'm reading Jon Paul Fiorentino's new Theory of the Loser Class from Coach House Books. We did an interview with him a couple of weeks ago.

Check his website out here.

Did you see the Globe & Mail article on Fiorentino here?

Interestingly, The Theory of the Loser Class is Fiorentino's least accessible poetic work to date. His _style_ has moved further and further to the abstract end of the spectrum with each of his collections, but so far, the general reader willing to do a little work has always been allowed into his self-interrogations. Though still often playing the smartass, Fiorentino has until now spoken as a relatively humble fellow member of a larger population reliant on pharmaceuticals and mass culture to numb itself against the friction of social intercourse. Now, however, he's "tak[ing] the piss with Von Humboldt . . . exert[ing] shun tactics, dark leisure, snob method."

Pretty ambivalent about it.

Whoops, I missed your post here, but got the comment at the bottom of the interview. Just wanted to point you in the direction of Mark Truscott's blog:

Read his comments on that review, here.

Also, sound some other stuff about the launch at Blue Met from Concordia paper, written by Greg Santos here.

I'm currently reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel," by Jared Diamond.

It examines the historical factors that lead to a civilization's dominance over another; it attempts to provide an answer to the question of European dominance.

Diamond's central thesis is that over the long run, improved food production is the determining factor in cultural dominance. Improved food production lets a society accrue food surpluses, which can be used to employ specialists who don't need to generate their own food.

These can be professional soldiers who conquer land or elites who develop technologies. This leads to germs which develop from the increased population densities made possible with better food production. Expose those germs to indigenous peoples and...

I'll spare you further details, but suffice it to say that this book is pretty interesting.

I would just like to say that your avatar is fantastic.

I recently just put down Coupland's All families are psychotic. This was his first that I’d read. I’d previously seen his stuff around, from Gen X and Micro, as those made headlines, but then finally picked this up.
I guess the _title_ was too good to pass on.

He provides for interesting characters and infinite conflict; themes of love, responsibility, humor, and pain abound. We all identify. These archetypes are rooted in our earliest experiences.

Just like a family, one vacillates between affection and uummm hate? for the characters.

Well maybe just my family!!

Just finished reading Chuck Palahniuk's Choke today. Wow-what an interesting plotine. On thing I don't like about Palahniuk is how he repeats a lot of his devices, but then again, some people I know really like this.

Anyway, the book is about a guy named Victor Mancini is a drop out doctor that attends sexaholics anonymous meetings to get action, and chokes on food at public restaurants for money. He works with a friend who is a recovering compulsive-masturbator.