James Greer

Pygmalion Lit Festival

James Greer — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:04:05 +0000

I’m going to be reading, probably from my forthcoming collection of short fiction Everything Flows, at the Pygmalion Lit Fest in Champaign-Urbana, or Urbana-Champaign, or somewhere in Illinois, on September 27 or 28. I’ll also be playing in Détective on one of those two [...]

Joyland Podcast

James Greer — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:40:38 +0000

I did a podcast not long ago while on tour with my band Détective for Joyland Magazine. Brian Joseph Davis and I talked in the tour van for at least an hour about a lot of non-libelous (I hope) things including but not limited to the [...]

The Weeklings: Revolution #1

James Greer — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:30:28 +0000

A new anthology of essays from a website called The Weeklings to which I irregularly contribute has recently been made available for sale to the reading public. Information/justification here. The anthology includes something I wrote, apparently, as well as stuff from a bunch of great writers on [...]

Reading in Boston – AWP

James Greer — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 03:06:20 +0000

If any of you folks happen to be in Boston for AWP in early March, I’ll be reading playing music, apparently, at Cantab Lounge with several other very excellent writers on March 7 sometime after 8PM. Please stop by and say hello if you get a chance.

Further details:

Cantab [...]

Being For the Benefit of Joseph Mattson

James Greer — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:49:42 +0000

My very good friend and one of Los Angeles’ finest writers, Joseph Mattson, is in dire need of your help. If you live in the LA area, there will occur on Tuesday December 4 a benefit for Joseph at The Echo. In addition to my band Détective, [...]

Halloween Reading

James Greer — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 23:49:30 +0000

I will have the great pleasure of reading with some of Los Angeles’ best writers, including Joe Donnelly and Antonia Crane, among several others, at Slake Magazine‘s Halloween Reading at the coolest AND the hottest new LA-area bookstore, Pop-Hop Books & Print in Hancock Park. The address is on [...]

The Believer Logger – On Tour With Guided By Voices

James Greer — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 23:29:30 +0000

First installment of my ramblings concerning Détective‘s recent tour with Guided By Voices is now up at The Believer Magazine‘s tumblr, which is called The Believer Logger. You can read it by clicking the link here.

More to come as soon as [...]

On the Road

James Greer — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 06:54:23 +0000

(cross-posted from Détective Music)

Hi, so my band Détective is going on tour, first stop Tempe AZ before we join up with Guided By Voices in Athen GA on September 18. I’ve agreed to write a sort of tour diary for The Believer magazine’s tumblr, so if and when that happens, I’ll [...]

Two New Messages

James Greer — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:44:02 +0000

I reviewed Joshua Cohen’s collection of four long short stories, Four New Messages, for Bookforum, which you can find wherever Bookforum in its papery form is still sold, and also online here. My review calls Cohen “immoderately brilliant,” and the takeaway for those disinclined to read reviews is “buy [...]

VICE

James Greer — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:33:17 +0000

For reasons surpassing anyone’s understanding, I was interviewed by New York Tyrant publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano for VICE. I taked some about my new band Détective, and a lot about my forthcoming story collection, Everything Flows, from Curbside Publishing. You can read it all here.

Everything Flows

James Greer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:34:38 +0000

A collection of my “stories,” leaning hard on the figurative sense of story, will be published by Curbside Splendor in November of this year, with the usual caveat that the world may end right around that time in which case never mind. I do hope my forthcoming book will in no way [...]

Basket of Masks

James Greer — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:11:33 +0000

Okay, so this new band Détective has a new EP, called Basket of Masks, set to release on limited edition (300) 12″ 45 r.p.m. vinyl in late May. You can pre-order it now by going here. If you pre-order before it ships, we’ll include as a bonus the limited edition CD of our previous [...]

Letters to Kurt

James Greer — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:37:51 +0000

Relatively short notice, but for Los Angeles-area residents, I’ll be discussing Eric Erlandson’s new book Letters to Kurt at Skylight Books on Thursday, March 29. All the information you could ever want and more can be found by clicking here.

Eric was co-founder of the band Hole, as I [...]

Godard in America

James Greer — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:20:41 +0000

The indispensable site UbuWeb once again proves its indispensabilityness. Click here to watch the 45 minute film of J-L Godard and J-P Gorin’s 1970 tour of American universities (ham-fisted screenshot above) in search of funding for a never-completed film supporting the Palestinain struggle (North of Onhava studiously avoids taking [...]

Housekeeping

James Greer — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:02:04 +0000

I have been sorely lacking on the “post stuff at North of Onhava” front lately. I don’t even have a good excuse, like “I lost my left arm in an axe-throwing contest.” That would be a good excuse because I’m left-handed.

Anyway, here’s a couple of things. My friend Patrick Wensink has released [...]

Shoot Out The Lights

James Greer — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:44:50 +0000

I’m a little behind on the relelntless self-promotion front, but I have my reasons, which are plentiful as grapes, if you you know your Shakespeare.

On Tuesday, March 6, I will be recording a podcast with the Hugs and Disses crew which will feature my new band Detective. I [...]

Class Clown Spots A (Hardcore) UFO

James Greer — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:00:26 +0000

Today I am playing a trick on you. Ha! Good one. The next Guided By Voices album is finished, and it’s (obviously) great, and you can’t hear it until I believe May. It’s called Class Clown Spots A UFO. Which is an old song made new again through the magic of [...]

Forthcomingness

James Greer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:46:21 +0000

Forthcomingness = There are a couple of upcoming events in which the legion of North of Onhava readers might be interested, be you of the literary or rockerary persuasion.

The first is a return visit to Jim Ruland’s legendary Vermin on the Mount reading series, this time pitting contributors from The [...]

The Time I Bled All Over The Place

James Greer — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:19:19 +0000

[Editor's note: I'm re-running this piece from the vast North of Onhava archives in celebration of Guided By Voices' appearance on Letterman the other night, during the course of which bass player/lawyer Greg Demos fell on his ass. That's actually a quote from Greg to Mr. Letterman: "I fell on my [...]

Joyland Retro

James Greer — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:01:18 +0000

The excellent literary site Joyland, which describes itself as a “hub for short fiction” because it’s a hub for short fiction, has come out with the first of a planned biannual series of print journals consisting of pieces that have previously appeared on the site. The first Joyland Retro (it’s retro [...]

Holiday Largesse

James Greer — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:07:47 +0000

Since I have a lot of work to do, still, even though it’s Christmas Eve, and won’t be able to post anything here for a while, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share an old Guided By Voices song that has never been properly released: It’s called “Pantherz,” and it was meant to be [...]

Ben Tanzer Will Change Your Life

James Greer — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:43:19 +0000

Or at least, he claims that his blog will do so. And today, he wrote some very kind words about my second novel The Failure, so I’m inclined to believe him. But you, having free will (or so you’ve been led to think), may choose to feel [...]

The Reluctant King

James Greer — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:20:00 +0000

This is a picture of Berlin. It is unrelated to the story below.

[Editor's note: a version of this story appeared in my friend Sébastien Doubinsky's excellent bi- or tri-lingual periodical Zaporogue, which you can find here. Seb has at least two books forthcoming from the excellent Black Coffee [...]

A Series of Fortunate Events

James Greer — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:35:55 +0000

To the right of this post you will notice a list of upcoming dates, times and places at which I will be appearing along with some much more talented people. The occasion is the publication of an anthology of stories called The Speed Chronicles, edited by Joseph Mattson, and [...]

Occupy LA: Urgent Call For Help

James Greer — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:09:55 +0000

I received this note recently from a friend, and I’m re-posting it here in the hope of spreading the message as quickly and effectively as possible.

From the Public Art Defense League, operating in conjunction with Occupy LA:

Greetings. This is Travis Wilkerson writing to you on behalf of the Public Art Defense League–a newly-formed [...]

Items of Great Interest

James Greer — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:37:56 +0000

A few items of interest to readers of North of Onhava, and possibly to normal people, too:

1. An excerpt from my novel-in-progress is available for your reading pleasure at Joyland NYC. As far as I can tell, it’s set in a kind of pre-apocalyptic Paris, and contains at least two characters who [...]

Pre-order new GBV LP + 3 different singles on three labels + digital downloads + B-sides

James Greer — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:03:19 +0000

For those who might have missed the announcement, I urge you to jump on this, especially the 7″ ones, because they will go very, very quickly.

Via Rockathon Records:

“LET’S GO EAT THE FACTORY
Amazing new album from the reunited classic GBV line-up.
Available from Rockathon January 1, in [...]

Slow News Day

James Greer — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:55:55 +0000

Slow News Day is not a bad band name. It’s also not a good band name. It’s kind of a middling-to-fair band name. Glad we cleared that up. Here are some Slow News items, beginning with another band name:

First this. Which is particularly weird given this.

Then

Memento Mori

James Greer — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Apparently I wrote an article for the 1,225th Anniversary issue of Spin Magazine, which occurred in May of 2010. I mean, I did write an article, but I totally forgot. And I have never in my life paid for a copy of Spin, so. Luckily, an obscure internet startup called Google has taken it upon [...]

The Decision Tree

James Greer — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:55:20 +0000

Prologue

Low light slants through a bower of maple branches onto the roof and dirt-spattered windshield of a car parked on the red clay driveway. No wind stirs, and the mosaic of shadow slides by imperceptible degrees from the blue roof of the parked car to the tawny drive, crawling from there [...]

Guided By Voices – Trendspotter Acrobat

James Greer — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:42:49 +0000

I’ve told the story of writing and recording this song for the album-length EP Sunfish Holy Breakfast (Matador, 1996) before, but I’m going to tell it again now, for reasons that will become clear sometime early next year.

I take inordinate pride in being one of only a handful—not even an adult handful, more like [...]

Quote of the Day

James Greer — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:44:00 +0000

We sit here on a blind rock careening through space; we are all of us rushing headlong to the grave. Think you the worms will care, when anon they make a meal of you, whether you spent your moment sighing wigless in your chamber, or sacked the golden tombs of Montezuma? Lookee, the [...]

Unrest in London

James Greer — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:07:00 +0000

l-r Phil Krauth, Bridget Cross, Mark Robinson Had I a better sense of timing, or any sense at all, really, I would have posted this photo during the late unpleasantness in London. And even though it wouldn’t have been funny then, either, at least it would have had some kind of topical relevance. [...]

An Analysis of the Use of Gyroscope-As-Metaphor in Antonioni’s Il Deserto Rosso

James Greer — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:28:00 +0000

Yeah, right. I mean, I could do that, but that would sort of be unweaving the rainbow, and everybody (and Keats) knows better.

And now, something from the archives:

I was so much older then. We went and played Maxwell’s in Hoboken after this taping, and ran through the entire list of songs [...]

New David Lynch short film

James Greer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:40:28 +0000

Apparently he was commsissioned to make this for the 2011 Viennale, and probably I’m posting something that a) everybody’s already seen already and b) everybody already knows is some kind of almost self-parodic absurdly creepy stuttering anti-narrative larded with semi-ominous signs & symbols intended either to make fun of himself or of us. Or both. [...]

Occupy Wall Street

James Greer — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:28:08 +0000

Well, if CNN and (everyone else is) going to ignore this, it must be worth watching. But I’ll let you decide for yourselves:

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

Fables of the Deconstruction

James Greer — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:17:54 +0000

Rufous Knicks, rampant in blue serge suit and hairs-cut, stepped down the wobbly back shell of Forever Corner like a king descending to court. That or another like sentence would mark well to begin this history in old days whereof I have understood some, having lived for petty times in that [...]

Matter and Memory

James Greer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:05:00 +0000

Is your name Hyacinth? Do you bloom in pairs?
I ask a flower question I expect the leaves to turn.
There’s blood in the dirt. There’s an easier road
To the moss-covered ruin, where for a few months
We didn’t sleep from fear of sprayed guts
[...]

Guided By Voices To Release Album Of New Material

James Greer — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:15:38 +0000

Final GBV Show, Hopscotch Music Festival, Raleigh NC 9/9/11, Photo: Daniel Coston

I apologize if the air of secrecy around what some people are given to call “Greer’s blog deal” has caused anyone breathing problems, but certain things are worth waiting for. I hope you’ll agree. According to MOJO magazine, [...]

Mansion of the Aching Hearts

James Greer — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:03:00 +0000

What was I born for? thought Thomas, sitting at his desk, copying the last few lines of his work. What was anybody born for?

The sun had long since floated past the lid of his window, over the gray slate roof, and begun to set. [...]

Transmission Mist

James Greer — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:55:00 +0000

I could break the shell of myself, if you want, or you could try to fail. Here’s how the thing works: some injustice must be left un-righted. Some tumescent flaw must be kept in the perfectly silvered surface of your Venetian mirror, set in the bark of a living tree.

In a [...]

Protestant Desire

James Greer — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:11:00 +0000

From the vast North of Onhava archives:

“Full of grace my ass. Every one of them too goddamn tall. And doubtless crazy as swans. ” The young man was annoyed. He banged his bottle on the wet wood of the bar.

“Perhaps that’s true, but you didn’t stick around long enough [...]

The Edicule

James Greer — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 07:55:00 +0000

In with the good, out with the bad. But it’s not air of which the teacher speaks. Something more valuable. Essence. Out with ignorance, in with wisdom. Knowledge of the self means knowledge of things hidden in plain sight. When you can see what’s in front of you these hidden things will [...]

Paradise Is Not So Bad

James Greer — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:03:00 +0000

Gardenias. Heavy scent borne on the evening breeze, through two windows facing the street. The red Mercedes had seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Listen. I met a girl.”

In fading sun the row of bougainvillea overflowing chain link fence across the street flushes pinkly, nodding (sweet, demure) at passersby.

“I love [...]

Angry Pillows (Gone Away)

James Greer — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:12:19 +0000

[Editor's note: I have taken down Angry Pillows, which is not as much fun as it sounds. I hope you enjoyed it while it was there.]

Another track from the (possibly) first ever recorded Guided By Voices qua Guided By Voices non-release Pissing In The Canal (1983). This one’s called “Angry Pillows (Gone Away),” and [...]

The Man Called Marriage

James Greer — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:15:00 +0000

As many of you know the trivium derives from the introductory curriculum in many medieval universities, where it involved the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The word is Latin in derivation, perhaps obviously, and literally means the place where three (tri-) roads (via) meet. Our modern word trivia is loosely, [...]

Moriae Encomium

James Greer — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:40:00 +0000

“[I] laugh at the vanities and the fopperies of the time, to see men so empty of virtuous actions, to hunt so far after gold, having no end of ambition; to take such infinite pains for a little glory, and to be favoured of men…. Some to desire to be obeyed in [...]

Water Music

James Greer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 +0000

Theme music: “Car Wash”

Irony in the work of W. G. Sebald examined, discarded, examined again.

James Greer — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 06:10:00 +0000

A resident of England for much of his adult life, a professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia, Sebald was obviously fluent enough, 35 years after arriving in his adopted homeland, to write in English had he wished. His stated reason for not doing so, in an interview given (in [...]

The Woman Who Wasn’t There

James Greer — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:15:00 +0000

Inspired by the example of my betters, here’s a short film I made in France. It was shot at the Château D’hérouville, about an hour outside of Paris, which was once a famous recording studio – the “Honky Chateau” of Elton John fame – but is now overgrown and mostly a ruin. I [...]

The Failure: Trailer

James Greer — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:00:00 +0000

I posted this a while back, around the time the novel was published, but I thought I’d re-post it here today because a) I’m really busy and don’t have time to find anything more interesting to post, much less actually write about something, and b) upon re-watching it, I remembered that it’s really good, due [...]

The Hangover

James Greer — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:51:13 +0000

I wrote this story long before the movie franchise of the same title appeared. I’m not saying the movie people stole the idea from me, even though I’m pretty sure I invented hangovers, but if Zach Galliafinakopolisopoulous wants to kick a couple of euros my way for, you know, “thanks, man” or [...]

Hunting Accidents: Being The Further Adventures of Guided By Voices

James Greer — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:19:46 +0000

[Editor's note: In honor of the publication of Experienced: Rock Music Tales of Fact and Fiction, I am going to re-post an excerpt from the Hunting Accidents anecdote I contributed to that fine compendium of rock ünd roll arcana. This is part one of what was originally a two-part post about the [...]

Serious Earth

James Greer — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:33:00 +0000

Part One – Sunderland

Thomas Quin was aware, with the acute self-consciousness pubescent boys suddenly acquire — a hilly solipsism from which they daily tumble into an abyss of despair — that he was unusually thin, and awkward, and afraid of everyone. His formerly natural friendliness and curiosity disappeared, replaced by morbid insularity. He went, [...]

Second-Hand Blue: The Movie

James Greer — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:49:43 +0000

Well, not exactly the movie, maybe, but the trailer, at least. Over a bed of hastily-improvised guitar feeedback, I read an excerpt from my story “Second-Hand Blue” in Issue 1 of Curbside Splendor, and then CS publisher Victor David Giron gave it to this really talented guy named Garett Holden, who created a [...]

The Ordinary Rendition of Caeli Fax

James Greer — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:55:42 +0000

The excellent online litmag Metazen has seen fit to post on its site a story that I wrote. The story is actually part of a chapter from my next novel, which has a title, but the title is a secret. If you have any interest in the shape or tenor of my next [...]

Subscribe To Slake Or Else

James Greer — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:10:31 +0000

It’s the last week of the Slake subscription special. It’s an incredible deal on probably the best new literary magazine in the English language and maybe even some other languages as well. You will go to the link on the poster below. You will subscribe. Or I will hunt you down with a plastic [...]

Bad Polaroids

James Greer — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:30:00 +0000

Recently, rooting through my garage, I came across an old Polaroid JoyCam which must have been given to me sometime in the early- to mid-90s. I also found several cartridges of very old and poorly stored Polaroid film. So I figured I’d see what would happen if I tried to use the old camera with [...]

Two Novels, One Novella, One Transmedia Experience, and a Book Of Poetry: Considered

James Greer — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:36:59 +0000

The Dirty Poet, Emergency Room Wrestling, Words Like Kudzu Press

Jesús Ángel Garcia, badbadbad, New Pulp Press

Ben Tanzer, You Can Make Him Like You, Artistically Declined Press

Tom Williams, The Mimic’s Own Voice, Main Street Rag

Patrick Wensink, Black Hole Blues, Lazy Fascist

First, I have to apologize. I’m [...]

Sunset Gun

James Greer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 05:40:00 +0000

“Photography is unclassifiable because there is no reason to mark this or that of its occurrences; it aspires, perhaps, to become as crude, as certain, as noble as a sign…. Whatever it grants to vision and whatever its manner, a photograph is always invisible: it is not it that we see.”

Roland [...]