I've stepped down as Publicity Director of the ULA until further notice. I'll not give my labor for free to those who'll betray it.
I remain as a Supporting Member, as I support the ULA mission, the web site and most of the current membership, the Philly branch particularly.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Buy American Pop Lit at Barnes & Noble
Buy American Pop Lit at Amazon
Tweets
Fun Stuff
- A Tale of Two Literary Worlds
- Literary Nomenklatura
- The Literary Story Examined
- American Literary Apparatchiks
- The Believer ULA Essay Part I
- The Believer ULA Essay Part II
- The Believer ULA Essay Part III
- The Believer ULA Essay Part IV
- End of the Pods
- The Timid Generation
- Three Question Archive
- Jonathan Lethem and Postmodernism
- What Kind of Revolution Is It?
Blog Archive
Links
- New Pop Lit
- Fast Pop Lit
- NPL News
- New Pop Lit's Open Mic
- New Pop Lit Extra
- American Pop Lit
- Happy America Lit
- The Literary Circus
- Crime City Blog
- Detroit Literary
- Election Follies 2012
- Literary Mystery
- Blitz Book Review
- El Cid Project
- Philly Zeen
- Populist America
- Philly Literary
- Happy Writing
- Petition to PEN
- ULA
- ULA Poetry and Fiction
- ULA Review
- ULA Press
- Wred
- How Publishing Is Rigged
- Dust Bowl Poetry
- Books Inq
- New Yorker Commas
- Random Rae
- American Dissident
- Blue Collar Holler
- Idiom Poets
- Piggy Plutocrats
- A Practical Policy
- Remnants
- Litkicks
- Complete Review
- Emerging Writers
- Germ Books
- Fran
- Salome
- Syntax
- First Line
- You Are Here
- Josh Saitz
- Sunday Salon
About Me
- King Wenclas
- The ultimate literary outlaw. "I could be bounded in a nutshell and call myself a king of infinite space." -William Shakespeare
26 comments:
(I'll be writing on non-ULA issues here mostly, like history, or movies! Will also be on my other blogs when I can get on-line.)
This is actually beginning to depress me. I hope whatever happened here means that the real artists in your midst will triumph over paranoid rants.
Tim Hall, get your ugly ass out of this situation. Loser.
Proof at least some did descend from monkies!
I spoke too soon. The paranoid rants have it.
TRANSLATIONS
Charlie: "I'm either Mr. Hall myself or a have a spy in the ULA camp and know what's happening."
***********************
Grace: "Stick to your writing. Don't criticize the machine which produces literary writing in this country. Don't even look at it. There's room in that world for not one dissenting voice."
Confusing a criticism of a specific person's work with a criticism of an entire world view is actually the definition of paranoia.
Get off it. I'm speaking of a specific world-- or scene, or clique if you will-- which is permeated by corrupt behavior. Or have you not read any of our "Monday Reports"?
You're here only because it bothers you very much that some writers think and speak independently.
The ULA capaign has always been about getting attention for the "real artists" writing literature in this country. To be heard in this society, one has to make noise. That's reality. That applies not just to lit but to art across the board.
"Paranoia" is an easy word to throw around but in this case means nothing.
Yes, your fellow undergrounders certainly do seem to appreciate your approach. This is, what, the third ULA split since I first wandered onto your site? A sure sign that your strategy is working.
Paranoia is thinking that you're surrounded by enemies, that the CIA controls literature and that the literary world wants to destroy you, when really nobody gives a shit and the reason why you're not making an impact is that you can't even get along with your own organization.
Sorry, check the record. There's no way I could possibly be Tim Hall. Thank God for that. Jimmy Grace, Bryan Guski, Chief, and others, however, are all obviously Tim Hall.
I don't know what's happening in ULA because I've never belonged to it. I'm doing only what I've done for two years: call out Tim Hall whenever he projects his rage onto another victim.
See ohthenarcissism.blogspot.com for a new piece on Tim Hall/Jimmy Grace.
FDW: re descent from monkeys. Guilty as charged. If your ancestors were created on the sixth day, my hat's off to you.
King: re current ULA state of affairs. I do think there are times to be provocative, but there are also times to follow up with organizational work. You seem to prefer the former. That's not a criticism, just an observation.
Jimmy-Tim: You're a pathetic nut case and it is YOU, sir, who cannot get along with any organization.
Lordy, I didn't realize you were still with the paranoid rants, too. Sure, sure, I'm your old enemy. And when a car drives through a puddle and splashes you? That's your exgirlfriend. And when nobody likes your poetry? That's the CIA afraid of you. And when your literary organization can't take your bullshit? That's Dave Eggers.
You're being a bit broad here, JG.
What's a squabble among artists?
The right way to be broad here is to see that in terms of organization that the ULA is a focal point that people rally around as they like, on behalf of access, candor and relevance in the arts, to get more attention than they would normally.
It's fiesty and edgy so it has ups'n'downs, ebbs and flows. It's not easy living on the edge. With no resources. Going for it with bad odds.
It's an open group/cause with plenty of current interest, globally even. Who knows what's in store. We've endured setbacks before.
Heck, I could list a half dozen recent advances and positive PR splashes. They'll be up at the LitRev site oneathesedays.
And more will follow them. Several big things are set for launch even now.
It's hard to keep real lit down even if the effort is wrenching on the players.
??? Paranoid is a person like JG who out of the hundreds of lit blogs out there, is concerned with this one. Why is that, may we ask?
The fact is that the lit world in this country is a microcosm of the society at large, which happens to be extremely corrupt at the moment! Where the gap between rich and poor is ever widening; where those chosen to be leaders are incompetent; where greed rules and the raping of our economy (read: of you and me) is ongoing.
I've been targeting what, yes, is a favorite stomping grounds of what used to be known as the eastern establishment: literature.
To realize this one should know something about the context within which literature has existed for the past sixty years, and know something about modern American history.
It's a fact that the most original writers in America are ignored while trendy mediocrities are given endless coverage to enable them to sell their meaningless books.
Literature's in a sad state right now.
Shouldn't we try to redeem it?
Shouldn't we WANT to redeem it??
Those who have been hyper about the ULA are those with the most to lose when this literary rebellion prevails-- as I expect it to, sidetracks and all.
p.s. As I'll explain in another post sometime, the ULA has made a tremendous impact, more than it itself knows-- scared the shit out of some Very Important literary folk before having the rug pulled out from under it.
Hey Jeff,
I agree with you. That's why my first comments here were in favor of the real artists, who are making books and putting them out there, rather than His Highness, who does nothing but rant. Even now, when he's failed his own organization, he claims that insulting Rick Moody is a noble cause. There are lots of assholes in the world of corporate art. Moody and Eggers and Handler and Vendela (?) don't even make the top thousand - and ranting against them sure doesn't help underground artists. Since I first came across you guys I've been amazed that your spokesperson doesn't promote the writers he supports. There's like eight posts about them in two fucking years. Instead, he takes on the Paris Review, which obviously is controlled by the CIA (?!?), and believes this is a powerful revolution even though nobody fucking cares about a lit magazine that nobody fucking reads.
You're right to be rid of this guy. Make art. Shout about it to the high heavens. Respect other artists. Put on shows. Get your name in the paper for what you make, not who you hate.
Jimmy, you keep repeating the same lies over and over again. How long have you been up to this, and for what purpose?
As for King, he's never "failed" the ULA...we've had burn outs, blow ups and wimp offs from various ex-members. Doesn't matter though, we are still here, dysfunctional and pissed off.
Me? I'm killing time at my fucking job until the day's over and the night begins.
Then tonight, good luck with your Vampirical pursuits.
King does a good job of combining promotion and expose'.
Like any David who goes against the Goliaths, he gets burned out every now and then.
At least we're colorful!
Pat, good *vampire* observation.
The web is a weird place.
Some try to do something big with it in their offhours.
Some indulge in pettiness as part of a hiding routine at a job they hate.
You have to consider the set and setting.
It's likely that much of the nastiness online is due to such skulkers.
(And how do they treat their co-workers, customers and fellow citizens? Someone who thinks it safe to take shots at people online will do the same to anyone who's not over them.)
Now, some shirkers might be able to toss off a decent positive tip every now and then. Quick'n'easy. But how often do they make a significant contribution? Are they likely to be part of an ongoing effort that weathers crazy ups and downs as it pushes into uncharted territory? Ha!
You're right, I'm killing time at a job I hate. At night I make art and put it on walls. And you're right, I'm plenty rude to lots of people. At least I don't think my insults are a revolution.
You're problem, "Grace," is that you're a fraud. If you weren't you wouldn't be hiding your identity.
Nice to see that I take all the burden of organizational problems-- but the fact is that right now I have virtually no say in things which are happening inside the ULA.
As for my record--
yes, I've exposed the corruption of characters like Mr. Moody with well-documented exposes. I also obtained at the same time a ton of attention for the Underground Literary Alliance. Quite an impressive record when it's put together and laid out. I have nothing whatsoever to apologize for re the ULA (which was originally my creation). They were lucky to have me.
p.s. From now on, folks, please use your own identity when posting. I've requested this many times. Right now I have no more patience for fakers.
Thanks.
As you damn well know, I'm not hiding my identity. I know you'd love it if I were one of your arch-enemy fat cats, but sorry, I'm just another unknown artist.
Love your Godfather comparison in your other post. It speaks to your fantasies - and how your story ends. Merry xmas.
I'm wondering why you're still so hyper about what I'm doing, McSweeneyite. What's the threat?
ALSO-- Who are those 999 writers more corrupt than Rick Moody? Someone giving grants to his buds while sitting on grants panels that I don't know about?
Have a good day, Mr. Fraud.
(Ask yourselves what it is about ONE person who occasionally questions the literary establishment, how things are run, that so bothers the "Jimmy Graces" of this world? ONE independent voice-- and it's still too much for them! Which says a lot about the weakness of their world.)
(How 'bout that radio show I did this year? Catch the end of that? That this poor and insignificant underground writer-- myself-- somehow has the power to keep the Jeffrey Eugenides of the literary world from publication and attention. Quite a feat, that, from a guy who can't even pay his bills and is living in the most obscure corner of the most obscure city in North America.
Yes, someone is paranoid. Some privileged people are definitely paranoid, but I'm not sure it's anyone in the lit underground.)
How come you're one voice, and I'm "the Jimmy Graces of the world?"
Is it because you imagine numerous people swarming against you?
What do they call that, again? Oh yeah, paranoia.
And fuck McSweeneys. They make lameass books.
Post a Comment