This Blog Will Change Your Life

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. A little bipolar. And Berriozabal.

2012-01-28T13:00:00.001-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. We have a new piece A LITTLE BIPOLAR from old friend Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and Florida primary prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more of you will submit comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, please be sure to check out Luis' new joint Peering into the Sun from Poet's Democracy.
 

Watersific.

2012-01-27T19:41:00.000-06:00

The Gift has been most beautiously Holic'd at the LITnIMAGE.

2012-01-26T15:51:00.002-06:00

Crazy massive coolness. And big thanks to both Nathan Holic for his illustrative awesomeness and LITnIMAGE for embracing it.

"What I Tried To Do." Luis Humberto Valadez. Curbside Splendor. Video action. Yow.

2012-01-25T21:09:00.000-06:00

For your consideration: "Life After Sleep" for the 2012 Hugo? We love this. So much. This much. Please picture our arms spread very wide.

2012-01-24T07:45:00.003-06:00

Wow do we love this. Even just the idea of it.

Ben Tanzer is the literary equivalent of...a Samurai porn star god - inflicting the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique right to my funny bone!" The Terminator of Love receives some Smashwords love. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-22T13:28:00.000-06:00

Serious and much appreciated Smashwords like. Also, if you have already taken a look at The Terminator of Love, big thanks, if you haven't, please do, and in either cases please consider sharing some Smashwords, and Goodreads, love yourselves. We would much appreciate that as well. Now for some excerpt.

"OK - I just downloaded "Terminator..." and had to read it immediately! It's a riot! Ben Tanzer is the literary equivalent of Bodhi, Gandalf, Steve mother F'n McQueen, Tarantino, Jerry Maguire, Michael Corleone, the Jedi Master, Jim Henson, Ice Cube, Clubber Lang, and a Samurai porn star god - inflicting the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique right to my funny bone! Great stuff!"

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

2012-01-21T19:01:00.002-06:00

Not unlike Harry Potter we're not so sure we would have read The Hunger Games if not for the boy. The boy wanted it though. And it's not that the boy gets what the boy wants. Not exactly. But if the boy wants to tackle books and if he wants to read and lose himself in literature then we will Hunger Games. Happily. Lovingly. We desperately craved books when we were his age. Books were escape. They were calming. Some times they were triumphant and moving and explosive. Other times they merely ate up masses of time in a fashion we preferred to any other. Reading made sense from the start. We knew how it worked. And like running and now writing it allowed us to make it through the day and night. That hasn't changed, and maybe it doesn't matter that the boy doesn't quite feel the same way. Maybe he doesn't even need to. But when he does, we jump, we have to, because for us books were a lifeline, still are, and he may need someday need lifelines. Reading also remains the single greatest pleasure in our life, and there's no way not to want your children to feel pleasure of any kind, though especially that which you feel, to connect over that and lose yourself in it. And so there is The Hunger Games, a book we would have devoured at his age, and repeatedly at that. It jumps out with a bang, and it runs at you all fraught with power and anxiety, speaks to abuse of power by the state and class, and it is about a girl, a totally bad ass girl, so awesome that, something which may not seem extraordinary to the boy and the world he is growing-up in, but still is for us, books like this didn't happen then, not really, and not if it wasn't written by Judy Blume anyway. If the book ultimately slows down near the end when it inevitably has to focus on romance, we suppose tweens everywhere can more than live with that, as can we, mostly, because it is a lot of fun along the way, the kid is right there with us, and we are moving on to Catching Fire, together, triumphantly.

Temporary Yes. Pre-order action. Hit it. And check out that cover. Yowzers.

2012-01-20T17:37:00.001-06:00

Zoom.

A double-dose of the Gregory Sherl. Dose Two.

2012-01-19T16:03:00.002-06:00

Wherein the Sherl Connotation Press' with the Meg Tuite in a most Sherlian fashion.

A double-dose of the Gregory Sherl. Dose One.

2012-01-19T11:54:00.000-06:00

Wherein the Sherl Good Men Projects in a most Sherlian fashion.

Michael Czyzniejewski. Pat Sajak. The Nervous Breakdown. Most beautious.

2012-01-18T23:49:00.000-06:00

Here. Hit it. Word.

In Those Days We. Us. Many. Massive collective coolness.

2012-01-17T23:49:00.001-06:00

Such mass coolness is the In Those Days We and we are geeked to be part of its collective line-up awesomeness. Is that hyperbolic enough? Good.

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-16T10:57:00.003-06:00

Craig Finn. Clash Music. Literary influences. And Interiew Sundays.

2012-01-15T14:45:00.001-06:00

Craig Finn "Clear Heart Full Eyes" from Helms Workshop on Vimeo.

Ah yes, Interview Sundays are back. And today we are Craig Finn interview, yes that Craig Finn, at the Clash Music, talking writing songs and literary influences therein.

Is there a book / author you would view as a parallel to the album, in terms of mood / theme?

I think any of the Raymond Carver stuff would be the most likely parallel. Not that this album in any way holds up to his writing, but in the sense that it often deals with the mundane and normal and the frustrations and terror that we sometimes find in our daily lives.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of interview. And Suhem.

2012-01-13T23:53:00.001-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have new story The Interview by old friend Eric Suhem, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and Chicago fundraiser prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Tebow time, really, more, maybe, what?  

Did we mention that this is so happening on February 4th? Good. Because it is. And it is awesomeness.

2012-01-12T23:53:00.003-06:00

More here.

Other People. The Roxane Gay. Hit that. It? Something.

2012-01-11T21:58:00.003-06:00

Here.

Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions. The Press Release.

2012-01-10T22:42:00.003-06:00

It's true. There is Press Release. Enjoy.

My Father's House can now be found at Quimby's. And having a book at Quimby's will never, ever, never get old to us. It can't. It's way too cool and we wanted it way too much for way too long. There, said it. Done.

2012-01-09T22:18:00.000-06:00

More here.

"Tanzer has a way of describing innocent sexual tension like nobody I've ever read." So Different Now gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-08T20:17:00.003-06:00

Goodreads is being very good to us this week and we are most appreciative indeed. We are also thrilled to see people are digging into So Different Now and much appreciate the Caleb J. Ross' most generous words. Big thanks man and drinks on us, for sure, soon, somewhere, here, maybe, yes? Sweet. And now for some excerpt.

"Tanzer has a way of describing innocent sexual tension like nobody I've ever read. If this were an autobiography, I would think of Tanzer as a guy who has a lot of female friends, is physically attracted to them, but must maintain that he is not in order to keep his marriage together."

"Like a modern Carver." Repetitions Patterns gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-08T14:43:00.000-06:00

Quite liking it. It being the most kind Carveresque comparisons for Repetition Patterns at the Goodreads from Alexis C. Meanwhile, big thanks to the Alexis C. and drinks on us for sure, somewhere, some time. Cool? Cool.

"The frenzied pace of this highly entertaining story sucks the reader into this passion filled romp-of-a-story." The Terminator of Love receives some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-08T11:01:00.000-06:00

Quite thrilled we are to see The Terminator of Love received some Goodreads love from the Brenda Brown Browne. Big thanks that and drinks on us, for sure, whenever, and wherever we next meet. Now how about some excerpt? Word.

"Should be required reading for all women considering dating and marriage. I was enlightened by the writer's willingness to expose the male psyche in all it's lustiness and vulnerability. The frenzied pace of this highly entertaining story sucks the reader into this passion filled romp-of-a-story. I could have saved myself years of angst and therapy if I only knew! I highly recommend it to everyone!"

There is Mendicant Bookworks trailer. And it is sublime.

2012-01-07T21:45:00.000-06:00

red lightbulbs six. So much goodness your knees will buckle and you will weep tears of joy and gratitude.

2012-01-05T08:21:00.000-06:00

So hit it. Here. Goodness.

Much appreciated book goodness. Part Two. You Can Make Him Like You gets Banners of Death'd. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-04T16:09:00.002-06:00

More yes, more wow, and more very cool, this. You Can Make Him Like You has been named to the Banners of Death best book read list of 2011  and we are much appreciative. More blurbage? Now? Word. 

"You Can Make Him Like You began my love affair with Tanzer's work. Holy crap. As I've said before and will say again, Tanzer makes character creation/maintenance look really easy, and his simple prose is graceful to the point of athletic."  

Much appreciated book goodness. Part One. My Father's House gets CBSChicago.Com'd. And likes it. A lot.

2012-01-04T10:59:00.000-06:00

Yes, wow, very cool, this. My Father's House has been named to the very fine "Best New Chicago Books" list at CBSChicago.com and we are much appreciative. Blurbage? Now? Word.

"A book about grief, among many, many other things, My Father’s House is composed of lightning-quick moments that jolt you from chapter to chapter. Ben Tanzer is one of Chicago’s most prolific writers you probably haven’t heard of, why not make his acquaintance with this great novella?"

New year. New joint. Being Gunther Gebel (Redux). At the HOUSEFIRE.

2012-01-03T10:31:00.000-06:00

And big thanks for that HOUSEFIRE. Now, how about some excerpt?

"That Gunther Gebel was the bastard child of Liberace, Zsa Zsa Gabor and John Wayne, a tough guy with flair, a cartoon character from another time and place. And that Gunther Gebel was all that and more. That Gunther Gebel was a hero to people who still craved heroes. A larger than life, multi-hued Achilles thrust into a world that thought it needed everything to be black and white, though I knew better, because I knew how tragic a world devoid of color could truly be." 

Big sloppy new year appreciations to Pete Anderson and the whole Pete Lit crew for including My Father's House in their "12 for 2012" list of books they most look forward to reading in the coming year.

2012-01-02T17:22:00.000-06:00

Which is a most fine way to start the year indeed. More here. Yes, there. Or here. Either is fine. Really.

These Things We Loved in 2011 Will Change Your Life.

2012-01-01T16:07:00.002-06:00

We're not sure we felt especially blown away by much in 2011, but that shouldn't be confused with not endlessly encountering, absorbing and consuming things we loved. Nor should it ignore the fact that there was still much exuberance to be had, case in point, The Artist, and that for us it will always be about exuberance, searching for it, finding it, and reveling in it. We should also add, not surprisingly we suppose, that our search and consumption of art and exuberance is particularly related to and focused on books. Because it is always about books, first and last, and always will be. And yet, it's not only books, just mostly and as always, lovingly so at that.

You may not know it, but people still write novellas, we still read them and this was a quite fine year for them.

The Mimic's Own Voice/Tom Williams, Life After Sleep/Mark Brand, Old Ghosts/Nik Korpon, Nothing or Next to Nothing/Barry Graham, In Great Company/Michael Seidlinger, A Shiny, Unused Heart/J.A. Tyler.

Collections, short stories, flash fiction, absurdist, hyper-fiction, any or all of it.

Sex Dungeon for Sale!/Patrick Wensink, Prize Winners/Ryan Bradley, Carry Each His Burden/James Goertel, Songs of Vagabonds, Misfits, Sinners/Ken Wohlrob, Don't Smell the Floss/Matty Byloos, Normally Special/xTx.

Television shows that got in the way of reading, thinking, and sometimes sleeping, but ultimately made us very happy.

Justified, with a big nod to Margo Martindale, Friday Night Lights, we are still grieving and Louie, painful, and full of fear, isolation and confusion, but always funny, and knowing.

Television shows that have been better at some point, maybe even during their most current season, but still showed moments of awesome pain, humor and terror.

Rescue Me, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, The Killing and Walking Dead.  

The one benefit to the new season of Mad Men being delayed due to contract disputes.

We started watching Breaking Bad. Most kind that.  

Novels by rock stars, music, not literary, though arguably literary as well.

alt.punk/Lavinia Ludlow and The Failure/James Greer.

Novels by handsome bearded men.

Birch Hills @ World's End/Geoff Hyatt and Freight/Mel Bosworth.

Novels by "daddy-cool" writers near and far.

Fathermucker/Greg Olear, The Bee-Loud Glade/Steve Himmer, Fight For Your Long Day/Alex Kudera and Sophomoric Philosophy/Victor David Giron.

In a maybe not so great year for movies, movies we still dug.

Marcy Martha May Marlene, Moneyball, Young Adult, Margin Call, Drive, The Artist and Hannah.

And movies we still hope to see.

50/50, Take Shelter and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Sports memoirs we read, which were as much about life, as we know it, and as we would like it, as sport.

Cardboard Gods/Josh Wilker and Chasing the Runner's High/Ray Charbonneau.

Book we suspect we did not read because we thought we might get discouraged about our writing, this being an semi-annual category of sorts, with previous selections including Radiant Days by Michael FitzGerald and The Failure by James Greer.

Volt by Alan Heathcock, which we will no questionably read in 2012. Promise.

And other books we intend to finish or start in 2012. For real.

B-Sides and Broken Hearts/Caryn Rose, Solace in So Many Words/Ellen Wade Beals, Nothing/Blake Butler, American Masculine/Shann Ray, Pulphead/John Jeremiah Sullivan, Half a Life/Darrin Strauss, Three Ways of the Saw/Matt Mullins and Out of Touch/Brandon Tietz.

Indie publishers we are not so objective about overall, but are doing really good things regardless of how we may or not have benefited from said goodness.

Artistically Declined Press, CCLaP Publishing, Atticus Books, HOUSEFIRE Books, Curbside Splendor, Deckfight Press, Mendicant Bookworks and Main Street Rag.

Podcasts both established, and getting there quickly, we obsessively listened to.

WTF with Marc Maron, see Michael Showalter, Christopher Titus, Dave Foley and Laura Kightlinger especially, and Other People with Brad Listi, Darrin Straus, Ben Loory and Edan Lupicki in particular. Total goodness. Totally.

Music, so incomplete, but a lot terrificness nonetheless, for sure.

21/Adele, Undun/The Roots, Bon Iver/Bon Iver, Who Kill/Tuneyards, Sigh No More/Mumford & Sons and Relax/Das Racist.

Poetry, which we believe we generally do not read enough of, though we probably can't say that's an accurate statement this year.

Emergency Room Wrestling/the dirty poet, A Soft That Touches Down & Removes Itself/David Tomaloff, Piano Rats/Franki Elliot, Haunts/Laura Cherry, Redneck Poems/Rusty Barnes, What I'm On/Luis Humberto Valadez and A Patchwork of Rooms Furnished by Mistakes/J. Bradley.

And most finally, there are many, many people to thank for this most rocking of years, and we are most definitely overlooking some, a lot maybe, and we apologize for that, here, now, but there you go.

Lauryn Allison Lewis, Mason Johnson, Matt Rowan, Jacob Knabb, Dave Housley, Jason Behrends, Leah Tallon, Anna March, Victor David Giron, Jason Pettus, Nathan Holic, Ryan Bradley, Lavinia Ludlow, S. Craig Renfro, Greg Olear, Adam Lawrence, Nick Korpon, Lindsay Hunter, Matty Byloos, David Masciotra, Mel Bosworth, Brenda Brown Browne, Tim Frederick, Hosho McCreesh, Byron Hatfield, Lori Hettler, Patrick Wensink, Gina Frangello, Nick Ostdick, Pete Anderson, Paula Bomer, Brandon Will, J. Bradley and the Knee-Jerk crew.

Wherein we (among others) share three of our favorite reads of the year with TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog and offer them to you as a preview for the more extensive, and yes, life-changing list of books and other pop cultural detritus we found ourselves immersed in during 2011 that we plan to post tomorrow.

2011-12-31T15:46:00.001-06:00

Did that sound self-important enough? Great, we really wanted to nail the correct tone there. Enjoy. And big props to the Tom Williams, Lavinia Ludlow and dirty poet respectively for the stellar writing.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of drunk poet. And Ontis.

2011-12-31T13:25:00.001-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have new poem Drunk Poet at the Wrong House by Shelley Ontis, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and Iowa Caucus prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Happy New Year.  

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part Three - Another Chicago Magazine. Issue 50.2. The Chicago Issue.

2011-12-30T17:22:00.002-06:00

More here.

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part Two - An Evening With Ben Tanzer and Friends. A CCLaP Fundraiser.

2011-12-30T14:09:00.001-06:00

More here.

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part One - Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski.

2011-12-30T11:50:00.002-06:00

More here.

You Can Make Him Like You is totally Kindle. Totally? Totally.

2011-12-29T22:40:00.002-06:00

For real. Totally. Here.

You Can Make Him Like You is most beautious Pete Lit Good Reading 2011. And we are most geeked.

2011-12-29T17:36:00.000-06:00

Big geeking thanks to the Pete Anderson and the whole Pete Lit crew for the You Can Make Him Like You inclusion in this most righteous and beautious of year-end lists.

"These stories are packed with musings and observations that come with the pain of growing up." So Different Now gets Curbside Splendor'd. And likes it. A lot.

2011-12-28T20:39:00.000-06:00

Big thanks to the Joey Pizzolato and our good friends at the Curbside Splendor for their most kind words about So Different Now. Drinks on us, for sure, when next we meet. Now, how about some excerpt? Word.

In the story “Never Said”, Tanzer sums up the dilemma we all face in trying to bury our past as we grow up: “It’s funny how quickly you can fall back into thinking about the mistakes you made.” And it is funny, in a way, because amidst all the fantasies of what could have been, or what should have been, the characters in these stories are left only with the realization that the present is reality.  And it is in this realization—and the different way each character reacts to it—that these stories find their meaning, transcending off the page and touching your heart in a way made possible only by Tanzer’s conversational and evocative style."  

There is new joint. The Terminator of Love. Mendicant Bookworks. At the Smashwords. Hit it. Now. Please. Thanks.

2011-12-28T00:13:00.000-06:00

Quite thrilled we are about The Terminator of Love and the quite stellar line-up it joins at The Mendicant. You can hit it at the Smashwords. You can Goodreads it. And you can let us what you think. Cool? Excellent. All of it. That. Now how about some description?

"Jay McInerney meets Woody Allen -- with enough pop culture to orbit Tarantino. Told in 2nd person, Tanzer brings us along as a love-struck everyman trying to convince both the world and this girl, at any cost, that he -- and not her boss -- is the guy for her. Will she wake up, or must he become the Terminator of Love?"

We were off the grid. And now we are Dogzplot theme issue. Let goodness ensue.

2011-12-26T23:24:00.003-06:00

More here. Big thanks to the G Funk for all of it.

More nod. More holiday season. And some Christmas wishes courtesy of faux TBWCYL, Inc. celebrity spokesman Steve Martin.

2011-12-24T23:54:00.001-06:00

If we at TBWCYL, Inc. had one wish that we could wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. If we had two wishes we could make this holiday season, the first would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and peace. And the second would be for 30 million dollars a month to be given to us, tax-free in a Swiss bank account. You know, if we had three wishes we could make this holiday season, the first, of course, would be for all the children of the world to get together and sing, the second would be for the 30 million dollars every month to us, and the third would be for even more encompassing power over every living being in the entire universe. And if we had four wishes that we could make this holiday season, the first would be the crap about the kids definitely, the second would be for the 30 million, the third would be for all the power, and the fourth would be to set aside one month each year to have an extended staff-wide 31-day orgasm, to be brought out slowly by Rosanna Arquette and that model Paulina-somebody, we can't think of her name. Of course our lovely wives, and husbands, can come too and they are all behind us one hundred percent here, we guarantee it. Wait a minute, maybe the sex thing should be the first wish, so if we made that the first wish, because it could all go boom tomorrow, then what do you got, y'know? No, no, the kids, the kids singing would be great, that would be nice. But wait a minute, who are we kidding? They're not going to be able to get all those kids together. We mean, the logistics of the thing is impossible, more trouble than it's worth! So -- we reorganize! Here we go. First, the sex thing. We go with that. Second, the money. No, we got with the power second, then the money. And then the kids. Oh wait, oh jeez, we forgot about revenge against my enemies! Okay, we need revenge against all of our enemies, they should die like pigs in hell! That would be our fourth wish. And, of course, our fifth wish would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. Thank you everybody. 

(Borrowed (and slightly tweaked) from Steve Martin's monologue on the 1991 Saturday Night Live Christmas Special).

And now for a nod to the holiday season. All joyfully upon us. And such. Sequins is the Reason for the Season. Courtesy of the Tim Jones-Yelvington.

2011-12-23T16:46:00.001-06:00

Code for Failure has page. And we have anticipation. Loads of it.

2011-12-22T16:11:00.002-06:00

More here. Word. Big word.

Cobalt includes You Can Make Him Like You on its guest-edited City Paper Best Books of 2011 list in part for being a champion of "dick-lit" and we have a new found appreciation for both dick and lit.

2011-12-21T20:28:00.000-06:00

More fantastic list. More coolness. More honored. And big thanks to the Andrew Keating and the Cobalt. Drinks soon, yes? Yes.

We Who Are About To Die finds itself legally obligated to select You Can Make Him Like You as one of the best books it read in 2011 and we have a new found appreciation for the law.

2011-12-21T13:06:00.001-06:00

This is a fantastic list. This is coolness. And we are most honored indeed. Big thanks to the Patrick Wensink and the We Who Are About To Die. Drinks, soon, yes? Yes.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Forty-Three - El Presidente.

2011-12-20T12:02:00.000-06:00

And so podcast we are. Our new episode stars Untoward Magazine's own Matt Rowan and we couldn't be happier about that. We also got to eat late night Mexican during the discussion and so in that regard we are winning, big time. Enjoy. Re-post. Be good. Lives will change. We think.

15 Views of Orlando. Hunter. Heavener. Holic. Bradley. And more. Burrow Press. Ordered. Goodness.

2011-12-19T16:55:00.000-06:00

More here. There. Go. We did. And we think it just might change your life.

"I continuously found myself lulled into the natural cadence of his writing, only to come to the end where I would find myself helplessly sitting in a pot of boiling water, unable to jump out." So Different Now gets some love from the Jason Fisk. And likes it. A lot.

2011-12-18T22:07:00.000-06:00

We love the Jason Fisk. He is a wonderful, sensitive and incisive writer attuned to the ebbs and flows of small town life and intimate relationships how our roles in these kinds of things can almost sometimes maybe work. He is also a This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor and This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee. And we say all this in part, because when writers like the Fisk like what we do, it can be more exciting and moving, and sometimes crushing in its way, than any positive or thoughtful reaction we might receive otherwise. All of which is to say, thanks brother, it means a ton, drinks on us when next we meet, and now for some excerpt.

"I am drawn to Tanzer’s writing for the same reasons I enjoy getting a beer with him: there is a charm, in both his manner and his writing, which is simply entertaining, yet hints at a much more complex, sometimes dark, psychological underpinning. While reading this collection I continuously found myself lulled into the natural cadence of his writing, only to come to the end where I would find myself helplessly sitting in a pot of boiling water, unable to jump out."

"It's refreshing just as it is in film when life is told as it is and not put in a neat package." So Different Now gets The Local Tourist'd. And likes it. A lot.

2011-12-18T11:28:00.001-06:00

Quite appreciating The Fem Geek Tiff Tate and The Local Tourist for their most kind words about So Different Now. Big thanks that. And drinks on us for sure when next we meet. Now, how about some excerpt? Sweet.

"Right from the beginning I was able to place myself in every situation. I was able to put faces to each character and had a sense I may have not been far off with my assessment. The stories are very straight forward and not formulaic like so many short stories that aim hard to give you what they believe you want, a moral story where everyone wins. I'm not saying that this is bad and I'm not saying these stories are not giving a moral stance but it's refreshing just as it is in film when life is told as it is and not put in a neat package. Tanzer just gives us what life has thrown at each character...like I said REALITY."

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of message. And Greenspan.

2011-12-17T11:39:00.002-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have a new poem Five New Messages by the David Greenspan, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and payroll extension tax cut prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Sam Hurd, dude, no, really? 

What we talk about when we talk about J. Bradley talking about us and more specifically You Can Make Him Like You and So Different Now.

2011-12-16T11:26:00.003-06:00

It is true that we are having a good week. It is also true that we unabashedly love the painfully tweaky poetic awesomeness that is J. Bradley, both a multiple contributor to This Zine Will Change Your Life and a This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee. And it is definitely true that we are endlessly biased and subjective when it comes to that which we love, particularly when we lose ourselves in our own boundless self-love. Still, in Bradley's recent post "On Dancing On Graves" regarding his new and very kind serialized novella Dancing with Steinbrenner, he takes a moment to riff on our work this past year, which when somehow coupled with Bradley's impetus for writing the new novella left us feeling quite moved, even teary, happiness and sadness wrapped-up into one contorted ball of slightly hard to grasp emotion, though clearly a weird mix of pride, loss, appreciation and feeling paternal. In other words we were having a J. Bradley moment and it was wonderful. Thanks brother, drinks soon on us, and now how about some excerpt? Goodness.

"Ben Tanzer’s latest collection So Different Now through CCLaP Publishing is so fucked up and dark and awesome, an antithesis to my favorite book of 2011, his novel You Can Make Him Like You. So Different Now is a gorgeous e-book and it’s worth kicking in a little money for. You can check out more information about it here."

A quite lovely and dare we say touching literary homage by the Ryan W. Bradley rife with running, suburbs, tattoos, pregnancy, thongs and slightly more than borderline sordidness. Please file under things we quite dig and appreciate.

2011-12-15T15:47:00.000-06:00

At the Metazen. Word.

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Failure by James Greer.

2011-12-14T15:49:00.002-06:00

Travel. Work. Planes. Trains. Read. More read. And The Failure by James Greer. Not just read, consumed, and struck by how little we must read about Los Angeles. We say this why, because as we read it we didn't think books, we thought movies, The Limey with less grime, Leaving Las Vegas, sort of, the bars for sure, Shortcuts, sans the ensemble, Magnolia, totally, but with more humor, and we'll come back to the humor, promise, and Exit Through the Gift Shop, yes, too. We know what we think know about Los Angeles, we the staff here at TBWCYL, Inc. headquarters, and we the royal we, Chicago is humble and friendly, New York is aggressive and on the make, and Los Angeles, arty, relaxed, slacker and sunny, both exterior and interior all at the same time. And The Failure hits all that, and gets all noir, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang comes to mind, death and mystery, though not so much death or so much mystery, because ultimately it's about story and journey, jammed with quick, tight chapters, that befit a journalist turned author and screenwriter. The Failure is always moving forward, even as it moves backward, so yes Pulp Fiction as well, and filled with humor, absurdist really, and such a nice surprise because humor seems to be missing in so much of literature these days. Regardless, The Failure is charging and fun, and a reminder that Los Angeles may be just what we think it is, but that whole association is from the movies, and so maybe we need to find some more Los Angeles based authors and novels, maybe, and maybe we need to thank James Greer for that, and maybe you will too, when you read it, consume it, and it just maybe changes your life as well.

Wherein the incredibly handsome and always kind Mel Bosworth selects My Father's House as one of the 33 greatest things he experienced in 2011 and joy and massive thanks rapidly spread across the land like a gentle wave of goodness.

2011-12-13T21:40:00.000-06:00

Here.

This. Wednesday. Untoward. And most beautious.

2011-12-12T17:00:00.001-06:00

So Different Now. Goodreads. Yes.

2011-12-11T17:30:00.001-06:00

Add it. Read it. Rate it. Review it. Love it. Won't you? Thanks. You may do so right here.

May the Hannukah be with you.

2011-12-10T14:59:00.001-06:00

Orange Alert. Writer on Writer. Hyatt. Tanzer. Wonderbar.

2011-12-09T17:16:00.001-06:00

It's true, we are hitting that. That being the Orange Alert. The Hyatt. And the Writer on Writer interview thing. So please do hit that as well, and enjoy some excerpt, it does a heart good.

Please tell us five things we need to know about Michigan if we are to truly grasp the goodness that is Birch Hills @ World's End. Also, please note that you are under no obligation to reference Kid Rock or the Fab Five. Really.

In terms of what you should know about the state, well, it has its rough edges and sometimes gets called “Canada’s Alabama,” but it’s a much prettier and more vibrant place than most folks realize. Distance there is measured in driving time. For example, things are 20 minutes away, or an hour north, and so on. Growing up, I assumed every adult knew how to drive and everyone over seven knew how to swim. The fact that this isn’t true for the entire country still messes with me, because two fundamentals of being alive in Michigan are water and cars. The state is home to Vernor's Ginger Ale, called a "regional thing of beauty and unending quality" by Eve Babitz. What else? Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent still get regular rotation on the radio there.That’s five things, I think.

You Can Make Him Like You gets some HuffPost love. And our (mostly) platonic love for Greg Olear grows by leaps and bounds.

2011-12-08T11:14:00.001-06:00

Big thanks to Fathermucker Greg Olear who has once again shown You Can Make Him Like You some massive public love, this time including it along with some quite humbling company in his "The Fathermucker Holiday Shopping Guide: Best Gift Books for Dads, Part 1: Novels" list at the HuffPost. Drinks brother, on us, for sure, next time we meet.

Hyping the So Different Now/The New York Stories hype in the most hypeful manner possible.

2011-12-07T19:19:00.001-06:00

It's true. We are hyping the hype. Feels good. So, with that said, big thanks to the Pete Lit, Necessary Fiction and TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog for the So Different Now/The New York Stories hype. Much appreciated. Much love. Much hype.

The New York Stories. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

2011-12-06T20:03:00.001-06:00

More here.

So Different Now/The New York Stories CCLaP Podcast goodness. Listen. Rejoice. Re-post.

2011-12-06T20:00:00.001-06:00

More here.

So Different Now. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

2011-12-06T19:55:00.001-06:00

More here.

happy dog mom litjournal changed our lives.

2011-12-05T22:18:00.001-06:00

And we think it just might change yours as well.

McCreesh. Something That's True. Mendicant Bookworks. Hit it.

2011-12-04T21:51:00.001-06:00

Here. Totally.

You Can Make Him Like You is The Cult's Book Club selection for the month of December. Join us won't you?

2011-12-03T12:47:00.001-06:00

The Cult being the official Chuck Palahniuk website. Yes that Chuck Palahniuk. So, join us yes, we'll talk book, we'll change lives, and you if you don't want to use the soap there, no one will be offended, for real.

Code for Failure. Ryan W. Bradley. Coming soon. And blurbage.

2011-12-02T18:40:00.001-06:00

More here.

This Zine Will Change Your Life has been Beach Sloth'd. Let the wild rumpus begin!

2011-12-01T20:33:00.001-06:00

Too freakishly excited we are? We think not. Big thanks to the Beach Sloth for this most excellent This Zine Will Change Your Life shout-out. Rock on Slothers. And drinks on us for sure when next we meet. Now, how about some excerpt? Cool.

"I think this zine did change my life. Located in America’s poetic capital, Chicago, it has been working tirelessly over the past three years to bring life-changing pieces of literature, YouTube videos, and blog posts to an internet near you. Some of these touched me in places I’ve never been touched before; parts of my soul I didn’t even know existed were made stronger. Knowing my life had been changed and for the better this time made me happy. Plus they include sweet songs into the posts from time to time. Music and literature should always go together."

You Can Make Him Like You receives some Top Ten book love from the Dogzplot.

2011-11-30T17:47:00.001-06:00

Quite excited are we. And quite heady company that. Big thanks Dogzplot.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of shock. And Wawrzaszek.

2011-11-29T22:57:00.001-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have a story Aftershock by the John Wawrzaszek, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and student  Black Friday prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Happy (post) Thanksgiving. 

As a Machine and Parts. Caleb J. Ross. Preorder. And blurbage.

2011-11-28T21:35:00.001-06:00

More here.

Jim Jones. Elizabeth Olson. Memory. You Can Count on Me. David Koresh. Winter's Bone. Bee Season. Dreams. My Own Private Idaho. The Olson Twins. Helter Skelter. And John Hawkes. Martha Marcy May Marlene.

2011-11-27T21:00:00.001-06:00

This Book Will Change Your Life, Part Two - Carry Each His Burden by James Goertel.

2011-11-26T18:44:00.001-06:00

Not work. Travel. Read. Drink Gin & Tonics. More read. Goertel. As in Carry Each His Burden by James Goertel. If a shiny, unused heart and In Great Company which we were riffing on earlier today are all about thought and words and torrents of language coming at you in an overwhelmingness of language, Carry Each His Burden is something else all together different, a series of semi-not so short, short stories, that are all muscle and brine, stories about artists as thieves and hunters, meth heads and blue collar guys all of whose mistakes and poor decisions compound on one another inviting not just further mistakes and poor decisions, but revenge, and death, always death by someone's hand other than their own, but not always that either, not totally. These are stories about loss and being men, though not good men certainly. These men are id and ego, roughness, and reminiscent of the men Andre Dubus the elder, definitely, and maybe even the III as well, we need to read some of his work, sketched so well and in such a nuanced way. Carry Each His Burden is Goertel's debut and it is lived-in and alive and we greatly look forward for what is to come. We should add here, that we are heavily talking dudes and dude writers here today, something we are most cognizant of, so please note that we will next be moving onto B-Sides and Brokenhearts by Caryn Rose and Solace in So Many Words, edited by Ellen Wade Beals, because some balance is most definitely most required post haste and hence will be rectified shortly.

These Books Will Change Your Life, Part One - a shiny, unused heart by J.A. Tyler and In Great Company by Michael Seidlinger.

2011-11-26T12:52:00.001-06:00

Travel. Not work. Read. Read more. And so we did. Read. More. A rush of words. Endless words. A deluge. Which seems especially appropriate when discussing a shiny, unused heart by old friend and This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor J.A. Tyler and In Great Company by much newer friend Michael Seidlinger. Both are about the feeling, and taste and impact of being overwhelmed and in part accomplish just how off-balance we can feel when overwhelmed by slamming the reader with a language beat-down, a torrent of words, piling on top of one another and challenging you to even just try and breathe. But that's where the similarities stop, sort of, maybe, because Tyler is hitting old themes, paranoia and confusion and relationships and parenting, and hitting them in the language warping ways few do as well as Tyler, and yes, we know, its supposed to look like the protagonist of the story is losing his mind, but as we read it we thought, is this losing one's mind, or is what we're reading an effort to capture and describe all the craziness that can accompany the fear of responsibility and feeling of being trapped by marriage and parenting, and all the fantasies and craziness that can accompany the desire to just escape all that when we know we don't totally mean it and true escape is not a possibility because we will never allow it to be so?

Seidlinger on the other hand, is creating a voice, a dominant voice, or internet presence, that is here to remind us that we are just pawns before its awesome powers - and yes, for the record, and ironically at that, this is a relationship that started on Facebook - and that we are prisoners of its all-consuming domination of our lives, directing our decisions, knowing us better than we know ourselves, and ultimately not caring all so much how we feel about it, if we in fact feel anything at all about any of this. Yet, as we read it we thought not unlike Tyler, and so yes, they may not be so different after all, that's what happening on paper, that's what we are expected to react to, but is there something else going on here, because though maybe like with Tyler, we are merely filtering all of these words through our own world view, is it also possible that Seidlinger is ultimately talking to the artist in all of us and condemning, even mocking, our ability to tune out the clutter and just create? We think so. We do. Really. So there you go, clutter, deluge and craziness. And words, so many words.

My Father's House is Friday Freebie. And we think that is most great.

2011-11-25T22:03:00.001-06:00

Quite appreciating David Abrams and The Quivering Pen for selecting My Father's House as this week's Friday Freebie. The Quivering Pen is a great blog, David is a great dude and we think this is most great indeed. So please do hit it, now, beautiful, great.

"My Father's House is a compassionate, wise, and fearless book." My Father's House receives some Goodreads love. And is most thankful indeed.

2011-11-24T19:55:00.001-06:00

On a day full of thanks, and we at the TBWCYL, Inc. are most thankful indeed for your love and support, we are also most thankful for the most kind words TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Geoff Hyatt has posted to the Goodreads about My Father's House. Big thanks brother and drinks on us for sure when next we meet. For everyone, Happy Thanksgiving, and how about some excerpt? Cool.

"What's wonderful about My Father's House is how the impending death of a loved one brings the narrator's life, with all its beauty and flaws, into sharp focus. Indeed, it is the imperfections of this teller that make him so much more perfected and authentic-feeling--Tanzer isn't afraid to let these characters disappoint one another or themselves, to let failure be part of the organic process of growing into the reality of their own existences."

Rooster us?

2011-11-22T08:41:00.001-06:00

Here. Please? Thank you.

{C.}.

2011-11-21T19:44:00.001-06:00

Massive MLP Stamp Stories literary coolness.

Steve Lafler. Jack Black. And the Radio Insecto. Oh my.

2011-11-20T18:15:00.001-06:00

Oh my word are we loving this. Legendary comix dude Steve Lafler, both the publisher of Lucky Man at his Manx Media press, as well as, a This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor has posted a new kick-ass cartoon video for his Jack Black song under the nom de plume Radio Insecto, which we are also most self-servingly happy to report first appeared in the Zine though we are apparently having some "missing tracklist" issues there which need to be addressed by one of the interns most quickly indeed.

"Goin' down like a cold beer on a hot day." Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-19T10:59:00.001-06:00

Much appreciative we are to see the Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine receive some Goodreads love from author James Goertel. Drinks on us brother for sure whenever we next meet and for everyone else, some excerpt.

"The book read just like a movie - I could see the scenes, the camera movement, the locations ~ the whole she-bang. If Mr.Tanzer has not yet written a screenplay he should. I loved all of the pop culture references. They shook a thousand memories from my mind. I highly recommend 'Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine' so pick it up before it comes to a theater near you."

2011 Chicago Book Expo joyousness tomorrow.

2011-11-18T11:49:00.001-06:00

Quite excited, and even intrigued, maybe, to be 2011 Chicago Book Expo tomorrow. We will be CCLaP table at 4:00pm and then Cursbide Splendor/Another Chicago Magazine reading at 5:00pm. We expect much joyousness to be had by all and we hope to see you there. Cool? Excellent.

My Father's House gets some 2011 Top Ten Indie book goodness at the Book Case.

2011-11-17T20:17:00.001-06:00

Most honored to not only have My Father's House selected by rock star book blogger Lori Hettler as a 2011 Top Ten Indie book release at the Book Case, but way thrilled to share the list with a number of writers we call friends and books we quite love ourselves, including but not limited to, the Ryan W. Bradley and Prize Winners, the Lavinia Ludlow and alt.punk, Steve Himmer and the bee-loud glade, Franki Elliot and Piano Rats, and on and on. Mass goodness. Check it out.

Chicago Stories is so pre-order.

2011-11-16T20:26:00.001-06:00

Curbside Splendor's new joint Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski is so pre-order and coming so soon and Rob Funderburk's illustrations are so killer,and so yes, just yes, hit it, because it will most certainly change your life.

"Tanzer has a way of being so intimate with his fiction that you feel like you know the people, that you are talking with them face to face, that their pain is your pain." My Father's House gets Big Other'd. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-15T12:13:00.001-06:00

Bring the pain and appreciations. Look, Ryan Bradley is not objective, he is a supporter and champion. He also loves literature though, and the dude is always raw and always honest, and we love him for that and because of this, his writing prowess, and his awesomely damaged self, he is one of a number of writers who's reactions to our work is important to us. All of which is to say, big thanks to the Ryan Bradley for his way thoughtful review, and yes, reactions, to My Father's House at the Big Other. It means a ton. Now how about some excerpt before we start getting all soft? Thanks.

"I consider myself lucky to have had a small role in the glorious publication history Tanzer continues to compile. More than that I consider myself lucky to be able to call him a friend. To say that My Father’s House effected me emotionally would be an injustice. My Father’s House wounded me as if I were the main character who is losing his father. It spoke to me as if it were my own inner dialogue of dealing with my issues regarding my inherent, perhaps bred, need to be tough. Not for other people but for myself. That to let down those guards I have built up could create a spiraling to an unquantifiable extent."

Quite digging this. The Mark R. Brand. The Lindsay Hunter and Natalie Edwards. And a new Breakfast With the Author. It's like Hanukkah in November.

2011-11-14T23:21:00.001-06:00

Breakfast With the Author, Episode 5 from Mark Brand on Vimeo.

More here.

"Ben goes toward the inevitable end for us all and still manages to keep things engaging and light and full of a power that I believe Ben is just starting to open up in his work." My Father's House gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-13T17:06:00.001-06:00

Indeed it does. Big time. And from the quite fine writer, and friend, yes we said it, friend, Tom Williams at that. Many thanks man, drinks on us for sure and now some excerpt. Enjoy.

"Make no mistake, this is an indelibly sad book, but heartwarming and uplifting too, and evidence that Ben has new directions for his fiction. I'm glad to call him my friend, but even if he were just the smiling face on the back cover, I'd still call MY FATHER'S HOUSE the small miracle that it is."          

"Spending time with Keith is more like talking to a familiar friend than reading a book, which, as Craig Finn might say, is 'a pretty good feeling.' Indeed, it feels pretty good." You Can Make Him Like You gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-13T13:50:00.001-06:00

Quite honored to see You Can Make Like You receive some quite kind and most thoughtful Goodreads love from rock star punk poet David Tomaloff. Big thanks man, drinks on us for sure when next we meet, and for everyone else, some excerpt.

"In a perfect world, books would have soundtracks the way movies have soundtracks. In You Can Make Him Like You, Ben Tanzer gets about as close as anyone could hope to in achieving the illusion in the meantime. In fact, the closing chapter, aptly titled Stay Positive, begs for the familiar cut-to-credits and black as the opening chords of its Hold Steady namesake fill the theater."

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. Full of (yet even more) Gospel. And Bushnell.

2011-11-12T23:20:00.001-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have a new poem, and video, sweet, Cellular Gospel by Salisbury Bushnell, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and student Christmas tree tax prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, thank you Salisbury, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Stanford and Boise State, what? 

This Book (and Podcast - "Frothy") Will Change Your Life - Birch Hills @ World's End by Geoff Hyatt.

2011-11-11T12:13:00.001-06:00

There are coming of age tales, how we operate and function as boys, and maybe later men, questions of security and safety in the wake of Columbine, and man, it's weird that we never really thought about the parallels in how the country reacted to both Columbine and September 11th before now. There is also having your head buried in a book with all of these themes bouncing to and fro in your head, while on line waiting to get through security at the airport, as we were, and being so lost in the passage you are reading that you try to walk through security even as they are firmly asking you not to, as we did, which somehow reminds you how things change, get warped and molded and yet still always come back to some basic themes, over and over again, love, confusion, safety and risk, finding oneself, being different, seeking individuality, and how these themes are among the many that make for coming of age tales. Arguably though a goal of any coming of age tale is to make it fresh, both familiar and unfamiliar, or more accurately, familiar, yet new, all of which is to say that Birch Hills @ World's End by Geoff Hyatt does much of this exceedingly well. And yes, freshly. Is there another novel set against Y2K and Columbine, and did we remember they happened so closely together? We did not. Birch Hills @ World's End so much more though, and it pushed so many buttons for us about what it means to be different and young and male, being a freak, or geek, bullying and violence, and so there it is, go read it, because it just might change your life. Also though, when you have a moment, and even if you don't, please go listen to the new episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life - "Frothy" as well, wherein we riff with the Hyatt on all of this, and more. And do it now. There. Thanks.

"Brisk, fresh, enjoyable." You Can Make Him Like You gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-10T22:36:00.001-06:00

Word. More. You Can Make Him Like You has received some much appreciated Goodreads kindness from author Caryn Rose whose new joint B-Sides and Broken Hearts is sitting just in the other room and soon to be consumed. More on that soon, now how about some excerpt? Word. More.

"The story is vivid, I could see the apartment and the office and the characters. The language creates a feeling of motion that, to me, synchronized with the mental state of the narrator."

The My Father's House Interview, Part III - A Myles and Ben Tanzer joint production.

2011-11-08T21:51:00.000-06:00

More here. Or here.

There is NOUNS OF ASSEMBLAGE trailer. There are writers. The Cool Kids. And big props to the Hazel Cummings.

2011-11-07T21:00:00.000-06:00

There is also more here.

A P. Fanatics Adventure. Next Sunday. Join us. Yes? Awesome. That. And you.

2011-11-06T14:09:00.001-06:00

More here.

November decomP. Rejoice.

2011-11-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

Well, rejoice, and then hit it. There you go.

It's coming.

2011-11-04T21:50:00.001-05:00

More The New York Stories sneak peak roll-out teaser action. And more details here.

"Once again, Ben Tanzer has found an uncanny ability to get inside my head." My Father's House gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

2011-11-03T19:51:00.001-05:00

Word. Some much appreciated Goodreads love for My Father's House. Big thanks that. Now, how about some excerpt? More word.

"At times bordering on self-indulgent, he's somehow able to capture moments in time and distill them to raw emotion. Having lost my father to a car accident (not the same as cancer), I found myself drawn to the themes of relationships, regret, and ultimately freedom that can come from loss."

Ink on the Tracks. California. And Estimated Prophet.

2011-11-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

Quite cool this. The always awesome Anna March invited TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer to submit a track and guest essay to her "Ink on the Tracks" music column at Connotation Press. The theme of this column was California and our contribution is a riff on "Estimated Prophet" by The Grateful Dead, what it meant to us once, and still does, so many years down the road. that I wasn't really into music then. Then being the early nineties. Then being before now and after that other time before this. I wasn't into anything really though. Okay, that isn't entirely true. I was really into abusing substances. Getting laid. And learning how to throw a forehand blade. But music not so much.

CoffeeTree Books Main Street Rag reading photo love.

2011-11-01T14:51:00.005-05:00

Most geeked we were, and are, about the opportunity to read with TBWCYL, Inc. favorites, fellow Main Street Rag authors and good friends Barry Graham and Tom Williams at the CoffeeTree Books over this past weekend in Morehead, KY. Big thanks as well to Tom for arranging it, CoffeeTree for overall awesomeness and to the really wonderful crowd who came out and supported us. Much good time and much appreciated.

Main Street Rag authors Tom Williams,

Ben Tanzer and Barry Graham

This ADP (chap) Book Will Change Your Life - 13 by David Tomaloff.

2011-10-31T23:02:00.002-05:00

With ADP's delightfully well-timed, most chilling and quite fun, yes, fun, really, new release 13, a series of thirteen 13-word stories full of horror, monsters and fear, TBWCYL, Inc. David Tomaloff stakes his claim as the punk rock Edward Gorey.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of Gospel. And Carson.

2011-10-30T22:23:00.000-05:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life         is live. We have a new story, The Gospel According to Stan from James Carson, which we  are  way  excited  about, and,  (almost) as always,    photo action from  Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and student debt reduction prose love from Pete Anderson.             We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all    shout-outs     and      links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more    of you will     submit      comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art,    and video,  yes,   video, and  combinations   there    of. And most    finally, Happy Halloween, yo. 

This Blog Will Change Your Life

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. A little bipolar. And Berriozabal.

Watersific.

The Gift has been most beautiously Holic'd at the LITnIMAGE.

"What I Tried To Do." Luis Humberto Valadez. Curbside Splendor. Video action. Yow.

For your consideration: "Life After Sleep" for the 2012 Hugo? We love this. So much. This much. Please picture our arms spread very wide.

Ben Tanzer is the literary equivalent of...a Samurai porn star god - inflicting the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique right to my funny bone!" The Terminator of Love receives some Smashwords love. And likes it. A lot.

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Temporary Yes. Pre-order action. Hit it. And check out that cover. Yowzers.

A double-dose of the Gregory Sherl. Dose Two.

A double-dose of the Gregory Sherl. Dose One.

Michael Czyzniejewski. Pat Sajak. The Nervous Breakdown. Most beautious.

In Those Days We. Us. Many. Massive collective coolness.

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Craig Finn. Clash Music. Literary influences. And Interiew Sundays.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of interview. And Suhem.

Did we mention that this is so happening on February 4th? Good. Because it is. And it is awesomeness.

Other People. The Roxane Gay. Hit that. It? Something.

Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions. The Press Release.

My Father's House can now be found at Quimby's. And having a book at Quimby's will never, ever, never get old to us. It can't. It's way too cool and we wanted it way too much for way too long. There, said it. Done.

"Tanzer has a way of describing innocent sexual tension like nobody I've ever read." So Different Now gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

"Like a modern Carver." Repetitions Patterns gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

"The frenzied pace of this highly entertaining story sucks the reader into this passion filled romp-of-a-story." The Terminator of Love receives some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

There is Mendicant Bookworks trailer. And it is sublime.

red lightbulbs six. So much goodness your knees will buckle and you will weep tears of joy and gratitude.

Much appreciated book goodness. Part Two. You Can Make Him Like You gets Banners of Death'd. And likes it. A lot.

Much appreciated book goodness. Part One. My Father's House gets CBSChicago.Com'd. And likes it. A lot.

New year. New joint. Being Gunther Gebel (Redux). At the HOUSEFIRE.

Big sloppy new year appreciations to Pete Anderson and the whole Pete Lit crew for including My Father's House in their "12 for 2012" list of books they most look forward to reading in the coming year.

These Things We Loved in 2011 Will Change Your Life.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of drunk poet. And Ontis.

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part Three - Another Chicago Magazine. Issue 50.2. The Chicago Issue.

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part Two - An Evening With Ben Tanzer and Friends. A CCLaP Fundraiser.

Things we are looking forward to in the new year, Part One - Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski.

You Can Make Him Like You is totally Kindle. Totally? Totally.

You Can Make Him Like You is most beautious Pete Lit Good Reading 2011. And we are most geeked.

"These stories are packed with musings and observations that come with the pain of growing up." So Different Now gets Curbside Splendor'd. And likes it. A lot.

There is new joint. The Terminator of Love. Mendicant Bookworks. At the Smashwords. Hit it. Now. Please. Thanks.

We were off the grid. And now we are Dogzplot theme issue. Let goodness ensue.

More nod. More holiday season. And some Christmas wishes courtesy of faux TBWCYL, Inc. celebrity spokesman Steve Martin.

And now for a nod to the holiday season. All joyfully upon us. And such. Sequins is the Reason for the Season. Courtesy of the Tim Jones-Yelvington.

Code for Failure has page. And we have anticipation. Loads of it.

Cobalt includes You Can Make Him Like You on its guest-edited City Paper Best Books of 2011 list in part for being a champion of "dick-lit" and we have a new found appreciation for both dick and lit.

We Who Are About To Die finds itself legally obligated to select You Can Make Him Like You as one of the best books it read in 2011 and we have a new found appreciation for the law.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Forty-Three - El Presidente.

15 Views of Orlando. Hunter. Heavener. Holic. Bradley. And more. Burrow Press. Ordered. Goodness.

"I continuously found myself lulled into the natural cadence of his writing, only to come to the end where I would find myself helplessly sitting in a pot of boiling water, unable to jump out." So Different Now gets some love from the Jason Fisk. And likes it. A lot.

"It's refreshing just as it is in film when life is told as it is and not put in a neat package." So Different Now gets The Local Tourist'd. And likes it. A lot.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of message. And Greenspan.

What we talk about when we talk about J. Bradley talking about us and more specifically You Can Make Him Like You and So Different Now.

A quite lovely and dare we say touching literary homage by the Ryan W. Bradley rife with running, suburbs, tattoos, pregnancy, thongs and slightly more than borderline sordidness. Please file under things we quite dig and appreciate.

This Book Will Change Your Life - The Failure by James Greer.

Wherein the incredibly handsome and always kind Mel Bosworth selects My Father's House as one of the 33 greatest things he experienced in 2011 and joy and massive thanks rapidly spread across the land like a gentle wave of goodness.

This. Wednesday. Untoward. And most beautious.

So Different Now. Goodreads. Yes.

May the Hannukah be with you.

Orange Alert. Writer on Writer. Hyatt. Tanzer. Wonderbar.

You Can Make Him Like You gets some HuffPost love. And our (mostly) platonic love for Greg Olear grows by leaps and bounds.

Hyping the So Different Now/The New York Stories hype in the most hypeful manner possible.

The New York Stories. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

So Different Now/The New York Stories CCLaP Podcast goodness. Listen. Rejoice. Re-post.

So Different Now. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

happy dog mom litjournal changed our lives.

McCreesh. Something That's True. Mendicant Bookworks. Hit it.

You Can Make Him Like You is The Cult's Book Club selection for the month of December. Join us won't you?

Code for Failure. Ryan W. Bradley. Coming soon. And blurbage.

This Zine Will Change Your Life has been Beach Sloth'd. Let the wild rumpus begin!

You Can Make Him Like You receives some Top Ten book love from the Dogzplot.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All full of shock. And Wawrzaszek.

As a Machine and Parts. Caleb J. Ross. Preorder. And blurbage.

Jim Jones. Elizabeth Olson. Memory. You Can Count on Me. David Koresh. Winter's Bone. Bee Season. Dreams. My Own Private Idaho. The Olson Twins. Helter Skelter. And John Hawkes. Martha Marcy May Marlene.

This Book Will Change Your Life, Part Two - Carry Each His Burden by James Goertel.

These Books Will Change Your Life, Part One - a shiny, unused heart by J.A. Tyler and In Great Company by Michael Seidlinger.

My Father's House is Friday Freebie. And we think that is most great.

"My Father's House is a compassionate, wise, and fearless book." My Father's House receives some Goodreads love. And is most thankful indeed.

More The New York Stories coming soon roll-out sort of thing.

Rooster us?

{C.}.

Steve Lafler. Jack Black. And the Radio Insecto. Oh my.

"Goin' down like a cold beer on a hot day." Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.