Not Quite So Stories by the David S. Atkinson is so March 2016 release and quite possibly so pre-order too.

And much more here. For reals. Really reals.

These Books Will Change Your Life - The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes by the David S. Atkinson and Something Good, Something Bad, Something Dirty by the Brian Alan Ellis.

Travel. Read. Florida. Read. Alabama. Blizzards. Hotels. Read. Shrimp and Grits. Gin & Tonics. Read. And both The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes by the David S. Atkinson and Something Good, Something Bad, Something Dirty by the Brian Alan Ellis. Both of which are blurbed by the Bud Smith. Both of which reference the Village Inn. And both of which arrived at the corporate headquarters within days, if not hours of one another, and are hence, and forever, intrinsically linked in our collective lit memory. Which raises the question of whether these books, and authors, have anything to do with one another, and if there is some connective tissue beyond a diner, a Smith, and a common destination? Or whether they are in fact part of some kind of movement. They are indy lit, but so are most books we read. They are male, but that's not saying much, we know a lot of those. They do relationships at once young, and tortured, and the people in those relationships talk a lot. Maybe something Mumblelitcoresque then? Is that even a thing? And if not can we coin it as such, or something just like it? Though regardless, is any of this even necessary? Maybe not in the greater hustle and flow of all things lit and movement, but it is to us.
 

And yet, these are very different productions as well. Ellis is all about grime. His words and pages are caked with it. Not that this grime can cover-up his characters rampant sense of failure, though more than failure it's their existence as those among the never was. They never were going to be anything, but what they are, coke-addled, diner smashing denizens of Ellis world, who endlessly talk shit to compensate for just how much suck there is in said world. Which isn't to say that Ellis doesn't draw a rich world full of colorful characters doing colorful things, because he does, and they are, and that as Ellis completists, we are quite enjoying watching his canon expand, and the rougher edges grow more honed with each outing, the words full of life, and dance. And there is the Atkinson, he of Bones Buried in the Dirt, easily one of out favorite reads in 2013, and now The Garden, which lo and behold, is an epically different reading experience entirely, hipster magic realism, full of satire and sadness. But then not so different either in that these are characters who only know loss, and live in bubbles, both self-made and thrust upon them, while seeing no real way out, something writ much larger and metaphorical certainly in The Garden. Which is to say that Atkinson has stretched here, pushing the sparse language and realism of Bones somewhere funnier and weirder, while still retaining his characters ability to hurt and be hurt by one another. All of which is to say that this may be what Atkinson and Ellis share after all, hurt, inescapable and real, with no real sense how to escape from it. Now does that make for a movement? Why not? We just need a name. Well, that and people reading the books themselves. So do hit it, them, because it, they, just might change your life.      

"As always, I came away from a Tanzer book feeling a little warmer towards humanity than I had been feeling before." In which we stumble onto a new review for an old book and feel a little warmer towards humanity ourselves. Well that, and shallow.

Terribly. That said, excerpt? Word.

"It's just a relationship, but the honesty of what the fictional characters are feeling, their stumbling and their confusion with essentially good hearts, makes me feel it as I imagine they feel it and makes it have significance."

"Emotional, vivid, and compelling." Four Fathers. InDigest. Bam. And such.

So much such, and endless appreciations. Excerpt? Word.

"There’s some fine writing in Four Fathers: emotional, vivid, and compelling. This book isn’t just someone showing you snapshots from their wallet, instead being an examination of how particular people manage to live in their particular, individual worlds. It’s good stuff, completely separate from any interest in fatherhood."

The sparse and beautiful Bones Buried in the Dirt by the David S. Atkinson is Eckleburg Book Club. So do hit it.

It just might change your life.

"It's like sitting calmly on a high voltage power line." My Father's House. The Goodreads. Word.

Most kind this is. And big thanks to the David S. Atkinson for that. Excerpt? Word. 

"Tanzer knocked the wind out of me on this one. He just quietly puts it out there, but the impact still left me breathless. Intimate, insightful, and honest."

"Tanzer delivers marvelously in these essays." Lost in Space. The Lit Pub.

Quite kind this David S. Atkinson and The Lit Pub. And quite appreciated. So hugs, many, soon, thank you. Excerpt? Word.

"I found Lost in Space to be intimate, insightful, and vulnerable. It has a weighty subject, but the writing doesn't rely on the subject's weight to get by. Whether you have kids or not, I can't imagine someone reading this book and not being affected. In short — it's good, yo."

"It isn’t pleasant." Orphans gets Sundog Lit'd. And likes it. A lot.

And big thanks to the David S. Atkinson and Sundog Lit for that. Excerpt? Word.

"I found myself really getting into the dark future of Orphans. However, the most interesting part for me was when I realized that there was more familiar than future in the futuristic dystopia. After all…do we not obsess right now about the power that corporations hold? Do we not worry about whether we really have opportunity or only the appearance of such? Do we not fear that the country has become a police state? It shook me a bit when I realized how similar this disturbing future was."

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

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live, and we are thrilled to have new fiction, Trying to Explain by the David S. Atkinson, and (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and ongoing glitchy ACA website prose love from Pete Anderson. Really? Really. 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, Josh McCown. Really? Really.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Seventy - The Imperfect Person, starring the David S. Atkinson.

Podcast are we yes. And beautifully at that. We are Bones Buried in the Dirt, Proust, Joseph Michael Owens, and Denver. So do hit it. It just might change your life.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Bones Buried in the Dirt by David S. Atkinson.

You are looking for a guy. This guy writes books, but you don't know exactly what he looks like, much less where to find him. As you look for this guy, you meet another guy. That guy writes books too. You don't know him or his work, but there is swap, and Bones Buried in the Dirt by David S. Atkinson, sits there, waiting, looming, possibly beckoning, and you still know so little about it. But then you read these sparsely and beautifully written stories about childhood sexuality, violence, and terror by this guy you now know. Stories that derive so much power from their ability to capture quotidian moments, that you are reminded of Hush up and Listen Stinky Pooh Butt by Ken Sparling, another book that found poetry in the nearly real time moments that make for a life. All of which is to say, that you were looking for a guy, you found another guy, and that guy's book, once looming, now read, changes your life. Pretty cool that.