"Heavy stories. Heavy and great. I'm already itching to dig into After the Flood." So Different Now. Goodness.

Feels good indeed. And much appreciated. Excerpt? Word.

"Tanzer has some breathtaking endings in some of these as well, heavy gut shots there was no way I could see coming but might fight someone if they suggested it could be any other way." 

"Reminiscent of Kipling." So Different Now gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

A lot a lot. And big thanks to the Joseph G. Peterson for that. Drinks brother, or possibly sandwiches, whichever, soon, many, on us. Excerpt? Word.

"Ben Tanzer is one of the most efficient writers working. This is an excellent collection filled with Tanzer's wham/bam (I hope)/thank you ma'm (anyway) themed stories."

"Everything becomes more different than it was then." So Different Now gets Words, Notes, and Fiction'd. And likes it. A lot.

It does, we do, so moving it is, and so appreciative we are. Excerpt? Word.

"Not only is So Different Now the name of one of the stories, but it seems like it's also the theme, who you marry, who you choose to ignore or bring into your life, and whoever you know that dies, your actions will make the roads of your change. And well, everything becomes more different than it was then."

We are So Different Now in the barcode from Pure Slush. And we feel fine.

We are also in quite fine company. So please do learn more here. And then order here. Cool? Good. Excerpt? Wonderbar.

"And he’s there too. Behind the bar. Pouring drinks. One after another. Sometimes they speak. But mostly she orders. He pours. And so it goes."

"Tanzer's artistic sensitivity is attuned to the subtlest shifts within." So Different Now is selected as Dead End Follies Best Short Story Collection of 2012.

Really. And awesomely cool that. Big thanks to Dead End Follies and the Benoit Lelievre for the year-end love and ongoing support.

"A great place to start with Tanzer's work and a necessary stop for the Tanzer completists." So Different Now gets some Goodreads love. And likes it. A lot.

Totally in fact. And most endlessly appreciative of course. Now maybe you haven't read the So Different Now, but you could right? Yes you could, for sure. Or maybe you have, but haven't hit the Goodreads yet. But you could do that as well, couldn't you, maybe, right? We think you could. So thank you for that, any of it, really.

Wherein we get to read "No Nothing" from Another Chicago Magazine and So Different Now at a Lauryn Allison Lewis solo/down release party rife with an endlessly wonderful collection of writers, and you, if you so choose, get to listen to a podcast that captures all of it in a most lovely fashion indeed.

Here.

"Like Ray Carver, Tanzer knows how to show little pieces of our life that make us who we are and crush our expectations." So Different Now gets Mourning Goats'd. And likes it. A lot.

We really do like it a lot. We are also very appreciative of not just the Mourning Goats kind words about So Different Now, but their ongoing support and general awesomeness. Big thanks Goats, and drinks, many, on us when next we meet. Excerpt? Cool.

"In short, So Different Now is a super fast read, and it'll knock you on your ass. Every story is poignant and ridiculously well written."

"Tanzer is playing in Haruki Murakami's territory of crafting stories to describe the most complex, wordless emotions in the most graceful way possible." So Different Now gets Dead End Follies'd for "The New York Stories Tour 2012." And likes it. A lot.

We said there would be more and we couldn't be more geeked about this most kind review from the Dead End Follies and Benoit Lelievre. Big thanks sir and drinks on us for sure when next we meet. Excerpt? Totally.

"SO DIFFERENT NOW left its imprint on me. Because that's what powerful stories do. They scar you and chip away at you, make you a different person." 

 

"So Different Now, shows that his already-impressive gifts for astute narrative observation have sharpened." So Different Now gets The Lit Pub'd. And likes it. A lot.

Quite a lot, big thanks to the Dave K. and The Lit Pub, and drinks on us, for sure, when next we meet. Now, how about some excerpt?

"Hell, someone who didn't get people couldn't write teenagers at all, I don't think – they'd read like miniature adults on the page. Tanzer's work, by contrast, makes statements like “good writers don't have to 'get' people” sound like flailing self-justification."

"It’ll take a swing at your thoughts on life and leave a lasting red mark." So Different Now gets Small Press Reviews'd. And likes it. A lot.

So true. And so appreciated. Big thanks to Small Press Reviews and the always awesome Lavinia Ludlow and drinks, many, on us somewhere, sometime, some how. Now, how about some excerpt? 

"Every story left me feeling intense emotions about the protagonist or his situation, weather it was victory, defeat, or a just plain, that totally sucks, and that’s what Tanzer does. He can evoke an intense reaction in his reader in a mere flash fiction piece. All the characters yanked at my heart strings in one form or another, I felt sympathy for them no matter how confused or fallen they were."  

"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.

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."

"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.

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." 

"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.

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.

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."

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.

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."    

So Different Now. Goodreads. Yes.

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

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

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. 

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

More here.

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

More here.