Friday Links: Exhausted Werewolves Edition
"But nothing has transpired, nothing that can be seen by anyone other than me. No one is looking at me...I start reading." - Indra Das, 'The Devourers'
But first, your weekly Vine: Thursday was Chapter 20: “Outbreak Part One.” Today is Chapter 21: “Outbreak Part Two.” Ed McMahon will show up at your house with a big check if you can guess what’s coming Monday. Listen to the podcast! We are having so much fun with it, Brendan is engineering his ass off.
Is September werewolf month? If I could go the rest of my life reading new werewolf content every September, boy, I’d be happy.
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:
That said, I should say I’m only slightly over halfway finished with this book. First and foremost, it is luscious, overflowing with sensory detail. Plenty of it gory, too, but there’s also tremendous beauty, don’t get all bent of shape. Shouldn’t go any further without a big ol’ CW for a scene depicting and further discussion of sexual assault—please take care of yourself if you pick up this book. Do read it, though, it totally rips. Remember last week, when I was bemoaning “how little werewolf content is in my personal canon” and “werewolves don’t have as much known lore?” I don’t feel that way anymore. This book has a beautiful werewolf history, bound up in books made out of human skin. I’m talking, of course, about The Devourers by Indra Das.
What’s really getting me going so far, besides the lyrical prose and cool-ass werewolf chompin’, is the attention paid to mythmaking and storytelling. Not in a worldbuilding sense, like “here are the rules of the werewolves, now you are initiated into werewolf, we will bite people in Act III.” No, the mythmaking here comes from religion and folklore, comes from fear of demons and fascination with the natural world and the wonders it contains, comes from the pure human desire to have your story told. There are passages of comparative monster studies from across cultures, scenes are set against the backdrop of Durga Puja and Diwali, and the goddamn opener? Where our frame story narrator meets the half-werewolf who gives him the manuscript that becomes the book? It’s set in a tent where the bauls sing. Bauls, for anyone rusty on Bengali culture, are “the rural bards of Bengal…[in this tent they] gather every winter to make music for city people.” What a setting for an opener! Practically Green Room, sans Nazis! I can’t wait to finish this book.
p.s. lemme go ahead and admit something embarrassing real quick, because it’s my blog, and we have fun together. There’s a scene where the half-werewolf claims to have met the original proprietor of a cafe like a century ago or whatever, and it’s the stupidest thing I go nuts for in books. Every time. “Oh, the Vampire Lestat knew [insert European nobleman from the 18th century]? So cool,” my infantchild-brain coos.
LINKS!
But first: some tunes, dudes? My kid’s obsessed with Thundercat right now, because of that video where he acts like a cat. I think I’ve linked this Tiny Desk concert before, but what’re you gonna do? Be mad about listening to Thundercat again?
New The Line Break! Sorry to double up on self-promo, but I have two podcasts now. I am, in fact, a white guy. This month, Bob and I sat down with Alina Pleskova! Alina was a kickass guest and we had a blast. Also, The Line Break is now on Spotify!
New Split Lip magazine! I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but I do love this story from Emily Costa, “Banana Split Deluxe.” You know how I shoutout service workers at the end of these blogs? Read this story, if you’ve never worked a service industry job (and then go get a service industry job, for at least a year).
Love to see news that the Bronzeville Legends Project, a public art installation celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine Hansbury, Nat King Cole, and other historic figures from Chicago’s Black Metropolis, getting the 2023 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award. Idk anything about that foundation or who Dick Driehaus is, but I do know Bronzeville is a neighborhood that’s had to fight to preserve its history. Shoutout to Chris Devins, the founder of Bronzeville Legends Project, and to Jamie Nesbitt Golden for the reporting.
Had reason to be reading Li-Young Lee recently, and what a treat that is. Here’s “Persimmons,” from the collection Rose. In the genre of like, bilingual confused/language poems—this one is stellar. What a poet.
Positive vibes and a speedy recovery to No Dunks host Tas Melas, after being hit by a car outside the Braves’ stadium this week. Life is fragile and cars are terrifying. Hoping the recovery goes as well as the other dudes made it sound.
The great Lincoln Michel recommending surrealist books from around the world. Definitely adding a good chunk of these to the ol’ TBR list—read Lincoln’s article to learn about the book Gabriel Garcia Marquez said he could quote backwards and forwards.
That’s it for this week, what’re you still doing here? Go read Vine!
If you’re in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. The only reason I’m not whinging and whining about how tired I am after this week is because I knew Server Chris or Bartender Chris would roast me mercilessly. Get yr tips this weekend, service workers.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris