Nate East

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May 29, 2010

summer in the sunny alleyways and little forests

My review of The Salt Ecstasies by James L. White was posted today at The Rumpus!  Check it out here , if yr feelin a book review.

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The book is a re-issue of the original version published in 1982.  Graywolf Press is reprinting the original collection plus some previously-unpublished work and a new introduction.  Information on the July 2010 release is here!  Also, mad thanks to Rumpus poetry editor Brian Spears for the opportunity to review such a rad book!  He is here and here .

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Me and J. finally finished our collaborative zine of poetry and illustrations!  I’ll do an in-depth post on this soon, but wanted to let everyone know, as I’m super excited about this guy.  And if you’re in SF, there are already some copies available at Needles and Pens in the Mission.

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May 22, 2010

artists never return home / all artists return home always

steadily adding to the “big piece of writing” in both notebooks and on computer – i’m not anticipating sending portions out for review/etc for a while, but it’s getting seriously longer, which is nice

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working on some non-fiction stuff too. new book review posted soon – will post link when it’s done!

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I read Cormac McCarthy’s first novel:

which was published back in 1965, which is kind of crazy because McCarthy published The Road in 2006, more than forty years later, and during those forty years he wrote/published tons of other awesome books.  Pretty gnarly and hardworking dude.

As for the book, I loved it like I do all stuff by the author, and am now kind of torn about where to go next in his catalog of novels: delve deeper into Appalachia-era McCarthy, go back to Southwest/Texas-era McCarthy, or just re-read Blood Meridian ?  As always, I’m leaning towards the last one.

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I also read this guy:

and although I bought it originally for the cover art by Chuck Sperry, I really enjoyed the actual text as well, and about a third of the way through I had lots of trouble putting it down I was so caught up in the pretty enthralling/exciting story.

If you’re interested, there is an outrageously long article on the author Charles Bock here at the NYT.

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Music!

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Also, like a month ago, but I forgot to blog about it, I went to a JAPANTHER show with some friends, and it was mind-blowingly awesome, and yeah, just see them if you get the chance, which chances are you will since they’re constantly touring

video by Lila Burns 2009 @CALARTS

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May 7, 2010

shows always $5, records always $10

Been writing lotsa fictional prose in one huge file email if you are weirdly interested in this mostly unpublishable guy y’all

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Sent off a pretty long (~1k word) book review, hopefully up in the next week or so if they like my draft, will link up when it’s posted!

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Books read and loved:

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Albums I’ve been listening to a lot:


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April 19, 2010

left here a couple months ago

A new story of mine was just posted at Monkeybicycle- check it out here! Big thanks to Jessa and everyone at MB!

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I also did a writeup of Just Kids by Patti Smith that’s now up at The Rumpus.  That book was so sick- get a copy as soon as you can!

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I recently got to see one of my favorite bands of recent memory, Wolves in the Throne Room, in a soul-destroying live show along with rock legends Earth.  Pretty once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Full writeup coming soon, maybe sent somewhere, not sure yet…  summary for now: spiritual experience.

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Been reading a lotta zines lately, including recent issues of Doris, no gods no mattress, Scam, and Cometbus.  Always good times.  The latest Cometbus is especially rad and includes some great short stories.

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Picked this guy up last week and have been listening to it a lot:

Genghis Tron is very similar to a power-electro version of Converge, or something.  Highly recommended!  I’m excited to pick up their newer album, Board up the House, if I ever see it anywhere, ha ha.

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April 8, 2010

not names written years ago on drainage pipe and bridge trusses

Remember when we saw the best show ever last week?

The record is great too, but the live show is completely insane.  See below live video for approximation of the craziness.

song starts around 0:50 mark

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Finished this the other day:

and it was amazing, and I’m thinking about doing a full writeup for The Rumpus soon.  In the meantime, if you’re a Patti Smith or Robert Mapplethorpe fan, or at all interested in the NYC post-Warhol scenes during the 70’s etc, check it out.  Really well written, fun, sad, just awesome.

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Lots of new music!  I’ve been listening to tons of music on commutes lately, so have gotten back into the groove of picking up new albums.  Very excited.

Here are the week’s finds:

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March 30, 2010

it was round now last year during the rains when

I’ve been doing lots of writing, including a couple new poems now in submission queues, a couple short-short stories now in submission queues, and I’m still polishing the longer ones. Let me know if you want to read anything!

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I bought the latest issue of ZYZZYVA at Needles and Pens a few days ago and read it and it was unquestionably the best literary journal I’ve ever read, by far.

It is utter and complete destruction.  I can’t wait to submit a story to them someday.  If you’re in the Bay Area, it’s available at tons of bookstores; check out a copy!

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Finished this guy today:

which was predictably amazing.  Cormac McCarthy is rapidly becoming maybe my “favorite” living author.  So far this year I’ve also read The Road and Blood Meridian, and I’m really excited to read the rest of the Border Trilogy now.  Also, i’m always on the lookout for a used copy of The Orchard Keeper, his first novel.  These seem to be pretty rare though, so next up is probably re-reading Blood Meridian.

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Meanwhile, in Lawrence, Asteroid Head brings the St. Patrick’s Day heat/weirdstuff:

Hyped to see some photos from their recent trip to SXSW!

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Bought this like a long time ago and have had it in constant rotation forever:

Perfect music to write or read to.  Planning on either picking up Silver next or diving headlong in Justin Broadrick’s extensive back catalog and maybe buying a Godflesh album or something.

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This guy (that is to say, Sam Owen) is now a contributor at the un-google-able Forty Eight Hours In A Day blog, which seems super rad so far.

Check it out here!  I still miss the days of The Aim Was Song, though…

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March 17, 2010

cloud mist who lift over the trees and bridge cables

A writeup I did of a Reginald Dwayne Betts poem was posted today at The Rumpus- check it out here! Thanks a bunch to poetry editor Brian Spears and everyone else at The Rumpus.

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Last week I finished Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott:


which was shocking and depressing and almost impossible to put down.  I think I read it in two or three total sittings, each of which ran much longer than I had planned, and I was non-trivially late to at least one dinner because I completely lost track of time while reading the book.  Super direct and raw writing, very intense story, generally great all around.  Go grab a copy!  I’m also excited to read Elliott’s latest release, The Adderall Diaries, once the paperback comes out.

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After weeks of listening to their music online via their myspace, I finally bought the new Blessure Grave album on CD and have been listening to it ever since, including, in fact, right now, and it’s awesome and ya should definitely check their stuff out!  Lots of free streaming tracks here.

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March 6, 2010

cottonwood groves and mineral ravines

A writeup I did of On the Lower Frequencies by Erick Lyle was posted a few days ago at The Rumpus- check it out here! This is my first piece of non-fiction to be published, so I’m pretty excited.

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Just finished reading House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

which was great.  I had actually started the book like five years ago and didn’t get past the first few pages, but I’ve been very into reading about the desert lately and thought I would give it a second try.  This time around I really loved it.  Fully realized / informative / beautiful / mystical / just go grab a copy.

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I haven’t bought any new music in a while, but have been listening to this album a ton:

Really cool kind of neo-goth-rock stuff.  I think I may have blogged about it before, but it’s so good it’s worth posting about twice.

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I saw Atlas Sound play in SF last week, which was super fun.  At times I felt like I was watching a Bob Dylan show because of the combination of transcendent awesomeness and lots-of-harmonica, and at other times I was just thinking “holy shit how is it possible to play a 2-hour set by yourself,” but overall the experience was super great.  I haven’t picked up Logos, his 2009 release yet, but have been way into his previous album for a long time.

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February 26, 2010

and days grow longer steadily

Here is a quote from my favorite poem that I have read in some time:

One afternoon Rashad
broke the collar of midnight,
streaks of a Norfolk street
running down
his face.

from R. Dwayne Betts, “Dear Augusta,” The Collagist, January 2010.

The full poem is here.  Check it out!

Betts’ website is here.

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I’ve got four short story drafts that I’m editing right now in preparation for submitting to some new journals.  Each one is ~1,500 words or so.  If you’re interested in checking them out, let me know!

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tenderloin is the night blog is always rad.

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Almost done reading Day Out of Days by Sam Shepard:

which is sprawling and beautiful, hits you very hard, and is often crushingly sad.  Really powerful writing in the form of short stories, really-short-stories, and poetry.  Since I am especially into stuff about the desert, it doesn’t hurt that lots of this is set in the Southwest.  Worth checking out at yer library!

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In case you haven’t seen it yet, Mr. Sam Owen shot a ton of photos at a bunch of art openings in SF a few weeks ago, and posted a show writeup as well as tons of snaps at Fecal Face Dot Com.  Check it out here!

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February 16, 2010

sunny quiet, old man reading, low cinderblock wall

An older story of mine, Girl with Tangled Hair, was just published at The Northville Review. The other stories in this issue are super great. Check it out here; thanks Erin!

As mentioned in the previous post, I picked up Erick Lyle’s On the Lower Frequencies last week at Needles and Pens:

and I finished reading it a couple days ago.

The book comprises a few different types of writing: first, excerpts from Lyle’s Scam zine, including alternately hilarious and horrifying stories about organizing protests and illegal generator shows in the Mission, finding and developing squats/event-spaces in abandoned buildings, and generally living in the underground art/life/music activist/punk/traveler scene in SF.  There are also pieces of Lyle’s political writing, dealing mostly with tenant’s rights and homeless rights issues within the city, as well as a particularly interesting/inspiring section on getting the first needle exchange started in the Haight.  Finally, there are lots of interviews with artists, scene figures, activists/humanitarians, and even a short one with the former mayor of SF!

Lyle’s excellent writing carries you through these disparate topics with a storyteller voice, making each section exciting and interesting.  I think this book is definitely of special interest to folks living in SF [that have visited the many donut shops Lyle writes about], but would also be a fun and informative read for anyone interested in art/punk subcultures or activist/grass-roots politics.  Definitely recommended!

Wow that was a long review.  Anyway, just buy the book at N&P if you have a couple bucks!

I’ve been listening to weirdly less-heavy music lately… couple favorites:


Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why Their Are Mountains. Listened to this guy for about a week on repeat.

Japandroids – Post-Nothing.  Wanted to hate this for some reason, ended up loving it. Very fun.

Finally, I spent an-hour-plus the other day updated this old Myspace profile that I had set up like a year ago and then never used.  It is unclear to me why I’ve updated it, but, um, some things are just a mystery, I guess.

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