Soft Skull News

In recent days, Nasrin Alavi, author of one of the only books on digital communications in Iran, has been providing a good deal of insightful coverage of the situation unfolding there, but perhaps this article, which appeared a little while back in the New Internationalist, provides the greatest amount of insight into the cultural history and crucial importance of blogging in Iran. As she so presciently wrote at that time, ""It is this generation that will ultimately determine the future of Iran."

Posted by Anne Horowitz at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CAConrad, deviant poet, passionate Elvis disciple, and enterprising vegetarian sin eater, is outing Elvis in a new essay on PhillySound. Entitled "The Purple Gang," the essay takes its name straight from the source - Elvis's "Jailhouse Rock" lyrics.

And this reminds me to share Conrad's recipe for ELVIS LICKING SAUCE, which unaccountably never made it into the book:

ELVIS LICKING SAUCE

Ingredients:
1/4 C chocolate syrup
1/4 C strawberry jam
1/4 stick of soy margarine
juice of 1/2 lemon

Beat all ingredients until smooth, place in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Take turns drawing pictures of Elvis on each other's naked bodies with sauce and licking it off.

THERE IS NO BETTER WAY to show your reverence for The King than to lick His delicious likeness off a lover's ass!

PLEASE NOTE
If you coat a penis with sauce please then refer to it as HOUND DOG GRAVY.

If you listen you can hear Elvis say:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU OH SO VERY MUCH!

Posted by Anne Horowitz at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In case you hadn't heard: Pasha won the Trillium yesterday. Sweet.

Posted by Denise Oswald at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pasha Malla is on a roll. He's kind of a quiet, understated dude, and I think all the fuss may be making him a little uncomfortable, but hell if I care! I'm really pleased with all of the attention his gorgeous book of short stories is getting.

• He's the winner of this year's Danuta Gleed Literary Award

• He's a finalist for the Trillium Award

• He's a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize

• He's been longlisted for the Giller Prize

• And this just in: he's won the Ellis Award for the best short story for his contribution to Toronto Noir

And I'm thinking, the Canadians seem to be on to something here...

Posted by Anne Horowitz at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So sometimes great reviews come your way, and sometimes the powers that be in media land smite you in the face. Here’s some sweet response from Jed Lipinski re Reverend Jen’s Live Nude Elf that a certain downtown alt weekly here decided to nix. Considering Jen’s been a fixture in the East Village and environs (and in said paper’s theater pages for years) you’d think this would be a natural for them. Much head-scratching ensues . . .

"Jen Miller (a/k/a Reverend Jen, Patron Saint of the Uncool)
has a heartwarmingly stubborn faith in the Lower East Side,
where she currently operates a troll museum, hosts the
monthly open-mike “Reverend Jen’s Anti-Slam,” and
cavorts with members of the “Art Stars,” a band of
deranged local performance artists. Her new book chronicles
her two-year stint as a sex columnist for Nerve with the
grace of a nymphomaniac Dorothy Parker. Notable exploits
include “cougar hunts” at NYU, key-party experiments,
and temp work on a porn set."

Posted by Denise Oswald at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)