Beach Sloth

Satanic Summer: An Evening of Bizarro and Alt Lit Readings

                Bizarro and alt lit are together at last in America’s second altest city: Portland. I knew this day would come. Alt lit and bizarro are peas in an exclusive pod. Each challenges existing notions of storytelling, coherence, with liberal dosage of silliness, Satan, and sand castles (built in the sky). Right now I don’t know which side supports me more: I think alt lit because alt lit gossip re-blogs me sometimes. Re-blogging is a fleeting thing though. One can never rely on re-blogging alone. You have to believe in your own relevance. If you believe in yourself you can blog anything. 

                This is a colorful Spreecast collection. Indeed this may be the biggest Spreecast ever to appear on the internet. Random people do appear on Spreecast without warning but this is intense. This is big. You better step back for this reading. It will devour you whole. For this is the Satanic Summer reading. Think the Portland Illuminati chapter is something to mess with? Think again wise guy (or wise girl). Satan is about to come onto the internet and eat your face off? How do you feel about that? You should feel good because it is happening in only a few hours. 

                Yeah, there’s Steve Roggenbuck. He is the Johnny Appleseed of alt lit. I feel Steve’s heart leads him all over this great country (except for the Midwest). Now he is clean-shaven. Are you ready for clean-shaven Steve? I’m not. I took three cold showers and am still nowhere near ready for it. Heck, I even shared a room with Steve a few months ago. He watched me sleep. It was truly Satanic having Steve Roggenbuck watch over me as I slept. 

                Mykle Hansen is hardcore Bizarro. How can I tell? Bizarro books have tells: their names are totally insane. RAMPAGING FUCKERS OF EVERYTHING ON THE CRAZY SHITTING PLANET OF THE VOMIT ATMOSPHERE: is that bizarro enough for you? What about the other Bizarro like Cameron Pierce of LOST IN CAT BRAIN LAND? There’s Bradley Sands, one of my bizarro lit friends, who will be there. If you are there, give him a hug for me. I’m not going to be there. Wish I was. I lack the income to fly across the US. I am not relevant enough for the Pacific Northwest. You got to earn your Pacific Northwest cred. Right now I’m working on it with my ‘hackey sack’ skills. 

                Diana Salier is reading from her hit, award-winning (?) book ‘Letters From Robots’. She’s alt lit. I have interviewed her on this very site. I remember when I first saw her work in NAP magazine. She’s done so much since then: started bands, clapped hands, moved around and gotten down. Glad to finally see her read live, from the comfort of my very own home. Keegan Crawford rounds off the alt lit section. I’ve read his work. He tends to like the ‘big titled-chapbooks’. I dig his work. I am happy to see his moving face in digital form. 

                Overall I am pleased as Prozac-spiked punch about this performance. I’m not going to wear any socks because I know they’ll be ‘knocked off’. Get excited. Prepare yourselves for this big beautiful internet thing.