THE POETICS OF GILBERT SORRENTINO, by David Vichnar The experimental nature of Gilbert Sorrentino’s (1929-2006)[1] work results from his highly idiosyncratic blend of influences and proceduralist approach to fiction. As he confided to Charles Trueheart of Publishers Weekly, “form not only determines content, but form invents content.”[2] Sorrentino’s output commingles poetry and prose to … Continue reading
Vít Bohal on Thor Garcia’s THE NEWS CLOWN Thor Garcia’s News Clown (2012) offers a first-person romp through the present-day, pre-apocalyptic environment of Bay City, USA. The narrator, inconspicuously named Thor, is a legman for the local News Now Network and tries to get the most meaty bits on the brutal murders, rapes, and … Continue reading
Republished from Louis Armand, The Organ-Grinder’s Monkey: Culture after the Avant-Garde (Prague: Litteraria Pragensia, 2013) 17-32.* In the 1950s a group of film-makers – self-styled auteurs – emerged in Paris, associated with the journal Cahiers du cinéma. It’s a well-known story. Led by Jean-Luc Godard, these film-makers – heavily immersed in the traditions of … Continue reading