James Greer

Meet Vanessa Salomon, a privileged and misanthropic French-American translator hailing from a wealthy Parisian family. Her twin sister is a famous movie star, which Vanessa resents deeply and daily. The only man Vanessa ever loved recently killed himself by jumping off the roof of her building. It's a full life. Vanessa has just started working on an English translation of a titillating, experimental thriller by a dead author when she's offered a more prominent gig: translating the latest book by an Extremely Famous French Writer who is not in any way based on Michel Houellebecq. As soon as she agrees to meet this writer, however, her other, more obscure project begins to fight back-leading Vanessa down into a literary hell of traps and con games and sadism and doppelgangers and mystic visions and strange assignations and, finally, the secret of life itself. Peppered with "sponsored content" providing cocktail recipes utilizing a brand of liquor imported by the film director Steven Soderbergh, and with a cameo from the actress Juno Temple, Bad Eminence is at once an old-school literary satire in the mode of Vladimir Nabokov as well as a jolly thumb in the eyes of contemporary screen-life and digital celebrity.

The 8th issue of Sensitive Skin, a journal of post-beat, pre-apocalyptic art, writing, music and whatnot, features a rare interview with William S. Burroughs, by Allen Ginsberg, from the early 90s, with previously unpublished photographs of Burroughs by Ruby Ray, as well as her photos from the original SF punk scene, including shots of X, The Dead Kennedys, and Sid Vicious. We're also proud to present writing by: - Mike Hudson, founder and lead singer of seminal seventies punk rock band The Pagans;. - James Greer, author of the novels Artificial Light, The Failure and the non-fiction book Guided By Voices: A Brief History, a biography of a band for which he played bass guitar; - Thaddeus Rutkowski, the author of the innovative novels Haywire, Tetched and Roughhouse; - Karen Lillis (aka Karen the Small Press Librarian), author of Watch the Doors as They Close; - Chavisa Woods, whose debut collection of short stories, Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind was a Lambda Literary Award finalist; - Jim Feast, a founding member of the Unbearables writers group; - Rob Hardin, author of Distorture, winner of the Firecracker Award; - and Mark McCawley, editor of the Canadian litzine Urban Graffiti. - Todd Colby, who has published four books of poetry: Ripsnort, Cush, Riot in the Charm Factory: New and Selected Writings, and Tremble & Shine, all by Soft Skull Press. Colby has been broadcast nationally on PBS, MTV and NPR for Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. Plus music from: - contemporary jazz combo The New Monsters, featuring Steve Horowitz, Dan Plonsey, Scott Looney, Steve Adams and Jim Bove. And artwork from: - Tom McGlynn, whose work is represented the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. - Justine Frischmann, former front woman and guitarist for iconic '90s brit-pop band Elastica - James Romberger, artist for the critically acclaimed Seven Miles A Second, in collaboration with David Wojnarowicz. Plus more fiction, poetry, photographs and illustrations from Ray Jicha, Su Byron, Jennifer Adams, David West, Les Bridges, Chris Bava, Jeff Spirer, Charlie Homo, C dric Monot, Kym Ghee, Ted Barron and Marcin Owczarek. Sensitive Skin magazine began as a print venture from New York's Lower East Side in the 1990s, and published such literary luminaries as Richard Hell, Jack Micheline, Penny Arcade, Eileen Myles, Lynne Tillman, Patrick McGrath, Bob Holman, Maggie Estep, Emily XYZ, Herbert Huncke and Joel Rose, with art by Andres Serrano, Ari Marcopolis, Andrew Castrucci and James Romberger, to name but a few.... Sensitive Skin was reborn in the summer of 2010, and has already presented work by such esteemed artists as Justine Frischmann (Elastica), Craig Clevenger (The Contortionist's Handbook), Darius James (Negrophobia), Stewart Home (Pure Mania), Michael A. Gonzales (Vibe magazine regular), Drew Hubner (American By Blood), Jonathan Shaw (Narcissa), Melissa Febos (Whip Smart), Max Blagg (Bald Ego), Patricia Eakins (The Hungry Girls), D re McCain (publisher, Paraphilia Magazine), Rob Roberge (Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life), Kurt Wolf (Pussy Galore), Erika Schickel (You're Not the Boss of Me: Adventures of a Modern Mom), John S. Hall (King Missile), Kevin Rafferty (Atomic Caf ), and downtown NYC avant-garde music legend Elliott Sharp.

A former editor for Spin magazine pens this first-ever authorized band biography of one of the most influential indie-rock bands in history, one that has been praised by REM, U2, P.J. Harvey, the Strokes, and many other musicians. Original.