J. Robert Lennon

jenks

thread death
what do we know about this guy? just picked up his latest Pieces for the Left Hand published by Granta. i am seriously impressed. what are his novels like? he's just been reviewed in The LRB but has somehow snuck under my radar.
these are all very short stories written with great precision and a deep seated melancholy seems to imbue them all - not quirky or po-mo really, just very distilled.
i am greatly intrigued by him.
ps Luka, i'm nearly finished Augie
 

jenks

thread death
Substitution Chart
By J. Robert Lennon

1 egg = 2 T vegetable oil
1 T prepared mustard = 1 t dry mustard
1 prune = 8 raisins
1 pizza = 12 dollars
1 C Coke = 1 C Pepsi
sunrise = sunset
1 wasp = 14 ants
1 hug = 5 handshakes
1 punch in jaw = 8 middle fingers
1 stomach flu = 10 staff meetings
completing free coffee card = spying nude neighbor through the window
licked by dog = gift of ugly necktie
cloud = crow
bowling trophy = promotional t-shirt
finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk = finding 20 $1 bills on the sidewalk
thunderstorm = trick-or-treating
car door slammed on fingers = testifying against brother-in-law
legalized gambling = africanized killer bees
car alarm = painful urination
misspelling = untied shoe
2 lawyer jokes = 1 C bread crumbs
empty parking lot = dream-within-a-dream
shaving = sauteeing
pinking shears = parsley
tapanade = "Rashamon"
bone spur = church pew
eleventy-twelve = 132
 

vache

Well-known member
Mailman is really excellent. Absurd, funny, serious and wonderful, especially because the protagonist is narrated not as "he" or by his given name, but as "Mailman." Definitely worth reading.
 
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