A wilderness of books

The Witch's Door, Eight Very Bad Nights, Las Vegas & Śmierć

Greetings from somewhere in SoCal…

I drove up to LA yesterday with Nuvia for a quick trip to the Chinese consulate and while we were in town we redeemed a free night at one of my favorite hotels — the Westin Bonaventure — to go see the Dodgers lose in a dramatic fashion. Can’t win ’em all.

Today I want to tell you about some of the books I read while I was on my writing retreat in Tennessee earlier this month, including what may be my favorite book of the year, but before I do that I want to remind you that this is your last chance to pre-order The Witch’s Door: Oddities and Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme.

I collaborated on this book with Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina M. Rossi, who are two of the world’s foremost collectors of oddities and have turned their home in Westport, Connecticut, into a veritable museum of strange art and alluring artifacts. Each chapter tells the story of an unusual object in their collection, its remarkable history, and how they came to acquire it. The book is a mix of memoir, travelogue, and hidden history. I especially love the parts that spotlight the quirky collectors they meet along the way. Trust me, it’s like nothing you’ve ever read.

After working with punk rockers for several years, it was refreshing to have an opportunity to collaborate with a pair of professional collectors and curators who also happen to be terrifically nice people. It’s also a beautifully designed book that is a piece of art unto itself.

Next week I’ll be moderating a Q&A with the authors in LA at Clifton’s Republic on Wednesday October 2 at 7pm. I hope to see you there!

September reading

I got so much work done while I was in the Buffalo Valley, that I didn’t read as many books as I thought I would. I also did something very unusual: I didn’t bring any books with me because I knew I’d pick up a few while I was at Bouchercon, which I did.

Joe Hustle by Richard Lange is a contemporary blue-collar noir set in LA that centers on the life of bartender, day laborer, former Marine, and trouble maker Joe Hustle. Structured as a series of events, it highlights the struggles of the working poor to get a leg up in a world that wants to keep you down. It’s written with clear, compelling prose that’s both poignant and propulsive. Highly recommended.

Worst Case Scenario by TJ Newman is a quintessential airport novel. It opens with a catastrophe: when the pilot of a passenger plane suffers a widow-maker heart attack, the plane crashes into a nuclear power plant in Waketa, Minnesota. The story focuses on the first responders in the town and at the power plant who try to prevent a meltdown that would have devastating consequences for not just the region but the entire world. It’s smart and heartfelt, making it one of the best thrillers I’ve read all year.

The Bottom of the Barrel by Georges Simenon is an outlier in the Belgian author’s vast catalog because it’s set not in pre- or postwar Europe but in the American West. This, however, might be my favorite. A short but devastating meditation on how the ties that bind make us blind to our own deficiencies. Simenon's not for everyone but I loved this portrait of an alcoholic and was surprised to learn about the book’s autobiographical elements on the national park service's website of all places.

The Blackbird by Richard Stark provided the least rewarding reading experience of the bunch. I love Richard Stark but this is my least favorite of the spin-off novels with actor/thief Grofield and perhaps of all the Stark novels. Grofield gets himself into plenty of mischief in this one but isn't called upon to use his charm and skill as an actor to get out of jams. If anything, his mouth gets him into more trouble. As for the novel's backdrop of "Third World" villains, this book hasn't aged particularly well.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore has been on my list since it came out in July but when a young bookseller from Court Street Books in Florence, Alabama, told me it was the best book she’d ever read, I had to pick it up. There was something in her voice when she said it, a kind of hushed wonder coupled with a longing to be back in the world of the novel that told me I had to snap it up, and I’m glad I did. The God of the Woods opens with the disappearance of a young girl from a summer camp deep in the Adirondacks. It combines great storytelling as it moves back and forth through time and across multiple points of view. I literally couldn’t put it down during two flights and a long layover. It’s Donna Tartt’s The Secret History set at a summer camp with a sinister history.

Making the news

Speaking of books, Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir, was named one of 20 mystery novels and crime collections to read this fall by the Orange County Register and 5 mysteries to read this fall by the Los Angeles Times. My story got a mention in the latter:

San Diego resident and frequent Times contributor Jim Ruland’s “The Demo” manages to be a magical history tour of L.A. independent record companies and a story of revenge intertwined with the holiday’s festivities.

“The Demo,” you might be interested to know, takes place in the same world as the novel I just finished in Tennessee. The record label in question bears some similarity to the, er, subject of another one of my books. So if you’re looking for a sneak peak into Black Van, this is your chance. Eight Very Bad Nights comes out October 29 and is available for preorder now. I’ll have updates in the near future about some events taking place when the book comes out later this fall.

Loving Las Vegas

I love Las Vegas so it was a thrill to be interviewed by Hey Las Vegas — the daily newsletter by Rob Kachelriess of City Cast Las Vegas. I talk about Punk Rock Bowling, the Punk Rock Museum, and the richness of the SoCal punk scene. The interview teases Black Van, which has a scene set at the Punk Rock Museum.

I’ll leave you with this brand new track from Sweden’s Śmierć...

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back next week with some thoughts on seeing Boris perform Amplifier Worship and Thurston Moore’s Sonic Life. If you liked this newsletter you might also like my latest novel Make It Stop, or the paperback edition of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, or my book with Bad Religion, or my book with Keith Morris. I have more books and zines for sale here. And if you’ve read all of those, consider preordering my latest collaboration The Witch’s Door and the anthology Eight Very Bad Nights.

Message from the Underworld comes out every Wednesday and is always available for free, but paid subscribers also get my deepest gratitude and Orca Alert! on most Sundays. It’s a weekly round-up of links about art, culture, crime, and killer whales.