NPR Interview

Good morning from rainy San Francisco.  I love these sorts of soggy days: a perfect excuse to stay inside and write all afternoon.  I'm not big on "going outdoors" or "doing stuff" so I don't even need a very compelling reason to hole up... but rain always means a pot of coffee, lots of Tom Waits, and (hopefully) a couple decent pages.

In case you missed the reading/interview that aired on NPR this weekend, here are the links should you want to gobble this stuff up:

Here's the reading part of the proceeds.  I think the kids call these podcasts.  So I'm going to call this a podcast.  But I might be using the word wrong.

And the Q & A.  Also maybe a podcast?

And finally a good ol' fashion review of Termite Parade courtesy of the interviewer, a wonderful gentleman named Rick Kleffel. He has a keen eye and an obvious enthusiasm for his job.  Thanks, Rick, for your dilligence and thoughtfulness.

Happy writing,
Josh

Antonia Crane on Termite Parade

I heart Antonia Crane.  If you don't know AC's writing, she's the real-deal.  I've heard her read live a few times now, and she always kills.

There's this cool website called Annotation Nation.  It's a place where literature dorks can be as literature-dorky as we want to be.  Recently, AC deconstructed "Termite Parade" and I love the way she read the book.

All of Mohr’s characters in Termite Parade are cowardly, guilty, irresponsible and obstinate, but they desperately want to be better boyfriends, better brothers and better people. They’re the stuck part of us that wants to change. They are what Sam Lipsyte meant in The Ask when he said our lovers are “our destroyers” because we give them our tender termite hearts and sometimes they drop us down the stairs.


As writers, we don't get to choose who reads our books or how closely they pay attention to the details, but I like to think that everybody reads as smartly as AC does.

Thanks, Antonia!

BlackBook's "Top Books" of 2010

Happy new year, all!  I hope you rang 2011 in with whatever panache your particular poisons allow.  I was a wild man, in bed well before midnight on NYE, head weighing 80 pounds with the flu.  That wouldn't have stopped me 5 years ago, but, well, it ain't 5 years ago...

As is the custom at the end of every year, varying publications, blogs, and whatnot put out their "Best Of The Year" lists.  Most are pretty boring/standard remixes of other lists, but BlackBook Magazine does it right, spicing it up with categories that we've never seen before.

Aren't you curious who wrote the "Best Book About Being Obsessed with a Mentally Retarded Person in a Way That isn’t Creepy"?

Or the "Best Book about How Shitty the Future is Going to Be"?

Make sure to check out the category that "Termite Parade" topped.

And try and make it into February before your New Year's resolutions get heaved out the window...

Happy writing,
Josh

PS: I just read Patrick deWitt's new novel, "The Sisters Brothers."  It won't be published until May, but keep your eyes out.  It's incredible.

PPS:The CCLaP had some nice things to say about "Some Things that Meant the World to Me."

PPS: The staff at Powells picks their top books of the year.

Rain Taxi: "the big burning heart on Mohr’s sleeve"

How's your holiday shopping going?  I'm actually done, which is a first.  Normally, I'm a do-the-whole-shebang on Christmas Eve kind of guy, so this plan ahead thing has me feeling a bit "adult."  I'll try to do something immensely stupid to compensate.

Rain Taxi recently weighed in on Termite Parade.  A pull from their pretty words:

Termite Parade flaunts the big burning heart on Mohr’s sleeve, wildly tossing it about to light the way in a relentless search for answers to the unanswerable... In the scope of Mohr’s unrestrained vision, Derek and Mired find the only redemption worth attaining is brutal, uncompromising, and never guaranteed. 

Happy holidays,
Josh

PS: This morning, I woke up at 3:45 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I went to write at an all-night diner in the Castro.  You should do this some time.  It's weird and sort of wonderful.  The sorrow was thick as the pancake stacks.  I would have kissed any one of them. 


PPS: I'm still at the diner now.

Largehearted Boy's Best Novels of 2010

Largehearted Boy is a fantastic site dedicated to music and literature.  It's a credible place for you to find out about the latest happenings.  One of the really cool things about it is that David, the site's mastermind, gives equal weighting to indie artists.  So even if  that don't have "major label" money hyping your project, David judges things based on their artistic merit, rather than the media machine.  Isn't that a crazy concept?

He's just put out his "Best Novels Of 2010" list and was nice enough to include Termite Parade.  Other notables are "Super Sad True Love Story," "Skippy Dies," and Grace Krilanovich's "The Orange Eats Creeps."  Grace and I both publish with Two Dollar Radio, and I was so excited to see her amazing book on there as well.  I can promise you that her book is like nothing you've ever read.

Thanks, David, for all your efforts and for helping us indie kids find an audience.  You're doing god's work.

What happens at 3 a.m. stays at 3 a.m.

As a devout insomniac, any magazine that boasts of nocturnal tendencies is solid in my world. For those of you who don't read literary magazines (and you should read lit mags; they're where the most exciting writing is happening.), 3 a.m. features fiction, poetry, and criticism.  Check them out here. 

They just reviewed Termite Parade, and I wanted to thank them for their thoughtful read.  I love finding indie hubs where the heads really love literature.  There's so much concern (and rightly so) that the printed word is doomed, but I think it's just evolving.  The web has tons of pockets where those of us who cherish prose can find good material--like the Rumpus, the Nervous Breakdown, and so many others...  Make sure and add 3 a.m. to your queue.

"Mohr’s writing teems with energy. There is also an oddness, a quirkiness to Mohr’s imagination reminiscent of another great San Fran writer, the late Richard Brautigan." - 3 a.m. Mag

Termite Parade on KQED Podcast

I thought maybe you were in the sort of mood where you wanted a writer to read to you today.  You're in your cube, or at home, at home in your cube.  You can't sleep or can't stay awake; you can't stop crying.  Maybe you really want to cry or are laughing hysterically or there's anger slamming around your guts.  Maybe you just got great news, or bad news, or no news.  Maybe your life has changed or you keep thinking Jesus Christ, when will my life change?  Or it's neither a grand nor disastrous day... just another humdrum whiz around your world.

Regardless, sometimes it's nice to have a writer read her/his book to you.  Hear it in my voice, with my rhythms and cadences.  So here's a podcast from KQED's The Writers' Block.  It's early in the book.  From Derek's point of view.  I hope you like it.  Send me a note about it.  I like knowing you're out there.

What if my tiny mind had to interview itself?

One of the websites I hit regularly is The Nervous Breakdown. They have a bunch of talented authors all contributing columns, essays, and/or fiction pieces. Add it to your repertoire of time wasting.

They asked me to do a self-interview. I've never done anything like this before. It's harder than you might think. If inspiration strikes and you feel like penning your own, pop it my way: I'd love to check 'em out.

There's also an excerpt from Termite Parade now up at their site. And from a couple weeks back, this chat I had with Jonathan Evison, which originally appreared at three guys one book.

The Nervous Breakdown has been an amazing advocate for not only my new book, but the last one as well. I'm incredibly appreciative for their support. They're definitely fighting the good fight.

NY Times names Termite Parade an Editors' Choice

So this pic of Lucille Ball basically captures how wonderfully, gloriously shocked I was to learn that Termite Parade made this week's NYTBR Editors' Choice list.  In some twisted post-modern way, I kind of look like Lucille Ball.  Yikes...

It feels like some kind of coup, my sordid little book ending up in the NY Times.  Their review last week was amazing.  I'm so thankful.  The person who wrote it, Rebecca Barry, had a novel-in-stories come out a couple years back called "Later, at the Bar;" I haven't had the pleasure of meeting/speaking with her, but I'd like to buy her 924 cocktails.  And as she's now my new favorite person, I've ordered several copies of her book.  And you should too.  And then tell 10 friends to pick it up.  It can be like a chain-letter for us literature dorks.

Thanks Rebecca and thanks NY Times!  I'll wear my Lucille Ball shock all day...

Powells: "Mohr is a post-millennial Bukowski."

We should do our best to support independent bookstores, rather than the corporate hubs.  Powells is one of the most renowned.  It's a veritable church of books.  It's like Graceland (pic above), if you've been buried in novels your whole life.

For those of us that can't trek to Portland to buy books in person, their website is kick ass, stocked with any title you could want to get your hands on.  So shop there.  And they're good people.  And we should support good people.

They also review a newly released book every day.  They weighed in on Termite Parade over the weekend. Thanks, Powells.  Us indie kids gotta stick together!

From the review: "Written with as much heart as brawn, Termite Parade is a sucker punch to literary complacency, without a hint of authorial self-absorption. Mohr is a post-millennial Bukowski with a dash of Hubert Selby, Jr. thrown in for good measure, and with only two published novels under his belt, he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite American novelists."

LA Times interview about stalking E.L Doctorow and being "anti-precocious."

The LA Times book blog, Jacket Copy, is asking a bunch of writers for memorable summer reads.  I recommended one new book, Gina Frangello's story collection "Slut Lullabies."  Not only is Gina a beautiful writer, she also used to run Other Voices lit mag; years and years ago, she accepted the first story I ever published in a magazine that printed more than 17 copies and/or was run out of a meth lab. I can't recommend her book highly enough (or her novel).  She's fantastic.

Then I blather endlessly about my love of E.L. Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel."  It's by far the best book I've ever read.  If you're too cheap to buy your own copy (it's from the '70s, so a used copy should run about a nickel), send me your address and I'll mail you mine.  That's how much you need to know about this romp!

The whole interview is here, but a quick peek:

JC: When did you start [reading & writing]?

JM: I came to reading and writing fairly late in life. I hear stories of writers who “penned” their first opus at age 8, plopped on granny’s lap and scribbling relentlessly, already cutting their literary teeth. But I was “anti-precocious”: didn’t read my first novel until I was 17. That book was Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.” Before then, I’d only skimmed Jane Austen and Mark Twain and the like, and those authors are certainly good at what they do, but it wasn’t for me. Vonnegut showed me that writers could be crazy on the page, reckless, their imaginations zigzagging anywhere. After that, I was hooked.

SF Chronicle: Termite Parade is "similar to Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment.'"

I'm a pretty excitable cat.  Temperamental, moody diva?  Manic pain in the ass?  Yes, these are titles I'm familiar with, have heard once or twice over the years.  I'm man enough to admit that. 

So this weekend is making me crazy, in the best way.  I'm bouncing off the walls.  First, the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed Termite Parade today.  I'd like to thank the reviewer, Evan Karp, for giving the novel such a close read, taking the time to dig into the story's cracks.  Evan also runs a local reading series in SF called Quiet Lightning.  The next one is on August 2nd at the Rickshaw Stop.

Here's a pull from his text:

"The book is similar to Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment': the most crucial action serves as a portal to and wellspring for the various psychologies of its characters. But Mohr's storytelling is so absorbing that 'Termite Parade' does not read like an analytical rumination; if he is examining the very nature of these characters under a microscope, he at least lets the specimens speak for themselves."

Then on Sunday, The New York Times Book Review will weigh in with their thoughts. I've always struggled with insomnia, but waiting to hear/read my first NY Times review? I haven't slept more than 10 hours all week!  I'm a train-wreck... a bigger train-wreck (thanks, peanut gallery).  Please cross your fingers; I need all the help I can get. 

And finally, I just tattooed my publisher's, Two Dollar Radio's, logo on my arm.  You can see it in the pic above: hint, it's the only image that looks like a two dollar radio...

Author Jonathan Evison interviews me for 3G1B

J. Evison's first novel "All About Lulu" is a solid read.  I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of his next, "West of Here," that hits stores February 2011.  Let me tell you: Evison can write his ass off.  WOH is so good, in fact, I'm predicting awards for it.  Pulitzer?  National Book Award?  I'm calling my shot.  Just remember where you heard it first, people...

Evison was nice enough to instigate a dialogue with me.  In it, we discuss my penchant for squalor, vampires on submarines... you know, the usual.  He also asked about my relationship with my publisher, Two Dollar Radio.  Here's part of my response:

JM: I’m very comfortable on the fringe. I like that role of being underestimated. There are very few expectations of me, and so if something goes well, it’s just gravy. I feel like I’m playing with house money… except in this particular example there’s no money. Or a house.

Thanks, Herr Evison for asking such thoughtful questions.  It was a stunning asylum from the normal batch of obvious ones, like: "Hey man, do you write with a pen or on a laptop?"  Why would anybody really fucking care what the answer is to that?

I heart the Rumpus

I'm sure most of you are familiar with The Rumpus.  It's a culture website (not pop-culture) based in San Francisco and run by Steve Elliott, Isaac Fitzgerald, Andrew Altschul, and a bunch of amazing volunteers.  They pride themselves on being a productive way for people to waste time at work.  That's a pretty good thing to pride yourself on, as far as I'm concerned.

They also do a monthly reading series in San Francisco that's fantastic.  The next one is in August and features Antonia Crane, Steve Almond, among others.  All the info is here.  I can't recommend these events enough. I never miss one--except when I miss one.  But then I'm sad.

These guys have been incredibly supportive of me and my books.  Steve E sometimes lets me crash his radio show.  Here's a fun example featuring the filmmaker Alex Mar.  Another one with Nick Flynn. 

And they just reviewed my new book Termite Parade.  As they're based in the Mission and so am I, their support means a lot to me.  Thanks Rumpus for helping this local writer get the word out about his sordid little stories!

Termite Parade is "a more optimistic version of Chuck Palahniuk."

I moved into a new apartment a couple months back. It's great, so much bigger. There are rooms, people. I mean, real rooms. It has its own kitchen, for god's sake, not some galley type thing wedged in the corner of the living room with a sad mini-fridge and mini-stove that made mini-food and forced me to wonder whether I should've gotten an MBA.

I feel lucky to have found a better apartment for roughly the same price. And now I can stand up straight, rather than feeling like I'm working on the 7th and a half floor ala "Being John Malkovich."

I mention this because there are these small windows way up the bedroom walls, and these little guys don't have shades or blinds, and they make the room incredibly bright too early. I've been complaining about them for the last few weeks, but now I'm starting to see their benefit.  Jesus, may the glass indeed be half full?  This is undermining years of cynical whining...

Today, these meddling windows "forced" me to read Campus Circle's review of Termite Parade bright and early.  Here's an excerpt:

"The book reads like a lighter, (slightly) more optimistic version of Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club), and although the story is a veritable microscope of humanity at its worst (and maybe a glimpse of it near its best), it examines both our motives and the consequences of our actions in a very readable fashion."
-Campus Circle

Despite the reviewer's penchant for parentheses (she seems to really like them)  (I mean, really really like them), I'm going to start singing the praises of these small windows.  Maybe getting out of bed ain't so bad after all.

L Magazine: "Joshua Mohr has some issues"

Wow, I'm coming off an amazing week, with so many fun readings (and birthday well wishes). Thanks to everybody who came out. I really appreciate it.

I just did an interview with Brooklyn's The L Magazine, where I talk the powers of clam chowder and gin--yes, mixed together!
The L: What have you read/watched/listened to/looked at/ate recently that will permanently change our readers' lives for the better?

JM: I live in San Francisco, which is renowned for clam chowder served out of sourdough bread bowls. A buddy turned me on to this restaurant down on the waterfront where you slip the bartender a few bucks on the sly and he'll pour three shots of gin right into your bread bowl. You stir the booze in amongst the clams and potatoes. It's by far the greatest thing I've ever tasted. Just make sure to eat/drink quickly, taking fast sips from your spoon before the dairy cements.

Rumpus Radio & My Birthday Reading Tonight

I like to tease fiction writer/memoirist/sexual savant Steve Elliott that he's the Mayor of the Mission District, and I'm only sorta kidding. He's got our neighborhood wired. One of the nice things about living around the corner from him is that I can show up at his apartment and harrass him from time to time.

For example, maybe he happens to be recording a broadcast of the Rumpus Radio...maybe he's all dialed in for the show...checking levels, prepping the guest...mic tests, getting in the zone...and I happen to stagger in and say, "Hey man, can I borrow some mayonnaise?" Or: "Do you have any clean socks? Mine are all, like, wet for some reason."

Just such a glorious anomaly happened last week, as Steve was preparing to chat with Nick Flynn on Rumpus Radio. Steve was nice enough to let me co-host. Check it out here. Nick has some wise words and seems like a wise person all the way around. I highly recommend both his memoirs, "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City" and his latest, "The Ticking is the Bomb."

Today is my 34th birthday, and I'm excited to spend the evening reading at the Why There Are Words series in Sausalito. I also think my hair is thinning. In unrelated news, the bags I used to only have sometimes under my eyes are now always there. Getting old is cool...

This is also the last day to subscribe to the Rumpus Book Club and receive a free book. You can choose from one of Steve's ouevre, or the likes of Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Steve Almond, Tao Lin, and they even have some copies of "Termite Parade" if you're into that sort of thing.

Hope to see you tonight!

Impose Magazine Interview: Joshua Mohr/Master of Disguise

It's a little known fact that I'm a master of disguise. Or at least that I like to play dress up like a lonely school girl. Is that the same thing as being a master of disguise? Please give me the benefit of the doubt on this one...


Anyway, I was excited to see that this interview in Impose Magazine I did last week used the pic over on the left, instead of the standard author headshot. For my first book, my better half and I spent an evening making me look like different characters from "Some Things." That guy is supposed to be Vern. Remember him? Everybody's favorite sadist?

In all honesty, though, the real "diamond in the rough" was our rendition of Old Lady Rhonda. I apologize to transvestites the world over for my shoddy work... guess I should've shaved...



Also, tonight is my book launch party at City Lights for Termite Parade. All the info is here. I hope you're able to come play with us tonight. We'll be celebrating everybody's birthday from the last year, so let's have some laughs, eat a cupcake, all in the name of literature!

Winner of the Mom Competition...

So who has the biggest hangover this morning? Who ate the best potato salad? Woke up with the best looking stranger? Any good fistfights or firework-related injuries?

I pulled my "Scrooge in July" routine and stayed home. I took a bath. I just moved into a new apartment that has a tub a grownup can actually fit into and since have been taking a couple baths a week. If you are strictly a shower-person, why not take a bath? They're good times.

Last Tuesday, I posted a contest to describe your relationship with your mother in only five words, which as anybody who has ever had a mother will tell you, is no easy feat. But you guys killed. The entries were fantastic; thanks to everyone who participated.

Some people went with humor (sort of):

Ruth D: "We are now switching places"

Sarah: "Is that what you're wearing?"

Anonymous: "Not mini me? Bad girl..."

Most, though, were brutally emotional--a few I admired:

Caroline: "A remarkable reliance on memory"

Julie: "Neurotic dissatisfied disappointed, now dead"

Brian: "Simple thoughts for sad soul"

The big winner was Irene, whose submission "Life long labyrinth no exit" seems to describe the maze of family brilliantly. Well done. I'll slip you a book in the next couple days.

Also, Poets & Writers put out their "new and noteworthy" books for the summer and they were nice enough to include Termite Parade on their list.

Termite Parade Playlist

If you haven't checked out largehearted boy, it's a great site. David, its mastermind, blogs regularly about music and literature, and he does so with insight and responsibility. We should support him by clicking thru his smart pages. It's better than clicking thru crappy pages, and since we're probably going to do that, too--why not "trick" yourself by adding something of substance before checking out the daily filth?

I have trouble sleeping. Insomnia has always been something I struggle with, but with the book launch, it's been particularly unruly. Normally, I like insomnia because it means I write more: midnight to 5 a.m. tends to be my sweet spot (no noise, no cell phone, no email)... but with all the chaos this week, I can't write a word. So I'm just up. And it sucks.

I keep trying to write a play, but the main problem is that it sucks, too. Hmmm. What's with all this sucking? Any playwrights out there wanna give me a pep talk?

Anyway, the Termite Parade playlist represents what I listened to when I wrote the book, but then I started wondering if people have certain bands/styles of music they listen to while they read. So do you?