What you (may have) missed on 3:AM this week:
Fiction: An exclusive extract from Ben Myers‘ Richard; ‘The Fights’ by Alix MacLean
Flash fiction: ‘Magic Wand’ by Zachary S. Tompkins
Poetry: In the 29th of the Maintenant series, SJ Fowler interviews the Russian-born English poet Annie Katchinska; ‘Three Poems’ by Annie Katchinska; ‘Two Poems’ by Christian Ward; Will Stone examines the ‘anatomy of movement’ in the work of Georg Trakl
Non-fiction: Robert O’Connor visits London on the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix‘s death; ‘Pornography’s Mirror’ by Chris R. Morgan
Reviewed: Karl Whitney on Alexei Sayle’s Stalin Ate My Homework; Richard Marshall on Owen Hatherley’s Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain; Gregory Frye on Craig Clevenger’s The Contortionist’s Handbook; Anna Aslanyan on Will Self’s Walking to Hollywood:
The banality Self encounters in America comes in the shape of a menagerie of characters, all skilfully sketched. There is “this fat and fatiloquent young man, his cheeks dimpled by silver studs, his black dungarees wide as an army tent, his moobs silicone-stiff beneath the Gothic fluting of his Tarp-shirt”. The actress cast in the role of the author’s wife constantly imagines herself starring in a “sure-fire smash, with an astronomical budget” and waves “her heart-shaped lollipop like a lorgnette” asking for more marshmallows with her drink. Apart from “the supermen’s batmen, the jokers’ tin men, the Elvises and the Marylin Monroes”, Tinseltown is full of writers, including Bret Easton Ellis (played by Orson Welles), Margaret Atwood “slumped by a storefront, a pathetic styrofoam begging cup on the pavement in front of her”, and Kazuo Ishiguro wearing an eccentric costume.
Film may be dead, but Self is still there, an accomplished actor in real life (if this term can be applied here), as anyone who has ever heard him speak will agree. In his memoir, he is recognised by teenagers in California: “Brit actor, ain’tcha? Saw you in that kids’ movie – wha’ wuzz it, now?” – “It was Harry Potter, man”. The book cover makes a great film poster, complete with the picture of the lead character, “slightly bigger than lifesize”, while numerous visual props – somewhat obscure black-and-white photographs taken by the author – serve to emphasise the quirkiness of this Situationism comedy.
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