Tao Lin, Darius James, Brief Interviews, Werner Herzog, Arthur Russell,The Informant, Galit Eilat, Girls’ Guide to Rocking and getting 86′d

It’s been a busy month over at The Fanzine:

Tao Lin, author of Shoplifting from American Apparel, on Werner Herzog’s short documentaries.

Darius James, author of Negrophobia and That’s Blaxploitation! has written a pretty amazing, sad and hilarious piece on his childhood experience watching the film Revenge of the Zombies with an eye for race, identity and voodoo.

Jennifer Blowdryer interviews people about their experiences being kicked out of bars, apartments and restaurants in the the first installment of 86′d stories.

Thom Donovan’s profile on cellist and disco pioneer Arthur Russell and interview with Israeli experimental curator Gail Eilat about the Mobile Archive, an unusual traveling video art exhibit that specializes in war zones.

Daniel Hamilton reviews Chronic City, the latest from Jonathan Lethem and uncovers the latent critique of capitalism in Stephen Soderbergh’s recent films

Amy Meyerson closely reads both David Foster Wallace’s and John Krasinski’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and comes up with some engaging contrasts.

Also: new fiction from Joshua Cohen, who has an 800 page novel forthcoming from Dalkey Archive, and Mike Louie’s stellar review of Girls’ Guide to Rocking.

Finally, a write up and photos of Fanzine’s participation in Kaya Oakes’ independent media discussion panel at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.

We Can Only Expand the Boundaries When We’re Up Against the Ropes: Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Brandon Scott Gorrell

Kaya Oakes, author of Slanted and Enchanted, reviews the work of two very different young poets: one who writes in the voices of historical figures, including Amelia Earhart’s mechanic and boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the other working in the genre of “Gmail Confessionalism.” Through these collections, Oakes traces the influence of parallel trends: the rapid expansion of MFA programs and the growth of digital publishing, showing us two very different points in the vast territory of contemporary American poetry.

Kaya Oakes, two Los Angeles independent record labels and I will be part of a panel discussion on independent media at Skylight Books, Sunday Sept. 27 5:00 pm. It would be great to see you there.