There’s an extra copy of Courtney’s book around here somewhere. Email me at eddiesocko@gmail.com with the word UNKEMPT in the subject line and I’ll draw a winner from a hat. Contest ends at 3 pm EST. Good luck!

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Courtney Eldridge is the author of Unkempt, a collection of short stories, and The Generosity of Women, a novel. She has received fellowships from the Edward F. Albee Foundation and the Ucross Foundation. In 2006, she was awarded the Prix du Marais for Record à battre, the French translation of her novella, The Former World Record Holder Settles Down. Her work has appeared in numerous literary publications and magazines, including The Mississippi Review, McSweeney’s, Post Road, BOMB, and the New York Times Magazine. She lives in Los Angeles.

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read.”

Good advice, we think. Enjoy these stories while not watching the television.

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No. Instead I’m spending my day in a carpeted mid-priced hotel meeting room. There’s a handful of warm brains and lots more non-dairy creamer to go around. Topics will be covered, but they won’t take us any closer to a solution.  The sisyphian struggle to keep the lids up register. Save yourself with some articles on the world of words. Save publishing with a little bit of reading each day. Perhaps you can read one of Lisa Simpson’s favorite titles. Or turn back the covers of the most influential books to designers. It was only a matter of time, but the Tea Party got its own magazine. A movie is probably next, as bad as all others. Are romance novels misogynist, or not? Either way, I’m off to create my own slang.

Waiting for brown rice to finish cooking takes too long. Mix it with black beans, cool regret, and white cheddar. Editors, writers, we all need money. Running rate goes a buck a barter. I will give Prick of the Spindle all of my money. I will give you all of my money. You, rich man, give me all of yours. Videos about Babel, how revolutionary! A bookish look is a non-memory. Wouldn’t be like Isaac to say so.

Today we talk with the mysterious Frank Hinton about a desire for masculinity, authenticity, and how to find peace through meditation on death.

Tell us a bit about yourself. I find you mysterious; as I’m sure others do as well. Where do you live? How does mystery affect the perception of a person?

I live in Halifax. Halifax is on the southern shore of an eastern peninsular province in Canada. This city exploded once, almost twice. I am kind of mysterious. Frank is partially real and partially fictitious. He (Frank) appears in a lot of Frank Hinton fiction on the web and she (Frank) appears on facebook and other places. Mystery for me is important. I think the internet offers different possibilities with regards to personal expression/interaction. The online Frank Hinton to me (Frank) is the most authentic version of myself that exists. If that makes any sense?

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