Mud Luscious Press is no stranger to the seductive art of the bundle.

$40 gets you the 2012 subscription bundle: Gregory Sherl’s The Oregon Trail is the Oregon Trail, Matt Bell’s Cataclysm Baby, Ken Sparling’s Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall, & Robert Kloss’s The Alligators of Abraham.

I love this design of the reissue of Dad.

Not being much for gossip, I found it strange that I wanted to talk with my endodontist and his assistant yesterday morning. But, while the two of them worked on my root canal, they discussed a certain type of dog that I know a thing or two about (Springer Spaniel — I own one) and I kept trying to add to their conversation. Alas, as I was unable to speak, I was left to my own thoughts, which led me to thinking about thinkers. What does a philosopher look like? (good question) How well is Don DeLillo’s book of short stories doing? (Story Prize finalist) How abusive was Ernest Hemingway? (gin soaked) Who is the next author to be published by Amazon? (a librarian)  And what’s up with the Obamas? (why not?)

I had the pleasure of publishing Part 1 of Jonathan Callahan’s terrific 3-part novella, Notes from a Burning Underground, in Keyhole 11 last year. Now the whole novella is available online! Block out some time and dive in:

Part One – Keyhole (PDF)

Part Two – Used Furniture Review

Part Three – Quarterly West

Callahan’s first book, The Consumation of Dirk, is coming out with Starcherone in a year or so.

“A lot of contemporary fiction basically takes place unabashedly in somebody’s head. Then it’s a head to head exchange, which it is already, so why not be explicit about that? So goes the logic, which I understand. But I don’t really want to be trapped in this rainy day head exchange the whole time. I’d rather something sort of carry me, Tinkerbell-like, or in its talons, over a larger vision. There is something very claustrophobic about being stuck in someone’s “imagination project.” It’s like, Jesus, do you ever leave your bathroom? Do you leave your headphones on all the time? I do honestly have a good time reading a lot of that stuff, but it makes me anxious. Maybe you have all this dream logic you want to showcase, which is great, but there is also this whole category of other things, which is the eavesdropped, which is the observed, which to me is very mystical because it’s made up of the active byproducts of other peoples’ imaginations.” – Mike Young interview in Hobart

The end of 2011 is nigh. We’ve put up with lists and recommendations. But the annual book of revelations is not complete without a flurry of links, starting with the fifth (!) wave of the decline and fall of the American empire. Perhaps saving the Classics will save us all.  Umberto Eco is back, much to the Smart Set’s chagrin. Lapham’s explores the Rime of the Ancient Father. I leave you with Tolstoy: imperfections and all.