1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club book Club, book Club Club 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: book Club. Hello and welcome to the Cool Zone Media 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: book Club, the only book club where you don't have 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: to do the reading because I do it for you. 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: I'm Margaret kilj that's the eye and the eye statements 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: I make because this introduction is written in first person, 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: just the grammatical tons of that. And this week we 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: are starting another four parter, a summer beach read for 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: everyone anywhere near a beach, whether it's an ocean or 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: a lake or a creek. We're doing a four parter, 11 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: but a punk rock summer beach read, because this is 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: one of the most punk rock stories we'll ever tell you, 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: because it's literally about punk rockers. We did one last year, 14 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: we did Hermetica by Alan Lee aka Peter Gelderloose, and 15 00:00:58,040 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: it was nice to be able to save up the 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: episodes for a road trip or a long hike or something. 17 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: So we're going to do it again, and we're going 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: to read another novella this year. I'll be reading Locust 19 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: House by Adam Ganatti. And okay, spoiler alert, there's not 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: actually locusts in this that's the name of a house. 21 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: That's why it's called Locust House. This is the name 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: of a house. This novella nominally focuses on a punk 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: house called Locust House and the people around it, but 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: mostly it's a reflection on what it means to live 25 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: in a place and how we hold on to what 26 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: we believe when the world tries to file down your edges. 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: It's set in the San Diego punk scene, where Ganati 28 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: lived for a while. And I like this book a lot. 29 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: I picked this book with Hazel's help because I read 30 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: it on my own for my own enjoyment. I went 31 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: to see Adam speak a while ago, sometime last year, 32 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: and I kind of bought his entire collection of books 33 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: because I was so impressed by what I saw when 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: I saw him give a reading. And I picked up 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: this one because I had an intriguing title, and I 36 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: sat down and I read it and I didn't get 37 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: back up until I finished it, which was a while later, 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: as you all will discover, because it was really good 39 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: and it made me think a lot of things. It 40 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: made me feel a lot of things, And maybe you 41 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: too will feel some things when I read you this story. 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: Maybe you won't. Maybe you have a different kind of 43 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: connection to two thousand and two era punk scenes than 44 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: I do. Most people have a different connection to those things. 45 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: But two thousand and two is when I became a punk. 46 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: I didn't like punk in high school. All the punks 47 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: in my high school there was only one, and he 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: was right wing, and he was concerned I was going 49 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: left wing. So he put headphones on me and he 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: was like, Magpie. I'm gonna pretend that was always my name, Magpie. 51 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: You got to listen to this. And the lyrics of 52 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: this right wing punk song were down on your knees 53 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: with a gun to your head. You're better off dead 54 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: than fucking read. And that's not the punk that I 55 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: cared about at all. And I didn't like punk because 56 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,679 Speaker 1: that guy was a jerk. And I hope he's recovered 57 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: from that particular version of punk rock, which is a 58 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: very small portion of punk rock, especially by that time, 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: as we've talked about a bunch on different shows. You know, 60 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties, punk's did a really good 61 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: job of removing the right wing threat from within, if 62 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: only everyone else had listened to their methodology. Anyway, in 63 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and two, I just covered punk rock and 64 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: it changed my life and I spent a lot of 65 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: time in Baltimore punk houses, rip to Food Not Bomb's House, 66 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: and Love Not Bomb's House, where I would go watch 67 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: shows in the basement and see amazing bands saying about 68 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: fighting Nazis. This is about San Diego, California, two thousand 69 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: and two, and just as a heads up for everyone 70 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: listening to this, this one does contain, especially Part one, 71 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: contained some serious misogyny and some sexual assault. And I 72 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: believe that the author has written it in a way 73 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: that is earned and a way that is worth including 74 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: in the story because that is a story that so 75 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: many of us have experienced. And to deny that in 76 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: our writing complicates certain kinds of writing. Not saying we 77 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: should put in every style of writing, but I think 78 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: that it seems like it does belong in this piece. 79 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: But just as a heads up where you're listening without 80 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: further ado. Locust House by Adam Gannatti, Chapter one, The 81 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: Adventures of Agnes mccanty Looking back, Agnes mccanty would come 82 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: to see March twenty ninth, two thousand and two as 83 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: a day broken into three stages. One standing at the 84 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: grave site of Michael the Bear, two a view of 85 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: the sea from atop the roller coaster, then sex with 86 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: Stephen Boone in the back room of the Halloween Store. Three, 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: the final night on East Street, and how much she bled, 88 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: and how she felt like an arm held out a 89 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: speeding car window. The first standing at the grave site 90 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: of Michael the Bear in Sherman Heights, his bronze and 91 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: black Keller Holland casket like a train car, eye level 92 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: for a girl of five foot one, blocking out the 93 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: sun which glared around it, golden but soft, dusk coming. 94 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: Agnes thought of the man who lay inside, Michael the Bear, 95 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: her father's uncle, an irishman raised in England, though forty 96 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: years in the States, Pacific Grove ten years, Watsonville twelve, 97 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: then San Diego eighteen. Before that, a pub cook in 98 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,559 Speaker 1: Coventry two years, then an RAF pilot in the Second 99 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: World War twenty six months. Michael the Bear, the man 100 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: who cared for Agnes after her mother passed away breastcancer. 101 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: Her and her father went to jail for his brother 102 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: in law's murder. Michael the Bear stepped in, selfless, noble, 103 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: loyal to Agnes, forever loyal, his defining characteristic. What else 104 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: He was strong but wouldn't stoop to violence, which he 105 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: told Agnes was unbecoming, as was backbiting, complaining self pity, selfishness. 106 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: He was classy, she decided, yes, whatever classy meant he 107 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: was that this had nothing to do with money, which 108 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: he had, but rather an overriding trait of his upbringing, 109 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: his generation, and his content of character. Michael the Bear 110 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: was a man who liked people, who quietly loved anyone 111 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: fighting to do a good thing. Whatever it was, the 112 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: goal mattered less than the path there. The final objective 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:57,239 Speaker 1: itself was unimportant her secondary. Agnes stood at the grave 114 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: site next to her cousins, who smelt like cigarettes and shampoo, 115 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: and thought of his face, dark, dignified, high forehead, crows 116 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: feet around the eyes, his hair swept back in a 117 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: mane like a lion's. A voice like Liam Neeson's, deep 118 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: and slow and resonant with bass, a calm voice, husky 119 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: on the w's in soft vowels, telling her she was 120 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: a good woman, that she had grown up well, that 121 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: he missed her around the house but understood her absence. 122 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: The day he died, Agnes found the body. The door 123 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: was locked, but she had a key, and she stopped 124 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: in on the way to ban Practice the day the 125 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: wildfire swept over East County. The night before, she had 126 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: dreamt of skulls of sheep washing up on the beach, 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: though huge whale size rolling in the surf. It was 128 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: a dry day, and it was hot, and you could 129 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: smell smoke and ash in the air from the blaze. 130 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: Somewhere down the street. A dog barked yipped. As she 131 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: unlocked the front door, Agnes heard the sound of the 132 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: breeze in the eucalyptus. She pulled the door shut behind her. 133 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: The front room was quiet and still, and there were 134 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: dust motes moving in the light of the side yard window. 135 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: She called his name. The mouth of the hallway was dark, 136 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: a black rectangle, open, featureless. She stepped into it and 137 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: called out to him again as she walked down the hall. 138 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: In the bedroom, Michael the Bear was under the big 139 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: denim quilt. He no, not he, she thought. His body 140 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: it was facing the wall, a giant six foot four 141 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: even at his age, a flattened mountain or a cinder cone. Motionless. 142 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: His body was still in a way that the living 143 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: never are. The room was cold. She dropped to her knees. 144 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: Michael the Bear was eighty two and it was coming. 145 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: Her cousin Mary Lynne sat on the car ride to 146 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: the cemetery. But it would never happen today, some other day, 147 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: perhaps not today. Today would be fine. He would be 148 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: here today anyway. Why say goodbye to the living? Why 149 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: sum up your time with someone when their time is 150 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: not come. Humming Bird was his name for her, Riding 151 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: on his big shoulders at the del Mar Fair, age four, 152 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: talking in her high piping voice, tiny hands too tight 153 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: around his neck, but he didn't mind. He loved her 154 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: with a burning pride, a strong, tremendous, substantial love. She 155 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: couldn't hurt him, No one could. He was a stone, 156 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,719 Speaker 1: a castle wall, a locked drawbridge, but a drawbridge that 157 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 1: would open if she or anyone worth while asked. He 158 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: was tough without being hard, and that was the thing 159 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,719 Speaker 1: that made her feel safest. Over the years. Michael the 160 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: Bear told Agnes some variation of the following in his 161 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: slow rolling, measured tone, humming Bird. If you can grow 162 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: up tough without becoming mean or bitter or sour or cynical, 163 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: you'll do just fine. He said things like, remember, Hummingbird. 164 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: Life is about finding as much happiness as you can 165 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: without hurting anyone in the process. You won't find the 166 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: meaning of life. 167 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 2: But you look. 168 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: If you're any good, and I know you are, what 169 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: you will find is truths like that, true ways to live. 170 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: That is one of mine and it could be yours 171 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: as well. Enjoy life violently, but never be violent. Violence 172 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: is the tool of cowards. Agnes loved Michael the Bear 173 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: with a fierceness she would not begin to understand until 174 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: she was a parent herself. It was the true animal, 175 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: fierceness of a blind cub and a den of the small, 176 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: protected by the strong. Now that he was gone, gone 177 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: entirely and unavailable to her, nothing she could do would 178 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: allow her to speak to him again, which is what 179 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: she wanted more than anything say goodbye, than to ask 180 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: him where he was. She couldn't imagine him to be 181 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: so far gone as to be nowhere as to not exist. 182 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: His body that was nothing. Where was he? Where was 183 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: the big, honest, courageous, tireless spirit that was Michael the Bear? 184 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: A good thing like that doesn't die. And do you 185 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: know what, dear reader, You know what else doesn't die? 186 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,239 Speaker 1: The relentless spirit of capitalism that fills me with the 187 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: holy sweetness of the products and services that support this podcast, 188 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: And I am reborn in their glory and in my 189 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: eternal devotion to the ads. I throw, and I throw 190 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: twice an episode approximately evenly spaced ads. And we're back 191 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: and now safe in heaven with God, said the preacher. 192 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: He didn't know Michael the Bear. He was hired from 193 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: Saint Matthew's by the Sea, A hired man Martin Schrader, 194 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: He called him. Who is Martin Schrader? Michael Schroder? Was 195 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: Michael the Bear? There is no Martin Schrader, No, not here, 196 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: not lying in there, mister Schrader, a good man in 197 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: God's providence after a long, fine life, droning, enjoying a 198 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: long pause and the sound of his own voice, but 199 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: disinterested in the meaning. Agnes smelled rum on his breath 200 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: on the walk across the lawn. The smell of the 201 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: flowers was sickening. She wanted nothing more than to set 202 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: fire to the pile of them and push the preacher 203 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: down into the blaze. She wanted to burn him to 204 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: cinders for giving Michael the Bear an improper send off, 205 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: stump on his skull till it smashed flat. And his 206 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 1: brains burst out like cold pork gravy, pull his spine 207 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: from his body and beat the ground with it. Beat 208 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: the ground and mourn Michael the Bear. Mourn him with 209 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: blood speckling, her arms, missing the air. Agnes felt like 210 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: a monster. She wanted to scream. She wanted to let 211 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: loose her rage until the whole world shook. Agnes couldn't 212 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: be kind like Michael the Bear. Not now. She wanted violence. 213 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: She wanted to be violence. The next few hours are 214 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: remembered in a gauzy flash of images. They were as follows, 215 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: cresting the hill of the Giant Dipper roller coaster in 216 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: Belmont Park with her cousins Daniella and Mary Lynne. After 217 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: the funeral, a redheaded boy her age sitting in the 218 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: coaster car next to her, who smelled like old pasta 219 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: floating in a pot of water. He held the metal 220 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: bar in front of him and looked seasick as they 221 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: rose up the track. Earlier, on the car ride back 222 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: from the cemetery, the green blur of Balboa Park flashing by. 223 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: We have to kill an hour, said Mary Lynne. Driving. 224 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,679 Speaker 1: She wore big sunglasses with white plastic frames, and her 225 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: dyed blonde hair moved around her face in the breeze. 226 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: Daniella leaned in from the back seat, cigarette breath, Hop 227 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,679 Speaker 1: boxy out of the Toyota and ride the roller coaster. Hells, yeah, 228 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: let's do it, Agnes. Huh, Agnes, you want to get 229 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: stoned and ride the dipper? It doesn't matter? And it 230 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: didn't or did it? She sat in the beach parking 231 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: lot while her cousins laughed and passed the pipe from 232 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: the front seat to the back. Did it matter? What mattered? 233 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: It didn't matter. Then, after the clacking ascent up the 234 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: roller coaster track and before the plunge downwards, there was 235 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: a view of the sea, silvery and wind chopped, cold, vast, 236 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: rolling with long lines of swell. It never ends, thought Agnes. 237 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: Next the drop down and her hair blowing straight back in, 238 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: the tightening of her stomach muscles as her cousin screamed happily, 239 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: arms held up. They took the turn hard, the wheels rattling, 240 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: jostling on the track, the wind in her face, gritting 241 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: her jaw strained, nauseous. Next, ditching her cousins at the 242 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: amusement park in the dark of the arcade, Agnes walked 243 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: down Mission Boulevard alone, with the evening traffic all around 244 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: and the wind whipping her hair into her eyes. Storefronts, 245 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: surf shops, beach bars, grains of sand under her shoes 246 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk, traffic lights in the dust. Next, asking 247 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: her boyfriend Stephen for a ride home at his uncle 248 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: Carl's Halloween store. I'm sorry to ask, but no, it's 249 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: cool that works. Come back here, a sick here, Just 250 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: come on. Stephen took her hand and they walked past 251 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: the walls of masks, ghoulish faces, hairy mouths, open cut 252 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: out holes for eyes, screaming silently, devil beards, worms and maggots, 253 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: nestling in wounds, bloody teeth, fanged rubbery howling without sound, 254 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: horrible mouths, and into the back room. While Big Marcos 255 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: the New Hire sat at the register reading a comic book. 256 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: There was gray light, a fading light through the windows, 257 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: and Big Marcus crowning down at the book, turning the 258 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: pages with a soft, fat hand. The spider Man swung 259 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: through the city after the Green Goblin, casting his webs 260 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: left and right. Next in the back room, Stephen shoving 261 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: her forward against the counting desk on her belly, her 262 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: skirt pulled up to her waist, her panties to her ankles, 263 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: and pushing up inside her before she was ready. Slower, 264 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: she said out Stephen's slow down. I'm trying take your time, slower, Steven, No, 265 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: not yet. No, it was over fast. One hand on 266 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: her waist, gripping her nails, digging into her flesh, the 267 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: other clawing her right breast until it hurt her hips, 268 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: smacking against her, and he came into Agnes like a 269 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: dish soap bottle squeezed into a tub of warm water, 270 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: he told Big Marcus with a laugh, while Agnes cleaned 271 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: up in the bathroom. Agnes, she's a mess, but she's 272 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 1: a hot little fuck, he said, check it. Take my keys, 273 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: drive her home. If you want a fuck her, you 274 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: totally can. I bet you'd at least suck your dick. 275 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: My brother Ted's in town. The three of us should 276 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: get her drunk and try and run a train on 277 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: that little bitch. Big Marcus, overwhelmed and upset by the proposition, 278 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: took a smoke break before driving Agnes home. The next day, 279 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: he would quit Stephen's uncle's Halloween store and apply, unsuccessfully 280 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 1: at the Claremont Party City before landing his dream job 281 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: at the Carl Strauss Brewery by the Freeway. Eight years later, 282 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: he would add Stephen on Facebook and send him the 283 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: following message, Dude, that's shit you said about your girlfriend 284 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: and I was having sex with her. That was so 285 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: not okay. I've been thinking about that for years and 286 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 1: I had to get it out. That was a shitty, 287 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: evil thing to say. The message received no reply, and 288 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 1: Big Marcus was promptly unfriended. But do you know what, 289 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: dear reader, Do you know we'll never unfriend you? And 290 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: what is never a gross and evil imposition eternally on 291 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: our minds. It is the sacred and holy sacrament of advertisements. 292 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,679 Speaker 1: We are bound to the product and tethered by the services. 293 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: Amen and rebec On the drive back to Golden Hill, 294 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,919 Speaker 1: Big Marcus humming along with the car stereo, while Agnes 295 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: sat in the passenger seat and felt small and used 296 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: up and unimportant. To clear her mind, she thought of 297 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: Michael de Bear's favorite things to cook one once a 298 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: week lasagna with Italian sausage later as a substitution, butternut squash, 299 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: ravioli with brown butter sage, and shaved parmesan when she 300 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: quit eating meat for both side of garlic bread, a 301 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: spinach and cabbage salad with halved red grapes, calamata olives, 302 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 1: marinated artichoke carts, and goat cheese later baked tofu two. 303 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,120 Speaker 1: On the rare chilly nights in the winter, they would 304 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: sit around the small kitchen table and eat thick split 305 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: piece soup cooked with carrots and bacon, and later liquid 306 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: smoke or bacos. On the side, sour dough bread, the 307 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: serving of the bread butter and a squeeze of lemon 308 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: A result of Michael the Bear's four years at working 309 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: at Bozi's nineteen seventy six nineteen eighty, a seafood restaurant 310 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: on Clare Mount Mesa Boulevard three. On summer days when 311 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: it was too hot to move, he made gaspacho with 312 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: a pitcher of strawberry lemonade. For dessert, peach ice cream 313 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: garnished with a sprig of mint. Michael the Bear maintained 314 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: what he called a victory garden, and with San Diego's 315 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: long growing season, a good portion of each meal came 316 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: from what he grew. She saw him standing at the 317 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,479 Speaker 1: kitchen counter at the old North Park House, slicing lemons 318 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: in the late afternoon light, saying, Agnes, every one must 319 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: know how to grow their own food. When you cut 320 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: yourself off from that, you shut the door on something 321 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: older than history, something important and deep to our character. 322 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: Agnes thought of his meals and his happiness, and how 323 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: serious he was as he prepared them. She stared out 324 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 1: the window at the growing dark the sun set behind 325 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: the car like a wall of fire consuming the earth. 326 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: Don't fucking cry, she told herself, not in front of him. 327 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: Stopped at a traffic light. Across from the Nuaveo Cristo Church, 328 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: she saw a wedding party push open the big doors 329 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: and come out from the gold lit square of the 330 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: hall and down the steps, the bride in front holding 331 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: up her dress to walk. She imagined Michael the Bear 332 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: giving her away at her own wedding. How proud he 333 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: would be, and how stirred his big heart as he 334 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: answered the words, who gives this woman away? That would 335 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: be me. It was night now, and the bride's gown 336 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: was so white it was nearly blue, like snow, glowing 337 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: against her dark skin, and all the black suits and 338 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: dresses in gray stone around her. They made a left 339 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: at the light. Isn't it kind of late in the 340 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: day for a wedding, She asked Big Marcos, who drove 341 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: with one hand on the wheel, the other on his 342 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: right thigh, tapping along to the radio. He shrugged, he 343 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: didn't know. The singer on the radio was singing that 344 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: if he could find that Haina and that Sancho that 345 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: she'd found, he would pop a cap in Sancho and 346 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: smack her down. And Agnes wanted to die. For the 347 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: first time in her life, she wanted to die. Big 348 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: Marcos dropped Agnes off at the studio apartment in Golden Hill, 349 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: which sat between two Victorians in the shade of a 350 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: grapefruit tree, a street lined with cars, the yellow lighted 351 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: windows blinking on in the darkness. Walking up the brick 352 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 1: path under the trees, she heard mariachi music from the 353 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: line of pink apartments across the street. Fuzzy barely there, 354 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: she could smell onions and garlic frying in butter, and 355 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: a voice was yelling something distant, then laughter, followed by 356 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: frantic noise on the TV, the war or a riot. 357 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: Sleep Walking, she opened the door, shut it behind her 358 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: and dropped her keys on the carpet. She stepped across 359 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: the bare twin sides mattress on the floor, and over 360 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: her guitar and four track machine and a pile of 361 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: tapes and cables as she pulled off her clothes. Then 362 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: three steps to the tiny bathroom. The person in the 363 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: mirror pale skin, freckles across her nose, soft brown hair 364 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,120 Speaker 1: swept over her forehead and tucked behind her left ear, 365 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 1: longer on the sides than the back, falling into pin 366 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: curls around her chin. The face was unsmiling and had empty, 367 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: slate gray eyes. She was wrung out, she decided, wrung 368 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: out in so much older than twenty two. She ran 369 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: her hands across her bare shoulders, a new mole on 370 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: the rise of her collarbone, the tattoo of a one 371 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: winged locust on her chest above her left breast. Agnes 372 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: cupped her breasts in her hands and looked down at them, 373 00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: her bright pink nipples poking out from between her face. 374 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: She shook her head. She saw the bath map below 375 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 1: her feet orange, new but starting to wear. Stephen's cumb 376 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: was dried on the inside of a right thigh, Her 377 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: toenails were painted baby blue. She knew she was pregnant. Somehow, 378 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: she knew. She thought of his cock inside her, and 379 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: the sour smell of his body, and her stomach went 380 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: tight again, as it had on the roller coaster, bending 381 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: down to turn the cold water knob, then the hot 382 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: hot to burn her flesh until she was able to forget. 383 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,679 Speaker 1: In middle school, she was called the pale whale. It 384 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 1: was before I lost my baby fat, she told her 385 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: coworker Melanie Crenshaw fourteen years later in the dead center 386 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: of the country Overland Park, Kansas, while they sat in 387 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: the living room of Melanie's new white townhouse, drinking Chardonnay 388 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: with a plate of untouched ritz crackers and sweet pickles. 389 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: You were fat. I don't believe that it wasn't fat. 390 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: I was a kid. It was the only time in 391 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: my life I had tits, but I looked awful. In 392 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 1: high school, my first boyfriend, Travis Brotis, called me the 393 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: pale Princess. He meant it as a compliment, but ugh, 394 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: I hated it. I hated being the pale Princess even 395 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,199 Speaker 1: worse than the pale whale. That's why I called the 396 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: band pale of shit. What Agnes. Oh my god, girl, 397 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: I didn't know you played music. Was it any good? 398 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 1: I can't imagine you in a band, Agnes, the little 399 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: secretary in a band, like what, it doesn't matter. What 400 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: did it sound like? It doesn't matter. Come on, it's dumb. 401 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: It was. It was a hardcore band. I played guitar 402 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: and screamed. I screamed and played guitar. It was so 403 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: dumb hardcore? Is that like punk? Get out? No way? 404 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: You were so not in a punk band. I was, yeah, 405 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: pale of shit, raising her hands above her head and 406 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: shaking them woohoo, laughing than not. It was during college. 407 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: I had my own apartment, a car that never ran. Yeah, band, 408 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: I was in a band. I was twenty two, and 409 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: we broke up when I was god like twenty three 410 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: a year later. Maybe, wow, Ags, I can't imagine you 411 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: like that. What happened life growing up? I don't know. 412 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: Do you still listen to that kind of music? Sipping 413 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: her wine if you can call it that? No, not 414 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: at all, she said, lying, I'm not that kid anymore. 415 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: The shower steamed the glass until Agnes was an outline 416 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: in the mirror. She stepped into the stall and pulled 417 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: the curtain closed, the plastic rings clacking, Agnes shut her 418 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:37,959 Speaker 1: eyes and let the water hit the back of her 419 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: head and run down her shoulder. And that's where we're 420 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: gonna leave it for this week. That's the end of 421 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: part one. I guess it's not separated into parts like 422 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: that exactly, but you know, we have to separate it 423 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: into parts because we make a podcast out of it. 424 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: What do I want to say about this piece? Well, 425 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: part one is the roughest of them. You made it 426 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: through the roughest of them. I fucking love Ganadi prose. 427 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: And there's a kind of honesty to this style of 428 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: prose that I find really fascinating. That to me comes 429 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: out of the sort of the Zene culture where people 430 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 1: write mostly personal zines, and people started basically writing in 431 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: a personal zine style of other people on writing fiction 432 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: that way, and it made me realize I do love 433 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: modern literary fiction that's like about people without any demons 434 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: in it, except, of course, the human demons. Yeah. I 435 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: don't know. I'll have more than I continue to want 436 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: to say about this as we go, But Adam Ganatti 437 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,919 Speaker 1: for a little bio about him. Adam Gannatti's Writing is 438 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 1: released as a connected series of books and audio recordings 439 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: of writing with musical accompaniment, self described as talking songs 440 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: aimed at creating a personal history of life as I 441 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: knew it when I lived. Ganatti's work is published and 442 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,919 Speaker 1: issued by Brett and Roses Press three to one g 443 00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,959 Speaker 1: Hello America Stereo Cassette and the Numer Group. Gannati intends 444 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: his books to be seen quote as one long, interconnected novel, 445 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: in the way of Proust's pronounce Prus's name Praus Prus 446 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: Praulst prosed Prust's autobiographical writing end quote, but obviously the aside, 447 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: and there was me having it aside about not knowing 448 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: how to pronounce that man's name. The recorded albums quote 449 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 1: should be considered a vast hour's long soundtrack, running parallel 450 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: with the stories in the books, continuing plot lines and 451 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: further explaining the characters as they navigate a lifetime. Recent 452 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: works have included the Home and Away Quartet, which is 453 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 1: comprised of the novels After Tonight Everything Will Be Different 454 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, The Internet Newspaper twenty twenty three, I 455 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: Wish to Say Lovely Things twenty twenty four, and Your 456 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 1: Friends Will Carry You Home twenty twenty five, and the 457 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 1: Talking Song's collection The World of Today and the World 458 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,399 Speaker 1: of Tomorrow, issued on cassette in twenty twenty one and 459 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,479 Speaker 1: Lathe Cut CD in twenty twenty six. On September twenty sixth, 460 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: twenty twenty sixth, this very year, Numero Group will reissue 461 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: Ganati's two thousand and five debut Talking Songs record Run, Hide, Retreat, 462 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: Surrender on twelve inch Final in October of twenty twenty six. 463 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: Is fourteenth book, Wild Horse Shit, will be released by 464 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: Brett and Roses Press in conjunction with Three to One 465 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: g Born in San Diego, California, Adam Gannatti now lives 466 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: on a six acre farm in rural Kansas, near the 467 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,719 Speaker 1: towns of Lawrence and Tanoxi, in half an hour outside 468 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: Kansas City, Missouri. And I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and 469 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: you can find my writing every week on my newsletter, 470 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: which is Margaret Kiljoy dot substock dot com. I have 471 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: a bunch of books to not nearly as many as 472 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: Adam Gannatti, but I guess my most recent one is 473 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: The Immoral Choir Holds Every Voice, which is like the 474 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: same only there's demons in it. I put demons in mine, 475 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: and I'll be back next week with more Locust House. 476 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: Until then, remember that the urge to destroy is also 477 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: a creative force. Fuck Ice free Palestine. Burn every single 478 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: prison of the ground, but only after get everyone out 479 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: of them. See you all soon. 480 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 2: It Could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media. 481 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 482 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 2: Coolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 483 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 484 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 2: now find sources for It Could Happen Here, listed directly 485 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 2: in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.