#dan kois

[perkwunos]

There’s something about bad poetry that’s perhaps more painful than any other bad art. It’s so open and yet so empty. It reveals the yawning banality at the center of all our souls. I read McKuen’s poems and I think, Ugh, that’s a B-minus Hallmark Card. And, in fact, in the mid-1970s, McKuen actually signed a deal with Hallmark. It was for a series of greeting cards that included semipersonalized recordings for the 150 most common first names of the time. I’ve got the tape from his recording session. “Hi Stacey. Thank you, Stacey. Thank you for being you,” he says. “Hi Tammy. Thank you, Tammy. Thank you for being you.” And so on.

Dan Kois, “Rod McKuen Was the Bestselling Poet in American History. What Happened?”

[leguin]

Fifty Years Ago, He Was America’s Most Famous Writer. Why Haven’t You Ever Heard of Him?

He sold 60 million books and 100 million records. Then he disappeared.

Barry Alfonso told me that despite everything, he ended up feeling forgiving toward Rod, because “it seemed like he didn’t harm anyone” with his “white lies.” And maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s harmless, even kind of charmingly brazen, to say you invented the phrase “make love, not war” or “midnight cowboy”—another one McKuen claimed was his. Or to write your own fan letters. But when you’re telling people you have illegitimate children, and meanwhile the man you love is standing next to you pretending to be your brother—you don’t seem so unharmed yourself. 

don’t think i’ve genuinely recommended a slate article in years, but i really enjoyed this one by dan kois! an interesting look at rod mckuen, someone i’d never heard of before this, and his mass appeal in the 60s and early 70s.

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

By Dan Kois.

[englishmajorhumor]

How One Librarian Tried to Squash Goodnight Moon

This footnote in New York Public Library history hints at a rich story of power, taste, and the crumbling of traditional gatekeepers.

This is a fun, super interesting read.

[joematar]

America Is a Sham

Coronavirus is exposing the arbitrary, cruel realities of business as usual.

if we don't just naturally fall back into our bullshit rhythms after all this then the natural next step is civil unrest or AT LEAST making Bernie Sanders president

[daniellemohlman]

June 2018

As you can see from the pictures here, I read a ton of excellent books in June. You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld was an incredible short story collection. I’m sure I’ve said it here before, but I’m not a fan of short stories. I love to dive deep into the world of a novel; I want to really get to know the characters. But I’m either falling in love with short stories as a form or I’m just reading a ton of winning collections lately. Because I loved You Think It, I’ll Say It. (And I felt the same way about Lauren Groff’s Florida and Danielle Lazarin’s Back Talk.) Saga, Volume Eight and Pops were perfect follow up reads to Sittenfeld’s collection. I love re-immersing myself in the world of Saga each time a new trade comes out. And even though I’d already read nearly every essay in the collection, Michael Chabon’s Pops was wonderful. It made me want to get to know my own father better. It made me want to get to know more fathers in general. 

The Prince and the Dressmaker was perfect. This graphic novel is equal parts gorgeous storytelling and incredible illustrations. I wish I had a fairy tale like this one when I was in middle school. Sing, Unburied, Sing was everything I could ever ask for in a novel about the American South. I loved the ghosts that permeated every inch of the storytelling. 

The World Only Spins Forward is essential reading for playwrights writing political work, directors working in the new play sector, and anyone who has ever asked me “So playwriting -- what does that mean?” It’s gorgeous and inspiring and frustrating and I can’t imagine any other way or any other time to assemble an oral history of Angels in America. 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine reminded me why I love reading so much. So did The Immortalists, but I technically finished that in July, so my thoughts on that epic novel will have to wait until next time. 

[universitybookstore]

From the moment it debuted on the New York stage, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America was hailed as an instant classic, going on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 11 Tony Awards. Now Isaac Butler & Dan Kois have compiled an oral history of the play’s genesis: The World Only Spins Forward: the ascent of Angels in America, available from Bloomsbury.

[iwontknowyouanymore]

… lesbian grannies made them do it by drugging their cider and cookies and keeping them docile and captive for a year? and then they forgor and now their daughters are destined to be the next set of witchy lesbian grannies? kois snorted too much of the yaoi cocaine writing this one 💀