Northern Sky

So Flavorpill has "The Ultimate Hipster Reading List," which is, yes, about as obnoxious as it sounds. It's a list about of dozen white male writers you have heard of (Keith Gessen, Nick Flynn, et al. plus Miranda July thrown in for color) recommending about 50 white male writers you haven't heard of. I don't know whether FP thinks that there are actually people out there who will take these recommendations seriously, or whether it's all some elaborate, ironic joke. I'm not sure FP themselves want to know. The truth would probably horrify them, at any rate.

Oh, and also I'm in the frozen north right now, and have been for weeks, and will be for another week. All of my NYC information is coming from Facebook, mailing lists, and press releases, and I don't go anywhere. Which means that on Sunday I will unfortunately be missing the Improv Everywhere No Pants Subway Ride, so if you do go, make sure to take off an extra pair of pants for me. (Also, for my peace of mind when I come back, please don't tell me which train these people were on. I already don't like to think about who's occupied those hard plastic seats before me).

Mixer Series features Galchen, Flynn, Klosterman, Datus

Melissa Febos' and Rebecca Keith's reading series Mixer has been, in my opinion, for the past two years since is birth, the standard-bearer for NYC readings. My own various Punk/Folk/Electroclash Rock Fiction(s) can still only dream of achieving the top-drawer talent and consistent quality these girls have for their series. (Plus, after I got drunk and dropped my wallet on the floor of the Cake Shop after attending one night, afraid all was lost, Melissa found it, walked her big old dog over to my apartment and returned it to me personally. That's service, folks). This Wednesday's installment is set to be particularly delicious, since it features writers Nick Flynn, Rivka Galchen and Chuck Klosterman.

Musical guest Datus will also be in attendance. I wasn't familiar with their music before I listened to them on MySpace, but fans of moody, tribal-sounding post-rock (think Gang Gang Dance with male vocals) should enjoy them.


Mixer Reading and Music Series
Wednesday, June 17th, 7:00 p.m., FREE
hosted by Melissa Febos and Rebecca Keith
takes place
at Cakeshop
152 Ludlow St., bet. Stanton and Rivington
F, V to 2nd Ave., F, J, M to Delancey/Essex



Nick Flynn’s “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” (Norton, 2004), won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, was shortlisted for France’s Prix Femina, and has been translated into thirteen languages. He is also the author of two books of poetry, “Some Ether” (Graywolf, 2000), and “Blind Huber" (Graywolf, 2002), for which he received fellowships from, among other organizations, The Guggenheim Foundation and The Library of Congress. Some of the venues his poems, essays and non-fiction have appeared in include The New Yorker, the Paris Review, National Public Radio’s “This American Life,” and The New York Times Book Review. His film credits include “field poet” and artistic collaborator on the film “Darwin’s Nightmare,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary in 2006. One semester a year he teaches at the University of Houston.

Chuck Klosterman is the New York Times bestselling author of Downtown Owl; Chuck Klosterman IV; Killing Yourself to Live; Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs; and Fargo Rock City, winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. He is a featured columnist for Esquire, a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, and has also written for Spin, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Believer, and ESPN. His work has been selected for the De Capo Best Music Writing, Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading anthologies. Klosterman grew up on a farm near Wyndmere, North Dakota. After graduating from the University of North Dakota, he wrote for the Fargo Forum and the Akron Beacon Journal. Klosterman is published in eight territories and seven languages. Scribner will publish his forthcoming book, Eating the Dinosaur, in October 2009.


Rivka Galchen is the author of the novel, Atmospheric Disturbances. Her essays and fiction have appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker, Scientific American, and The New York Times.