Venus Drive: Stories - Softcover

Lipsyte, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1890447250 ISBN 13: 9781890447250

Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing, 2000

Synopsis

From the peep palaces of Times Square to the cubicles of corporate America, Sam Lipsyte's stories wander a dark, comic road full of need and regret. His damaged, searching narrators deliver their reports of addiction, lust, loneliness, grief, and the doomed dream of rock 'n' roll with a sly lyricism and eerie spareness that somehow redeem them. Listen to this chorus of gallows humor and goodwill sometimes gone bad and hear wild voices rise out of the din of city living: Gary is a failed punk icon turned petty drug dealer and amateur self-actualization guru; the Chersky girl makes a strange midnight discovery roller-skating through a Depression-era morgue. Pot-dazed Trotskyists, summercamp sadists, and babysitters with an eye toward erotic humiliation also make themselves known in the lost, shattered landscapes of Lipsyte's fictions. "When you have an old soul like I do", deadpans one hero, "everything gets old really quick. Nothing is new. An avocado, a glass of beer, everything tastes like it's been sitting out on a table too long". These stories, loosely linked in character and setting, recall the stark realism of Denis Johnson and the wild humor of Barry Hannah. In these poignant, sharpwitted tales, Sam Lipsyte proves himself one of today's most visceral and fearless short-story writers.

About this title

Review:

“Not for the faint of heart (or soul), "Venus Drive" explores the complexity of despair with poignancy and sly wit.” ---Christine Muhlke, "The New York Times Book Review"

 

"I like it when short stories--metaphorically speaking, of course--smack me in the face, kind of like what Kafka said about art being like an axe. And so that’s what Sam Lipsyte’s stories do--they come at you like a fist, they knock you around, they make you wince, they make you look away, and then they make you look back."--Jonathan Ames, author of "Wake Up, Sir!"

 

"These are torqued-up, enthusiastically black-hearted stories by a grimly cheerful author. And the damned things are queerly rather loving and lovely as well. Bukowski meets Paley."--Padgett Powell, author of "The Interrogative Mood"

 

 

"Lipsyte captures flashes of his characters’ complex, addled humanity and smashes a window into their hopelessness.... It’s fascinating to read a

"Not for the faint of heart (or soul), "Venus Drive" explores the complexity of despair with poignancy and sly wit." ---Christine Muhlke, "The New York Times Book Review"

"I like it when short stories--metaphorically speaking, of course--smack me in the face, kind of like what Kafka said about art being like an axe. And so that's what Sam Lipsyte's stories do--they come at you like a fist, they knock you around, they make you wince, they make you look away, and then they make you look back."--Jonathan Ames, author of "Wake Up, Sir!"

"These are torqued-up, enthusiastically black-hearted stories by a grimly cheerful author. And the damned things are queerly rather loving and lovely as well. Bukowski meets Paley."--Padgett Powell, author of "The Interrogative Mood"

"Lipsyte captures flashes of his characters' complex, addled humanity and smashes a window into their hopelessness.... It's fascinating to read a writer who can bring you so efficiently to such uncomfortable places."--James Hannaham, "The Village Voice" (rated one of the Voice's top twenty-five books of the year 2000)

Not for the faint of heart (or soul), "Venus Drive" explores the complexity of despair with poignancy and sly wit. "Christine Muhlke, The New York Times Book Review"

I like it when short stories--metaphorically speaking, of course--smack me in the face, kind of like what Kafka said about art being like an axe. And so that's what Sam Lipsyte's stories do--they come at you like a fist, they knock you around, they make you wince, they make you look away, and then they make you look back. "Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir!"

These are torqued-up, enthusiastically black-hearted stories by a grimly cheerful author. And the damned things are queerly rather loving and lovely as well. Bukowski meets Paley. "Padgett Powell, author of The Interrogative Mood"

Lipsyte captures flashes of his characters' complex, addled humanity and smashes a window into their hopelessness.... It's fascinating to read a writer who can bring you so efficiently to such uncomfortable places. "James Hannaham, The Village Voice (rated one of the Voice's top twenty-five books of the year 2000)""

"Not for the faint of heart (or soul), Venus Drive explores the complexity of despair with poignancy and sly wit." --Christine Muhlke, The New York Times Book Review

"I like it when short stories--metaphorically speaking, of course--smack me in the face, kind of like what Kafka said about art being like an axe. And so that's what Sam Lipsyte's stories do--they come at you like a fist, they knock you around, they make you wince, they make you look away, and then they make you look back." --Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir!

"These are torqued-up, enthusiastically black-hearted stories by a grimly cheerful author. And the damned things are queerly rather loving and lovely as well. Bukowski meets Paley." --Padgett Powell, author of The Interrogative Mood

"Lipsyte captures flashes of his characters' complex, addled humanity and smashes a window into their hopelessness.... It's fascinating to read a writer who can bring you so efficiently to such uncomfortable places." --James Hannaham, The Village Voice (rated one of the Voice's top twenty-five books of the year 2000)

From the Back Cover:

"Stories that bring Raymond Carver's low-life minimalism to mind...It's fascinating to read a writer who can bring you so efficiently to such an uncomfortable place."
'Village Voice'

'People like to call them ashes but it feels more like couple of rocks, especially if you hold the whole thing in your hands, or swing it, as I do, on occasion, bolo-style from the sack cord. I'm still not sure why I do this, but it feels good, standing there in the dining room, windmilling my mother around.'

From the peep palaces of Times Square to the cubicles of corporate America, 'Venus Drive' takes us away from the toothpaste-white gleam of American life, and leads us down an altogether darker, comic road, on the seedy side of town. Pot-dazed revolutionaries, summer-camp sadists, and babysitters with an eye for erotic humiliation all make themselves known in this crafty, streetwise new collection from the acclaimed author of 'The Subject Steve'. At once shocking, inventive and funny, these stories confirm Sam Lipsyte's place amongst the very brightest – and darkest – new talents of American Fiction.

"Sam Lipsyte is a gifted stylist , precise, original, devious and very funny."
JEFFREY EUGENIDES, author of 'The Virgin Suicides'

"Compulsively readable with brilliant and funny dialogue...Sam Lipsyte is a wickedly funny, gifted writer."
ROBERT STONE, author of 'Dog Soldiers'

About this edition

• Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1890447250
• ISBN 13: 9781890447250
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160