Catapult Staff Picks

I’ve been reading Bird by Noy Holland, a book from our sister press Counterpoint. I recently told people (not real people, obviously, I don’t know any of those; twitter people) that Holland’s work is as if Gary Lutz were writing Mary Gaitskill stories. The language is twisted and snarled right down to the sentence level and the characters, particularly the women, are wrought with complexity. It’s good.

Since I’m banging a drum for Counterpoint, let me also recommend A Country Called Childhood by Jay Griffiths. I’m a parent myself, but a middling-to-poor one—in part because I don’t read books about parenting. I thought A Country Called Childhood would be the exception, but instead of, like, tips about how to keep your kid from writing a scathing memoir about you thirty years from now, this book is an inspiring far-ranging discussion of children and their need to disobey, to roam, to nest, bringing in things like John Clare and the enclosing of the commons. It’s gorgeous, written with urgency and beauty and I’d recommend this one to everyone, even the resolutely childless.

Oh also, I’m reading OR Book’s new Pocket Piketty by Jesper Roine, because who the fuck has time to read Piketty?

—Dustin Kurtz, Social Media Editor

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I’ve been recently obsessed with this Swedish pop cover of the Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place.” Despite being fairly faithful to the original, it has its surprises. The female vocals are clearer and differently emotive. The arrangement has a lot of fun little flourishes throughout that reward repeat listens. The lyrics are and have always been amazing, but I never paid enough attention to them before hearing this version. This snip, particularly poignant as my wife and I look for a new apartment, knowing that wherever we end up, the space itself doesn’t matter all that much:

I’m just an animal looking for a home
Share the same space for a minute or two

—Robb Chen-Ware

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I’m reading Ties by Domenico Starnone and translated from the Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri.

A friend talked to me one night about reading and writing without rules—or reading and writing outside of a received/perceived moral universe—and we brought up César Aira’s Ghosts and Seamstress and the Wind and concluded with Marie Ndiaye’s Self-Portrait in Green. I have the latter on the mind now.

—Wah-Ming Chang, Managing Editor

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I just read Eve Babitz’s Sex and Rage, newly reissued from Counterpoint Press. I’m a huge Eve Babitz fan, by which I mean I may or may not have named my home Wi-Fi network “evebabitz” (sorry, neighbors). With this book, you pick it up for the sex and rage, but you stay for Babitz’s brilliant musings on self-destruction, Scorpios, and imposter syndrome. If you’ve ever felt entirely empty while surrounded by people you’re supposed to find fabulous or glamorous or even just cool, then you’ll feel right at home with Babitz’s prose. Sex and Rage manages to perfectly capture the morning-after comedown with a voice that makes you think that maybe the party never has to end.

—Allie Wuest, Editorial Assistant, Web

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I’m loving Rachel Khong’s Goodbye, Vitamin. I pay attention when Julie Buntin recommends books, and she was once again spot-on with this one. I’m also even more obsessed with Colin Winnette’s forthcoming The Job of the Wasp (January ’18, Soft Skull) and Terese Marie Mailhot’s forthcoming Heart Berries (February ’18, Counterpoint) after re-reading them both this week. I want to spread the feverish love I have for these, so email me for an ARC of either [email protected]

—Jennifer Abel-Kovitz, Associate Publisher

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Am I allowed to recommend a single poem? I love this one from an old issue of jubilat called “Dear Owl” by Eugene Ostashevsky. The amazing poet Christopher DeWeese tweeted it a couple days ago and I’ve had it open in a tab ever since so I can reread it whenever I want. I’d never heard of Ostashevsky before reading “Dear Owl,” but now I’m waiting for his collections to show up in the mail. I’m excited.

—Colin Drohan, Writing Programs Coordinator

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On a quick Utah trip a couple of weeks ago I read The Circle, by Dave Eggers, which was a good plane/vacation read and also made me want to delete all my social media accounts. I just started a book my mother-in-law loaned me, Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones. And I’ve been reading the PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2017 anthology very, very slowly. Over on Community we’re running a wonderful series of chats with all the Robert J. Dau Prize-winning authors included in the anthology, and although it makes me feel kind of dorky I have actually been reading each story as we publish its related author Q&A—that way I have the author’s words about their story in my mind as I read. Each one is a jewel, and I’m so enjoying my close parceled-out read.

—Nicole Chung, Managing Editor, Web