Attention Span 2012 | James Wagner

Various authors, ed. Clancy Martin | The Philosophy of Deception | Oxford | 2009

Reading this now.

Hervé This | Molecular Gastronomy | Columbia | 2006

Two of my in-laws—married to one another—are chefs from the Culinary Institute of America, which is where this began, but I’m interested in it for literary reasons.

Alana Siegel | Archipelago | Youtube | 2011

I first heard Alana when she read her poems at the SPT fundraiser one month ago. I was startled at first by her gravitas, then impressed by her persistence, and finally knocked flat. Her book is forthcoming from Station Hill. For now, this video will do.

John Chryssavgis | In the Heart of the Desert | World Wisdom | 2008

I’ve always been interested in anything having to do with the mystical branches of all religions. This book details The Desert Fathers and Mothers in Egypt in the 4^th Century.

Margaret Luongo | If the Heart is Lean | Louisiana | 2008

Awkward, sad, understated, surreal, lively, lingering.

Tan Lin | Insomnia and the Aunt | Kenning | 2011

Tan exemplifies everything that I admire in an artist: aesthetic restlessness, intelligence, and imagination. This is an enjoyable narrative foray into the Northwest.

Angela Y. Davis | Women, Race & Class | Vintage | 1983

I’ve read other books by Davis, but this one suddenly became important for personal reasons, explained here.

Eleanor Heartney et al. | After the Revolution: Women Who Transformed Contemporary Art | Prestel | 2007

“Following a comprehensive essay assessing the changes in the situation of women artists, the authors examine in depth the careers of twelve outstanding artists: Marina Abramovic, Louise Bourgeois, Ellen Gallagher, Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, Elizabeth Murray, Shirin Neshat, Judy Pfaff, Dana Schutz, Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, and Nancy Spero. Each artist’s accomplishments and her influence on contemporaries including younger male and female artists is explored. A preface by Nochlin and a concluding essay with extensive statistical documentation frame this essential volume.”

Suzanne Stein | Tout va bien | Displaced | 2012

“Poetry’s microtechnological use is of a religious order (ardor); it manifests that religio-spiritual ardor as a psycho-surgical maneuver.”

Anja Lechner & Vassilis Tsabropoulos, performers; Georges Gurdjieff & Thomas de Hartmann, composers | Chants, Hymns and Dances | ECM | 2004

I owe Lissa Wolsak thanks for many things, but this beautiful album, which she recommended, aided directly in my recent writing.

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James Wagner is the author of a collection of plays, The Idiocy (Esther, 2012), a conceptual text of search queries and web pages, Query/Xombies (Esther, 2010), a tiny novella à clef, Geisttraum—Tales from the Germans (Esther, 2010), a collection of short stories (with art by Edgar Arceneaux), Work Book (Nothing Moments, 2007), a homophonic translation of César Vallejo’s Trilce, also called Trilce (art by Derek White and Jessica Fanzo) (Calamari, 2006), a diaristic poetry ebook, After the Giraffes (Blazevox/Scribd, 2005/2011), and a collection of poetry, the false sun recordings (3rd bed, 2003).

James Wagner’s contributions to Attention Span for 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004. Back to 2012 directory.