Tuesday, July 1, 2008

"Stress City" Launch Set for July 25

Mark your calendar for this “can’t miss” reading:

Editor Richard Peabody invites you to the Launch of Stress City: A Big Book of Fiction by 51 DC Guys at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC, on Friday, July 25th at 7pm.

Join us and celebrate with a panel discussion about writing fiction in this particular time and place, featuring eight of the contributors: R. R. Angell, Juan H. Gaddis, Brian Gilmore, Dave Housley, Charles R. Larson, Alex MacLennan, Richard McCann, and David Nicholson.
Moderators: Rose Solari and Jim Patterson

About the anthology:“The dean of D.C.’s alternative press has compiled a vast compendium of excellence, wildness, and wonder. Perhaps somewhat predictably, I was drawn to the tales of predatory female werewolves and homicidal dogs preaching Lutheran gospel, but pretty much everybody else is here too: the downtown shrimp shack hostesses, the suburban minimum security prison escapees and the closeted death metal deacons. Nixon even wanders through, walking along the beach on his way to reincarnation. There are Vietnamese charades, hippie narcs, monkish visions of Buddhist clarity, and one loser babysitter who brings the kid along to the strip club. Sometimes surreal, often moving, and even more often perfectly hilarious, the work collected here makes D.C.’s literary presence a force to be reckoned with. It’s as powerful as John Riggins’s shoulders, as strong as a shot at Millie and Al’s, and as fun as watching the pandas get it on at the National Zoo. Well done guys.” – Toby Barlow, author of Sharp Teeth

Stress City is a core sample of the D.C. male psyche, a tube that comes out striated with the compacted layers of what's on these guys' minds: death, race, sex, death, race, sex, death, traffic, sex.... makes me feel like I never left. Recommended for Washingtonians past and present." – Jordan Ellenberg, author of The Grasshopper King

"Werewolves, installation artists taking over Arlington, jilted Hare Krishnas out for murderous revenge...this isn't George Bush's Washington. In Stress City, D.C.'s small press conscience Richard Peabody has assembled a monument to the underdogs of the nation's capitol. This anthology is as poignant and truth telling as any 'official' history and way way more fun." – Hal Niedzviecki, author of Hello, I’m Special and The Program

A Complete List of Authors included in this 500pp monster of a book:
R. R. Angell, Scott W. Berg, Sean Brijbasi, Peter Brown, Kenneth Carroll, Theodore Carter, Christopher Colston, Richard Currey, Kevin Downs, David Everett, Mark Farrington, Juan H. Gaddis, William E. Garrison, Frank Gatling, Brian Gilmore, John Guernsey, James Harper, Dave Housley, Bill Jackson, Dennis Jones, Matthew Kirkpatrick, Len Kruger, Robert Lang, Charles R. Larson, Nathan Leslie, Peter Levine, Greg Lipscomb, Eric Lotke, Alex MacLennan, Joe Martin, James Mathews, Richard McCann, Matthew L. Moffett, Richard Morris, Kermit Moyer, Terence M. Mulligan, Andrew Nachison, David Nicholson, Jim Patterson, Jim Reed, Jeff Richards, B. B. Riefner, Lewis K. Schrager, Matthew Summers-Sparks, D. A. Taylor, Ross Taylor, Robichaud S. Thorstensen, Tim Wendel, Jim Williamson, Terence Winch, and James Zug.

Reading details:
Friday, July 25, 2008
7 p.m.
Politics & Prose Bookstore
5015 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-364-1919
Directions on their site at: http://www.politics-prose.com/directio.htm

Work-in-Progress

DC-area author Leslie Pietrzyk explores the creative process and all things literary.