Is there a Southern Gothic-esque equivalent for the American Midwest and Desert Southwest? Not necessarily like Westerns, but like horror or crime or thriller or surrealism, something a bit more contemporary. Think of the kind of imagery conjured up by "Badlands" or "Darkness on the Edge of Town".
Cormac McCarthy is a good example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, but not necessarilly the end-all be-all.
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I'm also thinking of something kind of post-apocalyptic relating to the nuclear bomb testing in Nevada.
Eugenides.
Being from Detroit, he incorporates a wistful longing amid urban ruins into all of his works.
Thanks a lot! I'll check him out.
Got off a DFW rec list that you can't help but run into is 'Angels,' by Denis Johnson. Check it:
>She was drinking a beer in Dwight Snow's car in the Basha's parking lot, a shimmering lake of molten asphalt, and training the air conditioner's vents onto her face. Though she'd pushed it up to MAX, the unit was feeble against the heat; when it blew in her face, her knees felt hot; the back seat area was twenty degrees warmer than the front. Dwight was now in the supermarket buying lemons and tequila. He had a pretty nice car here, a Buick Riviera with a red interior that still smelled new. She didn't know how she got into these places.
It's a haunting book, one I return to. Johnson's other works are a bit more famous. And if you dig that stuff, I'd recommend the music of James McMurtry for a vibe if interrupted by form, nevertheless makes for an otherwise whole voice of the kind you're looking for
This is probably the opposite of what you're looking for, but the sort of regionalism you might be interested in can be found in some of the more literary of Joan Didion's essays.
Not that they're necessarily any good on their own, but the essays focus on that sort of region, and follow from an almost-McCarthy-esque impulse of description.
Richard Shelton is good too.
>Springsteen
Hack
The Heart, She Holler
>TV show
no
>Adult Swim tv show
double no
Say that to me irl and I'll 'hack' your fucking face up motherfucker
Do it buddy
>American Midwest
>Surrealism
>a bit more contemporary
There's the Great Ohio Desert that you could check out.
>DFW
I'm skeptical, yet intrigued.
Not even memeing.
Early Gogol
No joke
The Dark Tower series
FILM RECS FOR SOUTHERN GOTHIC-ESQUE
Salesman
Two-Lane Blacktop >>>
Fat City >
Badlands >
Stranded in Canton
Days of Heaven
Thunder & Lightfoot
Strozek
Wise Blood
Paris, Texas >>>
The Thin Blue Line
After Dark, My Sweet
The Hot Spot >
Dust Devil
A Perfect World >>
Buffalo 66
No Country for Old Men
>film
Thank you though
Of course. I like this thread, pic is comfy and the things you're asking for are things I'm looking for without realizing it. I would also add to this
'Play it as it Lays,' by Joan Didion
'Dog of the South,' by Charles Portis for a real Springsteen vibe
Cannery Row, by Steinbeck
'The Last Picture Show' & 'Texasville' def high up on the rec list
And Tony Hillerman write great Southwest detective books. High in mood if not the most substantial
On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert, I collect my money and head back into town.
Anyone have any PNW Gothic?
This would be very interesting indeed. It would have quite a different vibe from more Middle/Western/Southern American literature no doubt.
In The Heart of The Heart of The Country has some stuff like that
>Pacific North West
>Gothic
You should check out Meyers, Stephanie
good one
Thanks!
...
I know no one asked for this list, but it looks great. Thanks for posting.
Carl Sandburg
No problem. Always looking out for stuff that vibes like this. Though really, you could probably reduce that list down to Paris, Texas and Stranded in Canton (and add 'Bright Leaves') and have perhaps the three premier southern films.
Shit almost forgot about 'Nashville'
Cheers
Edward Abbey and Leslie Silko might be worth checking out.
Edward Abbey is great
Phillip Roth - American Pastoral
DOGS ON MAIN STREET HOWL
CAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND
IF I COULD TAKE ONE MOMENT INTO MY HAND
>Stroszek
>Paris, Texas
It must be because they're European, but Herzog and Wenders somehow manage to make films about America that feel as if they take place elsewhere. Both seem to have a very grim view of the US.
...
Wim Wenders has always been more U2 than Springsteen imo
America is big enough to encompass 'grim,' desu. I'll give you that Stroszek is perhaps a bit too oddball to be a true blue American movie, but Paris, Texas reverberates at least for this USr
To that film list I would add in 'Nebraska' which is a perfect little movie.
To add to the actual intent of this post, I'd add:
Jesus Son, another one by Denis Johnson
The Arizona parts of Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Safak
And rather pulpy, but The Blessing Way, by Tony Hillerman. Reads like chocolate. Leans toward Southwest exclusive
It's because they came from German new wave which predicated itself upon anti-Hollywood sensibilities
raymond carver
I haven't read the book, but I was always under the impression it was set in like, New Jersey or something
Of course! This absolutely! Run, don't walk to 'So Much Water, So Close to Home.' About as perfect a short thing you can get in English
Clean, Shaven
Awesome
Like the swans
Is that a book?
Evenings on the Farm Near Dikanka is excellent. If feels like what great Midwest-American literature could be, if we actually produced any literature to speak of.
Wow that's oddly inspiring. I am a proponent of the idea that sometimes, once a field has been fallow awhile (here the Midwest/Southwest focus of the thread), the best voice to analyze it might be someone outside of the culture.
Would you have any other similar "left-of-field" recommendations?
Don Delillo - Underworld
I felt like making a thread like this one and then I saw it. Come on fellas, let's get more recs like OP and others have suggested. Suggested feeling desired: Doom.
Dumping some thematically appropriate pictures
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I hesitate to post this because they're rare finds, but what the hell. I might as well give it a shot.
A Nickels Worth of Skim Milk -- Robert J. Hastings
A Knight of Another Sort: Prohibition Days and Charlie Birger -- Gary DeNeal.
I come from Southern Illinois which shouldn't be much different from any corner of the midwest, but we've had our share of interesting history in the early 20th century from riotous union members to local gangsters who fought the Klan in the days of prohibition.
...
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These look good, man. You ever read Black's 'You Can't Win'?
More!
True West by Sam Shepard
I dunno. A lot of literature from Protestant Europe I feel has an affinity with the Midwest. And really, we are the long-lost cousins of the New Englanders, so culturally we have a lot in common.
I'm just waiting for the great Midwestern writer to come along and change the whole literary scene. It would be nice if I could be that writer, but I think the odds of that happening are one in a million.
>It would be nice if I could be that writer, but I think the odds of that happening are one in a million.
You never know until you try. It's all about attitude. No great writer has ever accomplished anything by saying "Oh I could never do that". Even if only 1 or 2 people end up reading your book and loving it, I think that in itself is worth it.
>I come from Southern Illinois which shouldn't be much different from any corner of the midwest, but we've had our share of interesting history in the early 20th century from riotous union members to local gangsters who fought the Klan in the days of prohibition.
Neato
Full disclosure, these are a buddies of mine. Gonna throw more of those out there as well as a whole mess of Eggleston just to keep the vibes in this comfy thread up
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"Select All Images with a Store Front" core
Yeah, and whats more, you can't help but me from the place you're from. The stuff will come out if you sit at the desk and stay awake for most of it
And what's more, let's get a comfy theme appropriate playlist going
>101.9 KINK
My mom's favorite radio station
If someone didn't already mention MemeCarthy's the Border trilogy is just great for the southwest portion of this thread.
Also Middlesex by Eugenides
Maybe The Corrections?
Also, if not a little outdated, Bellow could work here and there
Eugenides is great
Rain Dogs by Sean Doolittle is crime fiction that hits that spot you describe. Strong on mood, good book.
The Cleanup by Doolittle is a tick or two better as crime fiction, set in Omaha in the winter.
In Cold Blood taps deep into the midwest mood/feel including the gothic/scarifying side.
Great Plains by Ian Frazier is non-fiction, travel-writing plus some history. Great read, beautiful descriptions of the land.
The Desert Rose by Larry McMurtry. Set in the arid parts of Las Vegas with a vivid sense of place.
thanks!
Okay, what we have so far:
DRUDGERY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI: MIDWEST AND ENVIRONS
Middlesex, by Eugenides
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country: And Other Stories, by William H. Gass
Jesus Son, by Denis Johnson
Selected Poems, by Carl Sandburg
American Pastoral, by Philip Roth (set in Jersey, but hey, OP has a Springsteen pic up)
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen
Rain Dogs, by Sean Doolittle
The Cleanup, by Sean Doolittle
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk, by Robert J. Hastings
A Knight of Another Sort: Prohibition Days and Charlie Birger, by Gary DeNeal
Great Plains, by Ian Frazer
STRUNG ALONG A RATTLESNAKE SPEEDWAY: THE SOUTHWEST
Angels, by Denis Johnson
Dog of the South, by Charles Portis
Play it as it Lays, by Joan Didion
Essays, by Joan Didion
The Desert Rose, by Larry McMurtry
The Last Picture Show & Texasville, by Larry McMurtry
Tony Hillerman detective pulp (‘The Blessing Way’ was recommended down the list)
Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
CASCADIA FOR THE CRANIA: THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
So Much Water, So Close to Home, by Raymond Carver
NEAR MISSES?
Evenings on the Farm Near Dikanka, by Gogol
The Broom of the System (Haven’t read, can anybody vouch for this as being in line with goal?)
Edward Abbey (Though good, off the mark)
Leslie Silko (while definitely “southwest,” I wouldn’t say she matches overall with the requested vibe)
The Dark Tower Series (No)
Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Safak (A good one, but waaay more about Armenians)
Underworld, by Don Delillo (again, this is set square in New York, so while great, iffy)
You Can’t Win, by Frank Black (just straight up Depression era stuff)
I just read middlesex. Here's a lil quote about some classic Midwestern shit: (He's talking about wealthy people at a prepschool)
"They lived near the water and had grown up, like all Grosse Pointers, pretending that our shallow lake was no lake at all but actually the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean. Yes, that was the secret wish of the Charm Bracelets and their parents, to be not Midwesterners but Easterners, to affect their dress and lockjaw speech, to summer in Martha's Vineyard, so say 'back East' instead of 'out East,' as though their time in Michigan represented only a brief sojourn away from home."
'So Much Water, So Close to Home' has got to be one of my favorite stories ever. Excellent stuff
>Desert SW
If we're getting close to LA is that not right?
LA is unique, but southern california outskirts are fair game
William Gass: Omensetter's Luck and In the Heart of the Heart of the Country
Are you memeing or serious? I've never read Gass btw.
No, he's good. Gaddis too.
I was gonna rec this. Gass is kind of Midwestern gothic in that book.
Oh cool.
His essays are also stuff you have to run to. Less the topic of thread, but just beautiful beautiful
this
I've been reading Dog of the South recently and LOVE it
I'll throw my hat into the Gass recommendations
Charles Portis is criminally underrated. True Grit for example is leagues beyond either of the films
Pic is exactly what OP is looking for (Southwest Strain)
Marilynne Robinson 100%
any works in particular you recommend?
Keeping this alive
Hard Rain Falling takes place in Portland, and is worth reading.
Yeah, this is a strong thread. Slow and steady.
Gilead is deep Presbyterian Iowa shuffling around. Insidious this time of the year
A big part of DFW's literary hangups was his consciousness to being (or feeling he had to be) the next 'great white midwest author.'
For that reason, hafta submit TPK
Southwestern gothic: Stephen King, Desperation.
Faulkner
this. The GOAT.
Is it actually good though?
Quality thread, bumping for curiosity.
Anyone have books related to mining in the Southwest, historical or fictional whatever? Gold and silver or coal mining which are the more obvious ones are fine, but stuff like copper and zinc and diamond and talc mines which began to take more prominence the latter part of 1800s and very common well into the 20th century many fell victim to a decline Cold War era .
You have to treat it as it is, which is an unfinished novel. At least by my definitions, that rather more takes it out of the running as far as being comparable to any of the other works here. However, for what we're looking for as far as this thread goes, there are sections within (and it is a biggin) which I'd say qualify for what we're looking for, being of the regions around Chicago. Some of those sections is right there among the best of anything the guy ever wrote. But of course, those good bits are surrounded by waves of fractured stuff that would perhaps interest the DFW first over someone merely searching for deeper geographic fiction. I recommend it merely as a supplemental consideration to these already worthwhile recommendations.