The Weekly Atticus (12/16/2017)

Are You A Normal Writer? | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

Dear ,I used to wish I had a parent who was a writer. It's not that I felt that a writer parent would've necessarily encouraged me to be a writer any more or less than my own parents. To be fair, neither of my parents, both of whom were accountants, encouraged or discouraged me toward or away from any particular career path. My dad always took a hands-off approach regarding my life goals. He was just as glad for me to be a professor (which I never wound up being) as a bartender (which I did). My mom regarded most of my life's aspirations with equal measure fear and encouragement so that each sort of cancelled out the other. To her, I could be anything I wanted to be! And I should dream big! But on the other hand: I had to make a living! And: don't you think this whole web thing might be a fad?It wasn't the prospect of encouragement that made having a writer parent seem like a nice thing to have. It wasn't even the idea that having a writer parent could "open doors." (Nepotism can be a curse to one's self-esteem as much as it can be a boon to one's success.) The main reason I wanted a writer parent was that it would've normalized the writer existence for me. It would have made the whole thing seem less foreign, less weird and unattainable. It would've provided a frame of reference regarding how to make a life at writing. Or even how to not make a life at writing, but do it anyway. Joe Hill(strom King) probably didn't grow up wondering how in the world he could ever be a writer. Same goes for Carol Higgins Clark. Of course, I'm sure there would be downsides to having a writer parent if you were an aspiring writer child. Martin Amis (my favorite writer) surely must've felt some kind of burden being the son of the already highly-regarded Kingsley. And then there's the not-so-trivial matter of the elder Amis openly criticizing the junior Amis' work. Being the writer child of a writer parent must have its challenges.I remember once telling my dad that I didn't want to be an accountant like him. I think I used harsher language than that. I think I told him that doing what he did seemed pretty goddamned boring, or something to that effect. I feel bad about that now. I think I was just acting out of confusion and frustration. I didn't know what I wanted to do then but I knew it wasn't charting out numbers or organizing finances.It's the holidays, and I guess it has me thinking about things like parents. And family. It's a time to revisit traditions and feel comforted by them. Or maybe we don't revisit them and that, in the end, is what feels comforting. The process of growing up and becoming one's own person can be a process of adoption and appropriation of what was once familiar. Or it can be a separation and differentiation from it. But whichever form it takes, it probably never feels normal. That's the misperception I think I had: that anything is normal. In truth, we're all making it up, and none of it ever feels normal. Even for my dad. And his dad before him. The not-normal is the whole point.Here's to being not-normal. And here's a lot of great not-normal work for you to read!We're glad you're here.

David OlimpioPublisher and Editor-in-Chief

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

BOOK REVIEW: The Hard Part Is Not the TasteA Review of ON EATING INSECTS, by Joshua Evans, Roberto Flore, et al.Review by Ashley Miller"The depth and complexity in On Eating Insects is unexpected. The cultural and global impact, the many voices within the practice and exploration, and the varied arguments for expanding the practice of insect consumption are given appropriate space in the book, while the simple beauty of experiencing and creating new foods that taste good is celebrated."READ ON

FICTION: LAKE MARY JANEBy Jeff EwingOur 2017 Flash Fiction Contest 2nd prize winning entry"'I should have been closer,' her dad said, yanking the plug on the TV. 'I should have saved her.''She saved herself,' Emily said. 'That’s even better.'”READ ON

POETRY: Talking By Timmy Chong"And the body we holdis a pill swallowed whole,that changes our chemistrieslike psychedelics do"READ ON

POETRY: A RETRACING OF HANDSBy Jessica Lynn Suchon"Sometimes when I go back to the city, I remember     the second time he hit me. He’d grown up in Chicago, but we were lost in the South Loop, tracks crossing    above our heads like iron sutures, the whole dizzying swarm"READ ON

MUSIC: A VOYAGE INTO THE UNKNOWNThe Value of Live MusicBy Nathan Leslie"We may think we attend concerts to hear good music and to socialize. In reality, we attend concerts to be drawn into the tractor beam of rhythm."READ ON

psychoanaLITical: Are We Infected?Boo Trundle discusses Life Raft Books, creative visualization, the National Book Award, puzzling minds, and schisms. READ ON

MIXED MEDIA: DANGER IN AREAn audio production by Sarah Simon"You are so elegant.(Like that but more slow.)Resilient to things that make us happy--looking, looking for anything to break, obliteratea bow,tied of knots."READ ON