tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50420135993662691072024-03-12T23:32:22.326-07:00 The Literary.This site has migrated to robertmdetman.substack.com Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-45431449322220523882017-05-10T15:48:00.000-07:002017-05-10T15:48:04.755-07:00Writing and (Virtual) CommunityI often consider the notion that we write because we’re trying to bridge a gap of connection to others. Before I had ever published, I longed for a community as if this would legitimize me as a writer. But even as I craved connection, I was wary of demands and expectations put on me, for example, if I took a writing class, or let an editor touch my work. All of which happened in due time, though Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-87517511024613550302017-01-08T08:13:00.001-08:002017-01-08T08:13:03.565-08:00On the Future (Further) Intersection of Technology and Literature
One form of literature, at least the one that thrives through publishing on the internet, has been transformed by the internet. I’m talking about short fiction, the kind that is most amenable to the attention spans of individuals who use electronic devices. This is one way that we could posit that technology has made an impact on literature. This literature, in fact, is most often where the Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-7119800320653876662016-12-24T15:39:00.000-08:002016-12-24T15:39:11.059-08:00Coming of Age in Bergen: Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle: Book Five
Outside of a classic that contemporary readers often feel obligated to read, for example, Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, few probably ever spend 3000 pages reading a single writer. There are only a handful of writers who I would admit I would stay with for over a million words: J.M. Coetzee. Norman Rush, possibly. Beckett, of course. Beckett’s entire oeuvre likely doesn’t equal 3000 pages. I Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-90837326632442855922016-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:002016-12-09T10:00:15.198-08:00Vicarious Narratives Part I: On David Szalay’s All That Man Is
The relationship of a reader to a work of fiction, when it works, is symbiotic. In the best instances--or at least the most conducive to a level of enjoyment for the reader--there is an element of the vicarious. This is the sense that you, as a reader, are privy to certain information. The irony of this is that you can feel this way--when anyone else who picks up the book will get the same Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-38036965292414805132016-10-30T14:54:00.002-07:002016-10-30T14:54:54.510-07:00The Inward Gaze (Part I), and “My Dinner With Andre”The position Andre takes in My Dinner with Andre is a despondent one of privilege. He’s so conscious of his despair that it seems a thing of study, a project, and he comes off much like a maudlin Woody Allen character. Wally points this out to Andre, but in the process he becomes almost strident, and defensive, while Andre maintains a cool unflappability. For all of his despair--and outrageous Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-78855980255950646792016-09-10T20:36:00.000-07:002016-10-04T09:46:28.890-07:002016 Best of the Net nomination for "Building the Perfect Wings"Decomp magazine has nominated my piece, "Building the Perfect Wings" for the 2016 Best of the Net. Thanks to the editorial staff at Decomp for selecting my work!
As well, my first official published poem, "Reversal", will be appearing in Crack the Spine Literary Magazine next month. Thanks to them, and to all the editors who have given these votes of confidence for my work, now and over theRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-86566897468992724462016-07-25T10:44:00.002-07:002016-08-17T11:34:47.085-07:00Five (Make that Six) New Works Going Live SoonIt's been a busy and productive time, and this explains the dearth of recent posts. However, I have new pieces upcoming in five journals, in the following alphabetical order (links added as available):
Draft: The Journal of Process, and their Marginalia blog will feature my piece "False Memoir, True Fiction: The Slippery Slope."
JMWW will publish "Survey" on August 17th.
Fiction Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-78729140014630110172016-06-21T13:33:00.003-07:002016-06-21T13:33:57.183-07:00Creative Nonfiction in Gravel Magazine, "The Other Animals"
A new work of memoir / creative nonfiction is live at Gravel Magazine. "The Other Animals" details my crafty evasion of the future Trump demographic, while camping in Michigan's Nordhouse Dunes several years ago. In the piece, I give a nod to the late Jim Harrison, who provided silent counsel on that singularly life changing trip. Many thanks to Gravel Magazine for their great work, and toRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-1683008886409577432016-02-28T00:00:00.000-08:002016-02-28T00:00:08.270-08:00Flash Fiction vs. The Novel: How to Make a Writing Practice in Today’s Market
The path to a successful writing career is not always clearly marked. I think of Samuel Beckett writing Waiting for Godot, and his surprise and despair at its eventual success. Over the years, this unprecedented play would eventually astound and confound audiences worldwide, making the author’s name. Yet Beckett had been writing fiction for years, and his foray into playwriting was initially outRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-3800440641040383852016-02-01T13:30:00.000-08:002016-02-08T18:07:10.052-08:00New short fiction in Decomp Magazine, "Building the Perfect Wings"Thanks to editor Jason Jordan at Decomp Magazine, who has accepted for publication my fiction "Building the Perfect Wings" for their February issue. This is another fatherhood related piece, my pet theme lately. Decomp is a terrific old school literary web magazine with a discerning emphasis on experimental and short work. Publishing since 2004, they have an estimable web legacy--and plenty of Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-49124910913182511482015-12-31T14:34:00.001-08:002016-01-06T07:18:43.513-08:00"The Trials of the Father" forthcoming new fiction at Literary OrphansFiction usually enters the world under mysterious circumstances. Over time, it can molder in a file, or it can take on a new life through the process of publishing. As I’m always extremely grateful to see my work published, there's almost a greater satisfaction in seeing a piece published after it is rejected by the venue that it was originally written for.
Literary Orphans, commenting on Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-30019464063788094772015-11-12T11:05:00.003-08:002015-11-12T11:05:56.472-08:00Bringing Secondary Characters to Life
In the midst of trying to solve a writing problem in my fiction, I tend to “go to the literature,” to quote Joan Didion. I used to do this when I was a far less confident writer though with mixed results, since I wasn’t always certain about what I was looking for. Presently I’m looking for ways of bringing a secondary character to life in my first person point of view novel.
After reading the Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-71752591196381265362015-10-08T20:00:00.000-07:002015-10-15T08:56:28.370-07:00Roth’s First Person Point of View in Operation Shylock
I find that, in spite of my own sage advice to myself, I am working on a first person novel again. John Gardner, in The Art of Fiction, says “In any long fiction, Henry James remarked, use of the first person point of view is barbaric.” And yet, if this is the case, we don’t seem to lack for first person point of view novels, I’d venture far too many to count since the beginning of time. Is Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-82638411994441404972015-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:002015-10-17T19:49:35.510-07:00A Variation on the Writing Path: Part II: The MFA
You may never feel like a real writer until someone gives you that first resounding acceptance, and requests your work for their journal. At least I never did. In my time at grad school, I had a few publishing nibbles that somehow convinced me to never give up. But ultimately, I lived in the convincing bliss--and still do--that there is something worthwhile in the act of writing.
In regard toRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-36759594279932049292015-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:002015-08-08T00:00:00.624-07:00Are there literary uses for boredom?
I’ve read innumerable novels and stories that have slowly and surely
bored me to where I was ready to hurl the book through a window just to get it
as far away from me as possible. I’ve read recently a number of novels that
have been selected for prize shortlists--which would seem to remove them from
running in the boredom contest. Instead, I found myself wondering: what defines
when a Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-72524850923778753452015-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:002015-06-25T13:04:33.001-07:00Guest blog post up at Superstition [Review]
The Literary is fast approaching seven years old in August. When Superstition Review asked me to write a guest blog post, I was given carte blanche to write about anything I wanted. After four fits and starts, some of which made more sense in a different context, I hit on a novel idea. In honor of the seven year itch, I decided to write about--this blog. That piece, "From Journal into BlogRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-59018091128667178832015-06-09T02:00:00.000-07:002015-10-17T19:51:20.800-07:00A Variation on the Writing Path: Part I
When I first began writing, on my
own, with no teachers, no schools, no resources other than the friends I gave
pages of carefully formatted prose to, I didn’t know even the tip of the
iceberg when it came to the business of writing. In fact, it might be said that
finding the resources for tapping into this information were scarce. This has
been nearly 25 years ago. It’s often a wonder to me Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-36920013832946186232015-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:002015-06-02T12:14:16.206-07:00The Life of Reading
I recently finished volume four of Karl
Ove Knausgaard’s beguiling and satisfying My
Struggle. I was reluctant to get to the end, feeling the immense, possibly
false affinity that I get as a reader, believing I’ve found a friend in the
writer. (It didn’t help that I pitched him my novel when he was at City Arts and Lectures, and he graciously heard me out.) Eventually, I had to finish the Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-29778278662853705162015-05-25T23:59:00.000-07:002015-05-25T23:59:00.042-07:00Getting Out of My Own Way: A Note About Hubris vs. PerseveranceFor the longest time, though I desperately wanted to be a writer, I was convinced that I was incapable. It took me a ridiculously long time to prove to anyone that this wasn’t true.
Many years ago, in Chicago, my first writing gig was reviewing books for a popular weekly. Somehow I had the confidence to land this plum position, which possibly could have led to a career. But I had no sense how Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-82193613458210985852015-04-01T08:46:00.002-07:002015-04-01T08:46:31.477-07:00"Anger Management" New Experimental Fiction at (ĕm)
My experimental short fiction, "Anger Management", leads off issue #3 of (ĕm): A Review of Text and Image, which can be downloaded as a free PDF from their library. Thanks to my fellow contributors to this terrific magazine, and to editor Jim Miller.Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-48975513563405374342015-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:002015-02-12T12:09:16.832-08:00My Review of Jacob M. Appel's Einstein's Beach HouseMy review of Jacob M. Appel's short story collection Einstein's Beach House is up at Nomadic Press. I first discovered Mr. Appel's work when I began submitting my own efforts many years ago--and found his terrific stories published in nearly every journal I came across. So I was intrigued to finally get to review one of his outstanding collections. Check out the review here at Nomadic Press.Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-17309331991703353662015-01-18T09:15:00.002-08:002015-01-30T16:17:09.979-08:00Wide Ranging Interview with Robert Detman at Wisdom of the WestMany thanks to generous fellow blogger Jim at Wisdom of the West, who over the years has left insightful comments on items in this blog. Jim is publishing a serial interview with me about my novel, Impossible Lives of Basher Thomas. This complete interview is available here. The interview took place last month, and covers a variety of items, mainly concerned with character development, Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-32093367658353722202015-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:002015-01-11T21:36:03.092-08:00Rave Review of IMPOSSIBLE LIVES OF BASHER THOMAS from Nomadic PressNomadic Press has provided a rave review for Impossible Lives of Basher Thomas:
“This is a novel that will stick with you because of its poetical means of exploring the human condition and Detman’s uncanny ability to weave beautiful, and haunting, imagery.”
Full review here: http://www.nomadicpress.org/reviews/impossiblelivesofbasherthomasRobert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-12875942837349697932014-12-18T09:25:00.000-08:002014-12-18T09:25:51.638-08:00Review of Nell Zink's The Wallcreeper at Nomadic PressThe terrific Nomadic Press and editor J.K. Fowler have published my irrepressible review of Nell Zink's charming The Wallcreeper, in the reading of which I learned more about bird watching than I ever thought possible.Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5042013599366269107.post-91784356444968939302014-11-20T08:23:00.000-08:002014-12-18T09:26:06.274-08:00Publishers Weekly's glowing assessment of IMPOSSIBLE LIVES OF BASHER THOMAS a novel by Robert Detman
Here, in its entirety, is the review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on the novel:
"Detman pulls
together various forms and styles in an ambitious novel composed of
transcripts, letters, and footnotes, told in sharp prose. On August 17, 1982,
renowned photojournalist Nathan “Basher” Thomas is fatally shot. Decades later,
Harry Ogletree, one of Basher’s closest friends, decides to write a screenplay
Robert Detmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13451775891714123809noreply@blogger.com0