AUGUST 23 (ATLANTA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL)
The Chang-directed/Cullin-produced documentary LIFE IN G-CHORD will be having its debut at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, leading off the musical documentary features on the evening of Wednesday, August 23rd. If you're in the neighborhood and have a hankering, tickets and the festival's schedule can be found here:
http://www.auff.org/

AUGUST 11 (TIDELAND IN THE U.K.)
TIDELAND opens up in the U.K. today. Advance good word on the film has already been offered by The Guardian ("Rarely has there been such an unsentimental, unflinching portrayal of a fraught childhood on screen."), UK Times ("It's not always comfortable to watch but there is a twisted genius at work that makes Tideland an unforgettable experience."), The Telegraph ("It's safe to say that Tideland is not like any other movie you'll see all year."), and The Scotsman ("In many ways Tideland is pure uncut Gilliam, a jarring blend of Gothic Americana and Victorian English fairy fantasy.... It is a hallucinatory exploration of childhood imagination and survival.") Cool.

AUGUST 8 (A BLOOMBERG REVIEW)
A nice review of TIDELAND from todayÕs Bloomberg ("Gilliam's Gripping Tideland">. Read it here while you can:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=acxKqtajx8Yw&refer=culture

AUGUST 1 (MUCHAS GRACIAS)
Chang-Cullin want to send out a heartfelt thank you to all the good folks who took the time to watch the early cut of LIFE IN G-CHORD and then offered balanced critiques, especially Rennie Sparks, Brad Thompson, Charise Christian, Susan Richardson, Charles Cullin, and Luke Epplin. The feedback was greatly appreciated, and, as a result, the documentary is now much tighter and about six minutes shorter.

JULY 7 (THE JAPAN TIMES)
Excellent review of TIDELAND published today in The Japan Times, in which the film was given 4 out of 5 stars: "Tideland messes with your head, and it makes you look closely at the borderline between imagination and insanity. It strikingly contrasts childhood innocence with adult corruption, and imaginative creation with pointless destruction. It will make you laugh, cry, cringe, sigh, and, when it's over, wonder what in hell just hit you. In a word: Gilliam." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

JULY 6 (KINKY FRIEDMAN FOR GOVERNOR)
Even as a lapsed Texan, Mitch feels it is his duty and moral obligation to throw his full support behind Kinky "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore" Friedman's campaign to be the next governor of Texas. Mitch says: "Any man that promises to appoint Willie Nelson to a political post is the right guy for the governor's job. So, please, vote for Kinky. Or, better yet, a vote for Kinky is a vote for the true Buddha of Texas, i.e. Willie." To learn more about Kinky's political reform agenda, please visit here:
http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/political_reform.html

And to catch a glimpse of Mitch's old buddy Richard Harwell playing drums behind Kinky, head this way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt8UQqX2cIA

JULY 1 (KRAINA TRAW)
A lovely Polish edition of TIDELAND (KRAINA TRAW in Poland) was just published by Proszynski. Check it out here:
http://www.proszynski.pl/asp/fiszka.asp?ksiazka_id=14250

JUNE 19 (TOKYO EYE)
Mitch just finished a commission for an anthology entitled THE EMPTY PAGE: FICTION INSPIRED BY SONIC YOUTH, which should be published by Serpent's Tail in October 2007 (as part of a longer series that will include books of fiction revolving around The Fall, The Smiths, The Ramones, Joy Division, and The Velvet Underground). Mitch's contribution is based on the song "Tokyo Eye," and it is the first short story he has decided to set loose on the world in about seven years. Other stories in the collection come from the likes of J Robert Lennon, Paul Di Filippo, Katherine Dunn, Kevin Sampsell, Scott Mebus, Mary Gaitskill, Nathan Tyree, and Hiag Akmakjian. On December 13, the Serpent's Tail editor will be meeting up with Sonic Youth in Paris so the band can read the manuscript and ponder the introduction they'll be writing for the book. For more of what Serpent's Tail offers, go this a-way:
http://www.serpentstail.com/

JUNE 3 (Mitch's Big U.K. adventure)
Sure, there was jet lag, a lot of jet lag, but Mitch's jaunt across the pond was well worth the price of utter fatigue. The kind folks at Revolver films treated him better then he should have been treated, really. A late-night Soho dinner with Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni was a personal highlight for Mitch, as was the beautiful train ride from London to Wales in the good company of Giorgia Lo Savio and Terry & Amy Gilliam.

Mitch reports: "Wales was hilly, and green, too green, very very green. But the green room at the festival wasn't green at all--it was white, a white tent. Then while Alan Alda napped on a nearby couch, Terry introduced me to Daniel Handler, the writer of the Lemony Snicket books. I'm such an idiot though, because for the longest time I was standing there in front of Daniel Handler while waiting for Lemony Snicket to show up. It took me a while to realize they were one and the same."

Following a brief and bewildering interview for BBC television, Mitch and Terry introduced TIDELAND to an extremely responsive crowd at the Hay Festival. The Q&A and book signing afterwards gave both Mitch and Terry a chance to chat with some of the crowd, where they also scribbled their names into brand new paperbacks of the U.K. tie-in edition of the TIDELAND novel. Mitch says: "Both the French and British tie-in editions look fantastic, and are exactly how they should be re-issued at this time. I'm pleased." Besides signing tie-in editions, Mitch scrawled his way through several stacks of his other books, much to his surprise. Now, at long last, he knows who in the world is reading all of his books: the Welsh. Another revelation was that a literary festival crowd responded more openly to the film version of TIDELAND than the average film festival crowd. Odd.

MAY 31 to JUNE 3, 2006 (U.K./The Guardian Hay Festival)
Mitch will be in London to do some promotional jabbering in advance of the U.K. summer release of the TIDELAND movie. Some book signings are also likely to occur, but no dates have yet been set. On June 3, TIDELAND will be screened at The Guardian Hay Festival in Wales (that's at Hay-On-Wye, not Ham-On-Rye, okay?); a Q&A with Mitch and Terry Gilliam will immediately follow the screening. For more information and tickets, here's a good place to start:
http://www.hayfestival.com/hayfestival/programme.asp

MAY 19, 2006 (Audie Award)
Simon Jones' excellent audiobook reading of A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND (HighBridge Audio) garnered the top award in the Best Unabridged Fiction category on Friday night. The honor was bestowed at the APA's 11th Audie Awards ceremonies held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and was selected in a juried competition which had more than 700 entries this year and more than 100 judges. Right on.

MAY 15, 2006 (ThinkFilm)
ThinkFilm has picked up U.S. distribution for Terry Gilliam's TIDELAND. Look for an August theater release in the states to coincide with the Canadian release.

MAY 13, 2006 (Getting Gilliam)
Vincenzo Natali was kind enough to show The Chang-Cullin Collective a finished cut of GETTING GILLIAM, his documentary about Terry Gilliam during the shooting of TIDELAND. Mitch says, "It's a loving look at Terry and Terry's process, and makes a very good companion piece to the movie. On a personal level, it's just a really wonderful keepsake from the production. We made a ton of good friends while up in Canada, so it was nice to revisit them again through Vincenzo's eyes." Look for GETTING GILLIAM on the CBC, and as a bonus feature on the eventual DVD releases of TIDELAND.

MAY 10, 2006 (Life In G-Chord)
Peter's two-year long filming of a documentary about Hisao Shinagawa wrapped up at The David Henry Hwang Theater in downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district. The last day of shooting saw Hisao running through a set of songs which spanned his forty-two year career as a songwriter and performer, including several voice-shredding versions of his song "Rock 'N' Roll." With the documentary now titled LIFE IN G-CHORD, the next month or so will be spent on getting a first cut of the film.

MAY 9, 2006 (Anchor Paperback)
A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND has been released as a trade paperback through Anchor Books. Grab a copy, or two. It makes a decent door stop.

APRIL 2006 (The Post-War Dream)
Mitch's latest novel is now finished, and he is very, very tired. He flinches when he sees written words. His eyes are bloodshot. His hands shake late at night. Sometimes he has nightmares about the ghosts of trees...all the poor trees turned into ink jet paper...those trees fed through his printer just so the book could get finished. Check this space in the next few months for more information.

FEBRUARY 18, 2006 (CAITLIN'S LORD OF THE FLIES)
In honor of William Golding's novel THE LORD OF THE FLIES, Mitch's niece Caitlin has animated a trailer for the book. Yep, that's right, a film trailer for a book, and it's about time we say! Caitlin's handiwork can be viewed here (check it out): http://newgrounds.com/portal/view/293485

JANURAY 31, 2006 (Audie Nominations)
The Audio Publishers Association announced that A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND is a literary fiction finalist for the 2006 Audies. The winners will be announced May 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

JANUARY 29, 2006 (GOODBYE, GRANDADDY)
Good things do come to end, and great things do too. After 14 years of making some of the most amazing music America has had to offer the universe, Grandaddy has decided to call it a day. This sucks for Mitch, and it sucks for Peter. But that's how fans are inclined to feel when a beloved band wraps it up on a high note.

Grandaddy's Aaron had this to say: "Please excuse me while I limp off into the sunset." Fair enough. We love you Grandaddy. We miss you already. The burning embers can be poked at here: http://www.grandaddylandscape.com/

JANUARY 3, 2006 (BEST BOOKS OF 2005)
Playback:stl has selected A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for its Best Fiction Books of 2005, as did the folks over at Popmatters. Popmatters's picks can be read here: http://www.popmatters.com/books/features/best2005/fiction2.shtml

JANUARY 2, 2006 (BRYAN HARVEY/HOUSE OF FREAKS)
Former House of Freaks songwriter and guitarist Bryan Harvey was found murdered with his wife and children in the basement of their Richmond, VA home. While House of Freaks never quite reached the heights of other late '80s bands, the drum-and-guitar sound that both Harvey and Johnny Hott created paved the way for later two-piece units like Giant Sand, circa Long Stem Rant, and The White Stripes. The few albums that Harvey and Hott made remain wonderful creations of sharp, insightful, and Southern-gothic tinged rumblings. It's music that is well worth revisiting and shouldn't be overshadowed by the brutal, senseless loss of a very talented man and his loved ones.

JANUARY 1, 2006 (HAPPY HAPPY)
Well, we managed to survive another one. Here's hoping 2006 rings grander & brighter for you all.

DECEMBER 13, 2005 (BEST OF AUDIOBOOKS)
AudioFile picked Simon Jones' reading of A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for its "Best Top 10 Fiction Audiobooks of 2005" list.

DECEMBER 8, 2005 (BEST MYSTERIES & THRILLERS)
The Chicago Tribune picked A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for its "Best of 2005" in the Mysteries & Thrillers category. The selections were made by book critic Dick Adler.

DECEMBER 5, 2005 (HOLIDAY BOOK GUIDE)
The Detroit Free Press has selected A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for its 2005 Holiday Book Guide. Double cool beans.

NOVEMBER 30, 2005 (BEST FICTION 2005)
The Christian Science Monitor has selected A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for its Best Fiction 2005 list. Cool beans.

NOVEMBER 30, 2005 (UPDATES)
Updates have been added to the following sections: Home, News, Reviews, The Art Of Peter Chang, and My Photos.

NOVEMBER 25, 2005 (GOBBLE GOBBLE WITH A MAN CALLED HISAO)
Contrary to his own ruminations about his symbolic beard of death, Hisao Shinagawa is alive and well. Mitch & Peter spent a quiet Thanksgiving with Mr. Shinagawa, eating a feast of noodles and pork in Chinatown, and talking about the HIROSHIMA BABY documentary. As Peter continues editing the film, Mitch has begun assembling a soundtrack from the Hisao Archives--some tracks dating back to 1972 in Tokyo, 1979 Nashville sessions produced by Jack Clements, with more recent material recorded over the last two years at local farmer's markets and Hisao's kitchen table.

NOVEMBER 24, 2004 (AKIHIKO HARUTA)
On the 16th, Mr. Akihiko Haruta passed away after suffering a massive stroke in Tokyo. Mr. Haruta was not only a dear friend of Mitch's, but he was also a very respected editor who worked with many of the great modern Japanese writers (Yukio Mishima & Ryu Murakami being among them). While writing A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND, it was Mr. Haruta who read over the Japanese sections of the novel, offering helpful suggestions and observations about that time period in his country's history. Furthermore, the Japanese letter found on page 137 of the hardback edition was created for the novel by Mr. Haruta and his son Amon.

Mitch writes: "Akihiko was a truly wonderful man, very smart and very personable, and the kindness and support he showed both me and my work was most appreciated. On a more personal level, Akihiko presented a rare opportunity to talk with someone about the books and writers that I love, and, too, I was able to learn much from him about what it was like to work as an editor with a writer like Mishima. When I was in Tokyo in 2002, Akihiko--along with his wife Ruriko--not only made sure that I was well fed and treated as a welcome guest in Japan, but also went out of his to take me to some of the city's great literary sites. The afternoon in which we walked together on the grounds of the Imperial Palace will always stay with me as a highlight of my first trip to Japan; and while I have a hard time remembering the alcohol-laden details, I still smile when I think of the amount of beer the two of us shared at Narita Airport (when Akihiko made sure I got from Tokyo to the airport safely, waiting three hours there with me until the plane departed). He literally poured me onto my plane, and I have no memory of boarding the flight or saying goodbye to him. His passing is, indeed, a heartbreaking one, but I'm better for having known such a generous, kind man."

Amon, Mr. Haruta's son, shares this: "To send him off, we dressed him in his favorite kimono, which my stepmom Ruriko weaved (she dyed the silk threads, too). We also chose to follow no religious rules in Otsuya (kind of a wake) and funeral. Instead, we chose to use songs from Frank Sinatra and music by Yo-Yo Ma and to make the whole occasion a celebration of a man who was kind and lived a full life. At the beginning of Otsuya on November 18th, I asked everyone to listen to ONE FOR MY BABY. My dad loved Sinatra, and this song reminded me of him. We also had his favorite sake in shot glasses so that each mourner can make a toast celebrating his life."

NOVEMBER 23, 2005 (LINK WRAY & CHRIS WHITLEY)
A sad week with the passing of two amazing musicians. Link Wray passed away in Denmark at the age of 76. After seeing Link perform at Club Congress in Tucson years ago, Mitch modeled the character of Noah in TIDELAND on him. As Jeff Bridges readied himself for the part in the movie, it was photographs and music by Link Wray that helped him find his way into the part.

It was also confirmed that singer-songwriter, guitarist Chris Whitley died after battling lung cancer. A serious loss, and a painful one for those who knew him and loved his music. Chris's daughter Trixie offered the following: "My father took his last breath last night the 20th of November. I would like to make it clear that the people he needed and loved the most were with him while and when he left in peace. Those were Dan, Susann, my beloved mother Helene and me. I would also like to ask you guys to understand there is a very fine line between Chris Whitley the legendary musician and Chris Whitley the Father, Brother, and Lover."

Chris's friend Howe Gelb offers his thoughts and feelings here: http://www.giantsand.com/deardiary/diary.html

NOVERMBER 22, 2005 (UNDERAPPRECIATED BOOKS)
Mitch contributes to Moorishgirl's literary blog regarding Chu T'ien-Wen's NOTES OF A DESOLATE MAN. Check it out here:
http://www.moorishgirl.com/

NOVEMBER 15, 2005 (PROFESSOR BRADLEY J. THOMPSON)
Happy Birthday, Brad!

NOVEMBER 14, 2005 (TIDELAND TRAILER)
At long last a trailer for TIDELAND, along with several film clips, can be viewed on the TIDELAND site (just find and access the map):
http://www.tidelandthemovie.com/main.html

NOVEMBER 6, 2005 (MARY GAITSKILL)
Mary Gaitskill's amazing new novel VERONICA has become a 2005 National Book Award finalist. A well deserved honor. Stay tuned!

October 29, 2005 (THIS BAND HAS NO MEMBERS)
Mitch writes: "Well, Chang & I made it back safely from weeks of wonderment in Japan. Now the post-travel ennui has settled in, and L.A. seems wide open and dull in contrast to Nippon's flawless meshing of hyper-modern and antiquity. If all goes well, we'll likely end up calling Tokyo home, but not just yet. As for our travels, we zipped around via bullet train from cities to castles to countryside to nowhere to cities, rode bikes in the rain, shared a public bath with a tattoo-covered yakuza, drank too much, ate too much, got lost in old Kyoto--and, among other things, donated a tile to the reconstruction of a temple in Nara. Chang managed to get some work done, too, and came back with a nice cache of images for the Hisao documentary. We also had the rare pleasure of spending a sake-drenched evening in the company of Howe Gelb, getting gloriously hammered in Kyoto. We also returned home with an "accidental" movie in tow, as we digitally snagged Howe's performance at the Coffee House Jittoku: camera balanced on two ash trays and a beer can, shot with Ozu-like economy. Although no soundboard recording was available, everyone involved is nicely pleased with Chang's edited version--called THIS BAND HAS NO MEMBERS--and there's some talk of perhaps a limited-edition DVD release in the future. Jim Blackwood currently has the audio and is attempting some form of mastering on the sound, so we'll see what comes of that. Watch this space. Otherwise, saunter on over to the Giant Sand website and read Howe's tour journals."

Howe Gelb's tour diary can be viewed here:
http://www.giantsand.com/deardiary/diary.html

OCTOBER 17, 2005 (DAMN, I THOUGHT I WAS J.T. LEROY)
Contrary to long-standing rumors, it turns out J.T. Leroy isn't Mitch's agent & friend Peter Steinberg, but, instead, someone named Laura Albert. Drats! A great literary hoax deserves to be toasted! Let's toast! Now, read about it all here: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/14718/

SEPTEMBER 24, 2005 (FIPRESCI AWARD AT THE 53rd SAN SEBASTIAN FILM FESTIVAL)
After the usual amount of mixed reviews that accompany any new Terry Gilliam film, TIDELAND was awarded the Fipresci Prize at Spain's San Sebastian Festival, awarded by an international jury of critics that, in their award statement, said: "Our jury focused on the international competition and found Terry Gilliam's Tideland to be the best film of the selection--a decision which provoked controversial reactions." The jury consisted of Andrei Plakhov, Russia, President ("Commersant-Daily"), Julio Feo Zarandieta, France ("Radio France Internationale"), Wolfgang Martin Hamdorf, Germany ("filmdienst"), Massimo Causo, Italy ("Corriere Del Giorno"), Sergi Sanchez, Spain ("La Razon").

Jurist Sergi Sanchez went on to write: "It is what happens when an artist jumps into the void with no safety net at all, as he blindly believes in his vision of the world: controversy is to be handed to him on a plate. This is what has happened with Tideland by Terry Gilliam, which has provoked massive desertions at a San Sebastian film festival of strong bets, on a selection of films marked by the background and form of conventions, at least in its competitive section. Together with Michael Winterbottom's film A Cock and a Bull Story, Gilliam's was the only one that dared to propose a risky and radical image, without any concessions, on a specific matter: madness as the only way of escaping in the face of a hostile environment. All this is endlessly coherent with the director's body of work, which has been frequently misunderstood by the critics, the industry, and audiences alike.

"Gilliam gives with Tideland a definitive turn of the screw to his own obsessions: the unlikely frontier that moves reality and imagination apart, his anti-heroes' infinite loneliness, contempt over any kind of moral values, and an excessive and hyperbolic claim for magic. With this film he is closing the cycle that he opened with Time Bandits (1981) -- a film from which Tideland seems to be a sinister continuation -- and which he should have finished with his unfortunately aborted Quixote project.

"Tideland is not a film for all audiences. From its very first sequence, in which Jeliza Rose (an extraordinary performance by Jodelle Ferland) prepares a heroin shot for her father (Jeff Bridges) as if she was cooking his favourite dish, the film puts its cards on the table with an incorruptible honesty. We are inside the head of a girl who has not been infected by social rules and, therefore, she is not able to tell the difference between good and evil. This is precisely the reason why her solitary trip to the other side of the mirror, dressed as an Alice who has been forced to watch transgression, deformity and insanity as the main features of a life soaked in fatality, has the looks of an inevitable nightmare. Once and for all an orphan, Jeliza Rose has to invent an alternative reality for surviving in the despairs of a wheat field and a mansion of flaking walls, with the occasional company of a retarded boy and his sister, and a glass-eyed bitch who enjoys taxidermy as a hobby.

"From then on, Tideland imposes on us the subjectivity of a poetic and crazy glance where the sordid lives together with the lyrical: the glow-worms of a summer's night share the space with stuffed corpses, the worrying heads of three Barbie dolls communicate between themselves with the marble-sculpted innocence of an abandoned girl and necrophilia and paedophilia show their noses up into an universe where light and darkness seem to have the same meaning.

"The entire film continues in this vein for this timeless Alice's madness, represented by all these visual baroques that are so typical of Gilliam, and in the end they become an antidote to indifference. You must be with him or against him: better said, either you integrate in the world that Tideland suggests or you remain completely outside from it. There is no half-way mark. When reality invades us, when catastrophe attacks us with its night shining, when a train accident returns us to life, perhaps it would be too late to confront it. Like Brazil's Sam Lowry, Jeliza Rose has crossed the line of danger and has gone the furthest she could in her delusion. It is almost the same as Terry Gilliam has done with Tideland, for his pursuit of a Quixotic dream, come hell or high water. Fighting against windmills is, after all, the same as fighting against the prejudices that trap creative freedom." Sergi Sanchez © FIPRESCI 2005

Fipresci info: http://www.fipresci.org/default.htm
San Sebastian Film Festival info: http://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2005/in/portada.htm

SEPTEMBER 19, 2005 (LARGE-PRINT SHERLOCK)
Thorndike Press has published a large print edition of A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND as part of their Senior Lifestyles Series: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786278692/qid=1131997075/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-4016990-0707813?v=glance&s=books

SEPTEMBER 17, 2005 (TIDELAND REPORT)
Mitch contributes a report on the TIDELAND premiere in Toronto to the Dreams site: http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tideprem.htm

SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 (AAAA)
Howe Gelb's new project is released today. ARIZONA AMP AND ALTERNATOR, a tasty collection of various manners of wonderment. We now make the word Gelbesque official, as there is no other way to describe this fantastic album. Fans of Howe's HISSER, ALL OVER THE MAP, and THE LISTENER will be delighted in this next installment from the man who invented alt. country. Get yourself sum here:
http://www.thrilljockey.com/album.html?title=S%2FT

SEPTEMBER 9, 2005 (TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL)
TIDELAND will receive its world premiere at the 30th Toronto International Film Festival, screened in the Masters category. M. & P. will be in attendance.

AUGUST 9, 2005 (GILLIAM INTERVIEW)
A new Terry Gilliam interview is on the Dreams site, in which he chats with Phil Stubbs about finishing TIDELAND & BROTHERS GRIMM. The interview can be read here:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tgint05.htm

AUGUST 8, 2005 (BROTHERS GRIMM)
M. & P. attended the North American premiere of Terry Gilliam's BROTHERS GRIMM at the Director's Guild. A red-carpet event with more stars, wanna-be stars, movers & shakers, and wanna-be movers & shakers than Robert Altman could have hoped to cast in THE PLAYER. Terry was in fine form, considering the jet lag and the 76 interviews he had done before the event.

JULY 24, 2005 (MITCH INTERVIEW)
A new interview with Mitch has been posted on the Dreams site, in which he has to put up with the worst interviewer he has ever dealt with. The interview can be read here:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tidecul2.htm

JUNE 16, 2005 (CENTRAL COAST PUBLIC RADIO--KUSP 88.9 FM)
Rick Kleffel's radio interview with Mitch & Laurie R. King - recorded last month in Santa Cruz, California - can be heard and/or downloaded in its entirety here:
http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2005/06-13-05.htm#061405

JUNE 15, 2005 (DRUNKEN BEES DVD)
After years of lurking about as a hard-to-find VHS, Marianne Dissard's DRUNKEN BEES, a 1994 documentary about Giant Sand, has now been made available on DVD; among the new bonus material is a music video from 1989 ("Searchlight") and a short prequel to the film that was shot at the KCRW studios in Los Angeles. To obtain a copy (15$ + 3$ shipping for US/Canada, 5$ shipping for Europe), Marianne can be contacted directly at mariannedissard@hotmail.com. The DRUNKEN BEES website:
http://amormusic.com/marianne/drunkenbees/db.html

Also, we're happy to report that Marianne will be heading into the studio soon to record a solo CD, with Joey Burns of Calexico at hand. The finished product promises to be as wonderful as she is!

JUNE 1, 2005 (BOOK TOUR WRAP UP)
Mitch reports:
The book tour is now done, finished, baked to completion. What a whirlwind it was. Peter & I ambled from one end of the country to the other, staying in hotels that made my one-bedroom apartment seem all the more tiny. Sickness loomed in Manhattan, but even through the TheraFlu/Advil/Sudafed haze it was good to see Mary Gaitskill after all these years. She looks great, just like she did in Houston. Except her hair wasn't reddish anymore. It was great, too, to finally meet everyone at the Nan A. Talese offices. An amazing bunch of talented folks, and for the first time I realized how much work goes into the production of a single book. The great thing is that SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND is printed on Nan's own paper; it's called NT2, if I recall. That's pretty cool.

After NYC we headed back to Los Angeles, where my voice disappeared at the L.A. Times Book Festival and my chest infection had already grown into something more ominous. All the medication made me feel ethereal, unresponsive, and ghost-like - at least that's how it seemed, but it provided a nice mental buffer when seated between Michael York and John Dean. My memory of the book panel with Leslie Klinger and Nicholas Meyer is beyond vague, but I do know the auditorium was packed. The following day it was pure sickness, collapse, and hardcore mega-doses of antibiotics. Good times, splat wheeze cough yuck. But by the time we zoomed over to Texas, my health was finally on the upswing. Dallas was enjoyable, mostly a family affair with my sister Charise doing the interview honors at a Barnes & Noble. Austin, too, was like a homecoming, with a few familiar faces, including my old friend Stuart Goodlett and his mother Judy Frye, a high school teacher of mine at Guthrie C.S.D. In fact, it was Mrs. Frye who taught me how to type. Then we returned to L.A. again, where I took a much-needed two weeks of recuperation before doing Bay Area events.

San Francisco was fantastic. I'd never been there before, and it was better than I expected. Actually, all my preconceptions about the city turned out to be misconceptions, so that was nice. My friend Howe told me that after we visited the Bay Area we'll wonder why on earth we're living in Los Angeles. He was right. Luckily, Peter & I had plenty of downtime there, so we roamed about like tourists, or stray ants. We wandered The Rock, Chinatown, Japantown, The Castro, Golden Gate Park, etc. The day we arrived there, the driver (Preacher Bob) who took us from the airport to our hotel, warned us that "San Francisco is a awfully permissive place." But now I'm thinking the mark of truly great city is, in fact, how permissive it actually is. I mean, while walking down the sidewalk we passed nuns, leather daddies, married couples, kids playing in a park - all within a couple of blocks - and no one seemed too aware or affected by anyone else.

Other Bay Area highlights included a cook's tour of Santa Cruz by the esteemed Laurie R. King, hanging out with Tom Barbash (an incredible writer), enjoying the good company of our event driver and media escort Cynthia Froemke, and meeting so many interesting, interested, and friendly people at each event. Lots of books signed, lots of good questions, lots of well-informed comments - and, yes yes, I'm now fully aware that I forgot to include Conan Doyle in the acknowledgements of SLIGHT. Thanks for pointing it out, all two hundred of you. My therapist and I will soon delve into the dark, wicked reasons as to why I would forget Sir Arthur in the first place, and, I promise, such a glaring oversight will be corrected in the eventual paperback edition.

Finally, the tour ended in Glendale, a few miles from where I live. Leslie Klinger & I signed books and had an enjoyable public conversation at the Mystery & Imagination Bookstore. Just before our event, Ray Bradbury did a signing there, so I arrived early in order to see one of my childhood heroes in person. Ray didn't disappoint, and I was fortunate enough to get an edition of FARENHEIT 451 signed for my sister. But, please, don't ask him to sign last names. He doesn't sign last names, people. Got it? I didn't ask him to, and you shouldn't either.

So the dust has settled and we're back home. Peter has already dived back into the Hiroshima Baby documentary, and I'll be helping him when he needs me. Otherwise, I'm verging on a deep, long creative hibernation. I really look forward to disappearing for a while, a long while. So...uh...adios...for now.

MAY 2 (WNBC SUMMER READS)
Slight Trick was picked by TimeOut New York as one their summer reads -- there were five other books. And, WNBC (New York) did a segment on the books. It aired at 5am. There's no way you saw it live, so here is the link: http://www.wnbc.com/tiny/4431738/detail.html

MAY 2005 (BOOK SENSE)
A Slight Trick of the Mind has been selected as a Book Sense Pick for May.
www.booksense.com

APRIL 26, 2005 (RAGLAND)
Our Tucson friend John Convertino is releasing his first solo CD (RAGLAND) later this month. Besides being an amazing drummer (Calexico, Giant Sand, OP8, Friends Of Dean Martinez), John is a multi-gifted songwriter and musician. This is what he had to say about his latest effort:
"I live in a town that has a train track running through it. East bound and west bound, freight and passenger. I live close to the tracks, and in the many years that I have lived here, I have been most aware of their passing, their presence. The horn blasts are the chords of Doppler effected passing. I crave to hear them, they are like a pop song to me, a melody that gets stuck in your head... but its not a melody, it's more a place, the music is a place, a place between places. That is my offering here in RAGLAND, each song is a place of synchronized head, heart, and hand. With piano, drum and vibraphone as the tools, I filled my living room with the sounds of that place. I struggled with an eight track-recording machine from the 80's that squeaked, and borrowed microphones... all I knew is that I wanted sound to hit tape, and hit it hard. All three instruments are stroked, hit and struck only to produce that which is in the moment..."
Track sample for download here
http://www.casadecalexico.com/download/JohnConvertino_BellCurve.mp3
CDs will be available on casadecalexico.com

APRIL 22, WASHINGTON POST REVIEW
"This is a lovely, tenderhearted book, full of reserve, good manners, elegance of feeling. It's what a novel should be. You don't read it to be "improved" but for the plain joy of seeing what the language can do in the hands of an affectionate, very accomplished writer.
Read the whole shebang here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7946-2005Apr21.html

APRIL 21, 2005 (BOOK TOUR)
Much to his chagrin, Mitch begins an extended book tour on this date, with Peter in tow to keep him on track. Along the way, he'll be rubbing elbows with Mary Gaitskill in New York, Nicolas Meyer & Leslie Klinger in Los Angeles, Laurie King in San Mateo, and other notables who were kind enough to sit down with Mitch and talk to him about his latest book. Go here for tour dates, locations, and general info: http://www.randomhouse.com/nanatalese/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0-385-51328-3&view=isbn_events

APRIL 20, 2005 (Een kleine dwaling van de geest)
The Dutch edition of A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND (EEN KLEINE DWALING VAN DE GEEST) is out from Ambos/Anthos. We're not too sure what the Dutch copy is saying, but we like it anyway: "Een kleine dwaling van de geest is een spannende en tegelijk diep ontroerende roman over verlies, ouder worden, liefde, dood en de werking van het geheugen. Hoofdpersoon is Sherlock Holmes, 93 jaar, die in 1947 een teruggetrokken bestaan leidt in Sussex, waar hij bijen houdt en vecht tegen zijn geestelijke achteruitgang. Wanneer Roger, de jonge zoon van Holmes' huishoudster, in het geheim zijn werkkamer doorzoekt, ontdekt hij een manuscript over de zaak van mevrouw Keller, een lang vervlogen object van Holmes' hevige - en nooit erkende - verliefdheid. De bejaarde Sherlock Holmes is de verpersoonlijking van een afgesloten periode in onze geschiedenis, een periode van hoop en geloof in de techniek en de vooruitgang die tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog verdween en na Hiroshima definitief ophield te bestaan. Een kleine dwaling van de geest is een triomf van de literaire verbeelding, vergelijkbaar met Michael Cunninghams The Hours." Right on, right on.

APRIL 19, 2005 (LATEST BOOK RELEASED)
The Nan A. Talese/Doubleday hardback edition of A Slight Trick of the Mind hits the street on this date. HighBridge Audio versions of the book (cassette, CD) are also released, with Simon Jones reading.

APRIL 15, 2005 (DUELING SHERLOCKS, ROUND 1)
Entertainment Weekly: A Slight Trick of the Mind (B); Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary (C+).
"A fairly uneventful first round, Sandra. Nothing too surprising here, seems both Sherlocks held their own."
"Yes, Baxter, that's very true. Although I should mention that Cullin was always a C-average student during his school years."
"Good point, Sandra. Good point."

APRIL 14, 2005 (DEATH & TAXES)
Sad news arrived today regarding the death of poet Martin Scott in Charleston, Illinois. He was 46, and while the circumstances of his passing aren't yet clear, it seems he might have stumbled on the same path of other doomed confessional poets that came before him. During his years in Houston, Martin not only taught Mitch at the University of Houston, but he was also a close friend to him. Mitch relates: "Before I moved to Tucson in 1996 or 1997, we had a pretty bitter falling out, and I hadn't spoken to him since then. And even though our friendship was often complicated by too much alcohol and varying degrees of misery and mutual delusion, I always regarded Marty as very talented poet and writer. For the most part, he was a decent, funny, big hearted guy. He was generous, too, in his own way. He had a habit of stealing books from Border's, and sometimes he gave them to me as gifts. Christ, I had a ton of books he stole, everything from philosophy to martial arts stuff I wasn't even interested in. But I think it's his laugh that will always stick in my head. If you didn't know him, you can't imagine it. But if you knew him, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Two essays from Martin Scott's recently published STEALING BOOKS can be read here:
http://www.eiu.edu/~agora/Feb05/Mart.htm

APRIL 11, 2005 (BLURB PROJECT UPDATE)
Illustrator & artist Lou Beach weighs in with three tasty blurbs for popular usage. Check 'em out! And Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation holds the distinction of being the first person to take advantage of The Blurb Project. Take a look:
http://marksarvas.blogs.com/elegvar/2005/04/a_brilliant_hea.html

APRIL 10, 2005 (NPR)
Feeling completely inarticulate and ill at ease with the whole disembodied experience, Mitch appears in an allergy-medicated haze on NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday," interviewed by Sheila Kast. Listen to the interview here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4584652

APRIL 9, 2005 (BLURB PROJECT UPDATE)
Jeff Bridges offers two great new quotes to The Blurb Project.

MARCH 28, 2005 (LAWRENCE BLOCK)
Mystery writer Lawrence Block has an essay in this week's The Village Voice that addresses the continued fascination with Sherlock Holmes, including some very kind comments about A Slight Trick of the Mind. Entitled "Watching The Detective," the essay can be read here:
http://www1.villagevoice.com/news/0513,block,62469,6.html

MARCH 26, 2005 (LEWBOWSKI FEST WEST)
Thanks to The Dude himself, both Mitch & Peter were allowed to sneak into The Knitting Factor to witness Jeff Bridges surprise the gathered hordes at the annual Lewbowski Festival in Hollywood, where beer, White Russians, and potent body odor wafted like a potpourri from hell. With his band supporting him, Jeff played a tight acoustic set of five or six songs, including an appropriate sing-a-long version of Dylan's "The Man In Me" (note: Dylan was down the street playing a sold out show with Merle Haggard). It was a grand sight to behold, and the fans were beyond thrilled. The Dude really does abide:
http://www.lebowskifest.com/Media/AirAmericaNewsFest.mp3
http://www.lebowskifest.com/

MARCH 24, 2005 (TIDELAND MOVIE UPDATE)
Terry Gilliam surfaces in Mitch's inbox to assure him that both he and the TIDELAND movie are still among the living. Whoosh!
Terry relates: "Bizarrely enough, I actually feel good about things at the moment...I think it's a tremendously good and powerful and divisive film. Fists have already been brandished. Good tastes have been rumpled. Emotions have been stirred. Perhaps crosses will soon be burning. I've given them your address." Mitch thinks: Uh-oh!

MARCH 18, 2005 (THE AGONY COLUMN)
Rick Kleffel's The Agony Column Book Reviews & Commentary has an interesting piece entitled "Prizing the Derivatives: The Perfected Pastiche," which has been updated to include A Slight Trick of the Mind. The article can be read here:
http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/2005/03-18-05.htm