You Are the Fireworks Not the Goodbyes

Here they come. Boom boom, splatters of light. Grills, slushies, flip-flops. June's gone, and that means we have to say goodbye to Today & Tomorrow's month as a featured book on The Lit Pub. Don't worry! T&T's time at The Lit Pub isn't over forever, but before we get into all that, a few huge thanks:

Foremost, thank you to Molly Gaudry and Chris Newgent for inviting Magic Helicopter in the first place. The Lit Pub is proving itself to be everything envisioned for it: an open and welcoming place to discuss new independent books and share our own stories, a smart and friendly place to talk about how we relate to what we read. In short, a real reading community. Kudos to Molly and Chris for all their hard work, and to the many folks working under The Lit Pub umbrella to make this place so awesome. Special extra fist bump to Molly, who is crazy dedicated and ambitious, not to mention ridiculously generous, smart, talented, and all those good things. I honestly can't think of anyone else in the indie lit community who could've coordinated this project as well as she has (certainly not me!), or who could've pursued such impressive goals in such a real way. Molly is the real deal, y'all.

And big duhs of thanks to Ofelia Hunt for writing such a hypnotic and provocative and terrific novel. And what's more, for lending her time to participate in this discussion and answer questions and tell us what the deal with the thin man is. Ofelia is a huge talent, and T&T is only the first battalion. I can't wait to see what comes next from the big plastic aisles of Hunt's mind.

I think a big part of the reason this launch month has worked so well has been the ample participation of the authors: Ofelia, Ethel Rohan, and Lidia Yuknavitch. For them, what a great chance to have so many people curious and passionately discussing your work. And for us, how cool that The Lit Pub gives the authors a chance to engage so directly with readers.

We've talked a lot about a lot of different things with T&T this month: authorial identity, violence, consumerism, families, grandfathers, unreliable narrators, robots, lies, and (of course) Bill Murray. T&T isn't all that easy a book to break down into segments and submit for discussion. What I love about it is how unique a beast it is, a uniqueness that makes it hard to come up with ways to spur the kind of emotional personal discussion that's gone on so well for The Chronology of Water and Cut Through the Bone. But I've been constantly delighted by the insight and energy of the discussions we do have, and I'm especially grateful to guest posters Amber Nelson, Dave K, and Tao Lin for pushing the conversation in new directions when I ran out of things to say. As Chris mentioned in his farewell post, The Lit Pub feels like a throwback to college in the best ways; not lit class so much as the awesome discussions we would have with friends after class. When we went back to our tuna can apartments or weird-ass hippie cafes and got into the real nitty-gritty about the words we loved and cared about.

So thanks, finally, to all you smart and witty and enthusiastic readers for making The Lit Pub what it is. I've been stoked to share Today & Tomorrow with you, and I hope you stick around, as we'll continue to have a page here, and I invite anybody to contact me about making a guest post in the future, hosting a new discussion, etc. If you've been enjoying the discussion but haven't had the chance to read the book yet, don't worry: it will stay available in The Lit Pub's Community Bookstore. I'll also try to keep everybody here abreast of T&T developments: new reviews, interviews, readings, etc. For example, if you haven't seen it yet, check out Ofelia's Largehearted Boy Book Notes, where she talks about the book and some of its musical inspiration, including shoutouts to Judy Garland, Modest Mouse, Cat Power, and more.

We'll be making way in July for a new featured publisher and book, but we'll still be here, eager to hang out with this awesome community of readers. Happy fireworks, everybody. Thanks for a great June!

If you're in San Francisco, Portland, or Seattle, make sure to catch Ofelia at one of her upcoming readings. Like this Thursday, July 7th, at Adobe Books in San Francisco. That's right, the real Ofelia. See if she really looks like Bill Murray. Then let us know.