Chicago Benefit Lit Show

An organization I helped found, Underground Literary Alliance, is
addressed in the lead article of the July issue of The Believer
magazine, which has begun appearing on bookstore shelves. Though the
article is biased and inaccurate, it at least gives an introduction to
some of the writers who make up the print underground, who are
involved in organizing the Chicago benefit show August 3rd. (Or you
could go to Tower Records and Books and pick up lit-zines like Slush
Pile and The Whirligig.)
Why should you attend the August 3rd event? Not only will you be
helping a writer who has been battling for his life, you'll see an
exciting literary show. People can knock the underground's
writing--but we definitely have more exciting personalities, who bring
real energy to their readings and performances. This will not be a
staid event! It will be worth your while checking out--for curiosity's
sake if for no other reason. And, as the press, good and bad, the ULA
has been generating shows, we're the only exciting thing happening on
the literary scene right now. The future of literature? Maybe. Check
it out yourself and see.
www.literaryrevolution.com
www.ashabot.com/cullen.html
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

The Underground Literary Alliance, the most controversial literary
group in America (referred to as literary terrorists in the July issue
of Dave Eggers faux-hip The Believer magazine) has put its responses
to said article on its fan site under Essays and Letters.
www.literaryrevolution.com.
The ULA will be part of the big August 3rd benefit show in Chicago to
raise funds for writer Cullen Carter's medical bills. Check it out and
see what the excitement is about. If you can at all get to it, and
you're a fan of the lit scene, you'd be crazy to miss it. (The two
groups fighting to define what future lit will look like seem to be
the ULA and Eggers's more preppy crowd.)
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

King Wenclas wrote:
> The Underground Literary Alliance, the most controversial literary
> group in America

Doesn't putting 'controversial' and 'literary' in the same sentence just
show you as ridiculously naive?

>(The two
> groups fighting to define what future lit will look like seem to be
> the ULA and Eggers's more preppy crowd.)

Very unlikely. But a nice white middle class fantasy.

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Ma chambre a la forme d'une cage
le soleil passe son bras par la fenetre
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

1.) I'm not middle class.
2.) The Believer magazine used the hyperbole, accusing the ULA of
"terrorization." I'm just playing off their hysteria.
3.) Literature NEEDS controversy, badly, to bring it out of the safe
closet of American culture in which it's been tucked away. The ULA is
bringing controversy and a lot of noise. In truth, we're performers as
well as writers, so how is there a contradiction? Weren't writers once
very controversial, from Harriet Beecher Stowe to John Steinbeck? You
seem to have a narrow view of the potential of the "literary."
4.) Read the article befoore presuming to know what the ULA is
about--or better, come to Chicago and see our August 3rd show. (Or
check out the variety of writers on our www.literaryrevolution.com fan
site, many if not most of them working class folks.)
Thank you.
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

King Wenclas wrote:
> In truth, we're performers as
> well as writers, so how is there a contradiction?

That could be the problem.

> 4.) Read the article befoore presuming to know what the ULA is
> about--or better, come to Chicago and see our August 3rd show. (Or
> check out the variety of writers on our www.literaryrevolution.com fan
> site, many if not most of them working class folks.)
> Thank you.

Why would writers need a "show"? Because they can't get on Good Morning
America?

If I want a show I'll go to the Opera, or to see the White Stripes.

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Ma chambre a la forme d'une cage
le soleil passe son bras par la fenetre
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

Are you a writer, Mazzolata? Do you care if anyone reads what you
write?
This is a very noisy society, one in which literature is becoming
increasingly marginalized. If it refuses to compete it's going to die,
swept away by sports, music, and movies. Why do the White Stripes
perform? Can't they sell their albums without appearances? If they
need to, so much more do writers--to get the word out about their
creations.
Readings anyway date before the written word. It's said Homer was
good at them. That guy Shakespeare, alleged to be a pretty good
writer, used to stage shows. How can we do less with our own words?
The ULA is out to prove that literature can be relevant,
provocative, and fun. This particular show, which we're doing with
other underground writers, is to help a writer who needs it. That
alone justifies our performance. Check it out.
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show 

The Underground Literary Alliance is the lead story of today's famed
"Page Six" (www.pagesix.com). The ULA is bringing excitement to the
literary scene. Check us out in Chicago August 3rd at the Barrel Cafe,
a fundraiser for a writer, info at www.ashabot.com/cullen.html and
www.literaryrevolution.com. Find out what the excitement is about.
 >> Stay informed about: Chicago Benefit Lit Show