Caught in the Carousel

Letter from the Editor - May 2007

By Alex Green

So a couple of things:

You may have heard the rumors and I want to confirm that they’re all true. Yes, I almost died last week, thanks to a black widow who made a surreptitious night visit and took a big bite out of my chest. Wasn’t feeling great, but not terrible enough to do anything urgent, so I carried on with my life for a few weeks. But then the poison started to spread and when I woke up to find my left side rife with pain and a cringe worthy red wave spreading under my skin, I thought I should maybe talk to someone.

You know, like a doctor.

It turns out that I had about 48 hours to live, as the poison was making an aggressive move to my heart (well, someone had to). But a shot in the ass with a needle much larger than a steak knife and not much smaller than a yardstick, and I was as good as new. Do I hate spiders now? No. But whereas before, I used to image they all had top hats and English accents, now I think of them as more Jack The Ripper types…

So hearing that I would live to continue commandeering Caught In The Carousel was good news and hearing new albums by the Fratellis and The Fall and the Clientele were all necessary balms for a fairly difficult period, but the best thing I’ve heard in a long time comes from my friend Jeremy, who called last week and left this message about his current employment: “So yeah, hey, what’s up…I just wanted to let you know that I got this new gig at the community center…my job is to take all of the empty bottles of chlorine and wash them out using a garden hose on the south side of the parking lot. Then I take the bottles to the pool store and get them refilled using a big industrial hose on the north side of their parking lot. Then I bring the bottles back to the community center and stack them in the sweltering shed behind the pool. It’s $4.87 an hour but they said if I do a good job they’ll bump it to $4.90 by June…So yeah…I guess The Secret really works.”

Okay, so on to the news:

Caught In The Carousel is proud to announce the addition of a few new writers to our site. First, comes the lovely and talented Yvonne Prinz, whose book Still There, Clare (www.stillthereclare.com) was not only a Booksense pick, it was nominated for a Red Cedar award. Here are some recent reviews:

"Prinz's breezy story succeeds on many levels: it's funny; the characters, including the adults, are appealing and interesting.... Suggest this to reluctant readers and their friends who want a sweet, satisfying read about a summer transformation."
—Booklist

"Fast and fun, Clever and Cool" —Flamingnet.com

"Reading Still There, Clare is like spending a summer with charming new friends. A dreamy, smart and funny book.
—Jaclyn Moriarty, The Year of Secret Assignments

Yvonne’s next two books in the series (Not Fair, Clare and Double Dare Clare) will be out in early 2008 and her new novel All You Get Is Me will also be released around that time. Yvonne reviews the new John Prine/Mac Wiseman album in this issue.

We’ve also signed on Dan Coshnear, whose debut book of short stories Jobs And Other Preoccupations is just a marvelous read. Funny, sad and moving, these stories bring to mind the precision and wit of Raymond Carver. Dan’s debut was the winner of the Willa Cather Fiction Prize and prompted this kind of critical response:

“Dan Coshnear’s first collection of stories is wise and true in the manner of Walt Whitman, Paul Robeson, and Woody Guthrie. Dan understands America and its preoccupations with work and love, conflict and joy, and everything in between. He writes with an assurance that makes me believe that language can still save the world.”
—Maxine Chernoff

“A fierce book, edgy, urgent and unconsolingly honest. Daniel Coshnear writes… with mordant wit and the kind of emotional exactitude that clear a reader’s vision the way a sharp new flavor clears and challenges the palate. He is a thrilling discovery.”
—Rosellen Brown

Dan reviews the book Mingering Mike: The Amazing Career Of An Imaginary Soul Superstar in our new Book Review section.

What else have we got this month? Tons.

**David Porter was assigned to review the Gilberto Gil album and what was supposed to be a 200 word job, the kind of thing you do on your lunch break or on the train home, transformed into a comprehensive and global look at the cultural context of Tropicália. Traversing major cities, major surges of musical movements through the last few decades and seamlessly linking Gilberto Gil’s self-titled album with Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and several fascist dictatorships, David’s “Exiled + Acoustic” is a stirring piece of sophisticated journalism that provides an authoritative look at the worldwide effects of Brazilian music.

**Brandon DiSabatino sits down with the legendary Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let’s Active) and has an engaging chat with the singer/songwriter/producer about his new album.

**Daniel Galleno interviews Dave Aaronoff (The Shods, Mighty Mighty Bosstones) and the two got along so well, Aaronoff gave us several MP3’s, including one rare track, for you to download.

**The Zincs offer us their Top 10 Consummate Album picks.

**Reviews of The Fratellis, Kallis, Throbbing Gristle, Outrageous Cherry, Ozomatli and many more!

Next month, you ask? We’re glad you did!

An interview with Canadian troubadour Mike Ford, an expanded review/interview with singer/songwriter Shawn Brown, Astrid Williamson’s Consummate Top 10 and much, much more!!

Nadal wins the French. Next month we’ll gloat: alex670@earthlink.net

Alex Green
Editor, Caught In The Carousel
Alex670@earthlink.net