Big-Ass Book Order

I got paid at the beginning of this month for the first time since the end of May. In order to celebrate said paycheck--and in order to celebrate the fact that I recently learned I'm not going to be entering the job market but will instead keep doing what I've been doing where I've been doing it, which thrills me--I put in a big ol' book order tonight:

Third Class Superhero, Charles Yu--I read the title story in Mid-American Review, I think it was, and can't wait to read the collection.

Green Squall, Jay Hopler--I saw him read this afternoon at the college. He mentioned during the reading that he knew his book, when it was published, would be compared to Wallace Stevens, which to me is a good thing. Only he's funnier. And droller, if that's possible.

No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy--It's been a while since I read any McCarthy, and to prepare myself for his new one, which I keep hearing good things about, I'm going to read his next-to-new one, which I also heard pretty good things about.

Dear Mr. President, Gabe Hudson*

Permanent Visitors, Kevin Moffett--I've run across Moffett in Tin House and McSweeney's. Now, I'm going to run across a bunch of his stories all under one cover.

Nothing in the World, Roy Kesey--This guy publishes stories everywhere, and pretty much all of them are kick-ass. Plus, this is a novella, and I'm a big fan of novellas. Say it with me: No-vel-la. Pretty cool, no? It's like a novel, only shorter.

Jarhead, Anthony Swofford*

My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up, Stephen Elliott--I love everything Stephen Elliott writes, even, and especially, his Poker Reports.

The Littlest Hitler - Stories, Ryan Boudinot--For a while, Boudinot's rockin' stories, like Roy Kesey's, were popping up everywhere. Now, Counterpoint, which, I believe, published Mary Robison's Tell Me, is releasing his collection.

Siste Viator, Sarah Manguso--I've only read a few things by Manguso, and they reminded me of Anne Carson, one of my favorite writers. I figured I'd check this out until McSweeney's releases her prose poetry/flash fiction collection sometime in the near future.

*I already own each of these in hardcover, but the books recently made the cut for the Intro to Lit class I'm going to teach Winter term, so I figured I better order the same editions my students are going to have, so that we can, you know, ahem, be on the same page.