more advance praise for big machine

click here for the la times review of big machine by victor lavalle.

big machine by victor lavalle

i am so excited about victor lavalle’s new book. of course you know victor, right? author of the collection of short stories slapboxing with jesus & the novel the ecstatic. of course you do. that mos def named an album after his novel. well, his new book, big machine will be out shortly.  it is already getting crazy advance praise. if you don’t know, now you know. mine is already on pre-order. yours should be, too.

victor lavalle on process

victor means every word about not being afraid to expose himself for his work. i studied with him at vona and one of the exercises he gave us was to tell an embarrassing story about ourselves where we were the bad guy. while the rest of the class told embarassing stories of the ha-ha funny type, i ended up (without even meaning to) sharing a story that left me sobbing in front of a group of people that i barely knew. i often find myself mining the tender spaces in my own life for my fiction. i’m sure i would have been more likely to resist if victor hadn’t led the way.