Kathe Koja is a writer, reader, producer – Under the Poppy & Faustus Detroit – and fan of fun. Her latest novel, The Mercury Waltz, will shortly be published by Roadswell Editions. These are her good things
Good things to read.
A Dead Man in Deptford, Anthony Burgess. Get drunk on the switchback
virtuoso language, stay to have your heart wrung by this novel about
Christopher Marlowe, Elizabethan poet, playwright, spy, and badass. Everyone
knows Burgess’ CLOCKWORK ORANGE; you need to know this book, too.
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë. You think you know it, but you don’t. One
of the blackest, funniest – yes, funniest – most passionate novels ever, it
shocked the dumbass reviewers of its time and continues to speak the
language of authentic desire.
No-Good The Dancing Donkey, Dorothea J. Snow: I’m dead serious. This 1940’s
book for little kids is the most unsparing parable of living the creative
life that you’ll ever read. Just try to stop No-Good, you bitchy farmer’s
wife!
Good things to watch.
Any Derek Jarman film, because his vision was unique and his outrage knew
how to dance. Edward II is my favorite, but any of them will serve as a
gateway drug.
Deadwood. The whole series, preferably in one wallowing, curse-filled
binge. David Milch made it epic, and the ensemble made it transcendent.
That one movie you vowed you’d never watch: Because sometimes it’s good to
break a vow.
Good things to use.
Pencils. Because they’re fun. I like the eensy, soba-noodle-sized ones from
Camel in Japan, but all pencils are good. They accept you as you are, they
offer an eraser, and they disappear when their use is ended.
Your sense of humor. Because there is so much that’s wrong, sad, abhorrent,
unfixable about life on earth, we need to approach all that we CAN fix with
a light heart. Because it gives us energy to get the job done.
Your inside voice. Unless you’re outside.
Follow Kathe Koja on Twitter, @KatheKoja.
