kyle minor - stories, photographs, films (original) (raw)

“In How to Disappear and Why, Kyle Minor turns his penetrating intelligence inward, battling his ambitions, his desires, and even his own admirable talent in an attempt to exhaust himself of whatever lies in the way of truer connection with others. What begins as a radical escape from the self soon becomes an even more striking magic trick, a moral and artistic undertaking of the highest order, a sincere attempt to eradicate the distance between the individual and the world. This book will provoke you and challenge you: it will not save you, but it will make you want to save yourself.”

—Matt Bell, author of Appleseed

“A ferocious, tenderhearted, plucky, contemplative, loud, inspiring, marvelous collection of essays—the kind of book that makes you want to lock the door behind you, so you can gobble it up all by yourself.”

—Daniel Handler, author of Bottle Grove

how to disappear and why, a new book of essays, will be released in fall/winter 2025, from Sarabande Books.

“From the first page of Kyle Minor’s extraordinary sequence of essays, the voice of this book—nerve-wracked, radiant, self-flaying—soars out to the edge of what’s possible, and necessary, to speak aloud. And stays there, out on that edge, speaking truth to various powers, including the power of shame. The result is a triumph.”

—Jonathan Lethem, author of Brooklyn Crime Novel

“How to Disappear and Why is a sui generis—one can rarely use the Latin honestly—collection of essays excavating narcissism, what it is and isn’t in today’s unapologetically self-referential culture. Most compellingly, these essays anatomize what narcissism is with respect to making art, to writing, to erecting ‘junk temples,’ and even what it might mean to set out to win something, a yacht race, say. Kyle Minor understands profoundly that ‘every expressive pursuit must hazard a landscape full of traps.’ How to Disappear and Why is a collection of essays as original as Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard. Read How to Disappear and Why, and then read Festival Days, if you haven’t already. Your sense of American belle-lettres will immediately improve.”

—Michelle Latiolais, author of She

“I’m imbued with the notions, via E.M. Cioran and John Hawkes, that there is only one subject (failure) and that only one thing matters: learning to be the loser (we all lose everything). How to Disappear and Why is about nothing less (nothing more) and, thereby (paradoxically), is a wildly successful work of essayistic art, which has my deepest admiration.”

_—_David Shields, author of The Very Last Interview

scott county, indiana

fire prayers at hiroshima

fireworks in missouri

objects, shadows, abstractions

the vogue

faces in indianapolis

bicycles in hiroshima

the orchestra

ghosts wearing clothes in a tunnel a mile from hell

older books in print

• praying drunk, winner of the 2015 story prize spotlight award
• italian edition of praying drunk (mentre cado, ricordati di me, translated by susanna bourlot, 2016)
• in the devil’s territory (2008)

bio

kyle minor is the author of praying drunk, winner of the 2015 story prize spotlight award. recent stories, essays, interviews, and reviews appear online and in print in best american mystery stories, best american nonrequired reading, esquire, the atlantic, salon, iowa review, missouri review, story magazine, and the new york times book review.

selected post-praying drunk work in print

• “a kidnapping in koulev-ville,” a short story, in the normal school, reprinted in best american mystery stories, and streamed through the new york public library subway stories series
• “the uber diaries,” an essay, in new ohio review
• “the secret to happiness,” a novella, in missouri review
• “notes on harm reduction,” an essay, in make magazine chicago
• “night at the fiestas,” a review of kirstin valdez quade’s terrific story collection, in the new york times book review
• “soldier,” a novella co-written with james yoder, forthcoming in booth
• “mild blue dream,” a story, forthcoming in gulf coast
• “suspended,” a reprinted story, forthcoming in best of brevity
• “junk temples,” a long essay, forthcoming in new england review
• additional stories, essays, poems, and miscellany in bennington review, outlook springs, hobart, relief journal, ocean state review, saw palm, arkansas international, acm: another chicago magazine, the believer logger, and tin house online

some recent preoccupations

lynsey addario, it’s what i do: a photographer’s life of love and war.
bong joon ho, parasite.
denis johnson, angels.
ryszard kapuscinski, another day of life
konagada, vimeo video essays.
olivia laing, the lonely city
yiyun li, what has that to do with me.
peter morgan, the crown.
murch and ondaatje, the conversations
katherine anne porter, pale horse, pale rider.
dee rees, the last thing he wanted.
josh and benny safdie, daddy longlegs, goldman v silverman, good time, heaven knows what, and uncut gems.

fifty favorite jazz albums

1. ole, john coltrane
2. black saint and the sinner lady, charles mingus
3. brilliant corners, thelonius monk
4. sketches of spain, miles davis
5. the shape of jazz to come, ornette coleman
6. bitches brew, miles davis
7. time for tyner, mccoy tyner
8. song for my father, horace silver
9. kelan philip cohran & the hypnotic brass ensemble
10. blues and the abstract truth, oliver nelson
11. thelonious monk, thelonious monk trio
12. cubana be, cubana bop (compilation), dizzy gillespie
13. gulag orkestar, beirut
14. time out, dave brubeck quartet
15. somethin’ else, cannonball adderley
16. moanin’, art blakey and the jazz messengers
17. kind of blue, miles davis
18. out to lunch, eric dolphy
19. pastel blues, nina simone
20. head hunters, herbie hancock
21. mingus mingus mingus mingus mingus, charles mingus
22. sahara, mccoy tyner
23. mingus ah-um, charles mingus
24. back at the chicken shack, jimmy smith
25. monk’s dream, thelonius monk
26. electric bath, don ellis orchestra
27. ascenseur pour l’echafaud, miles davis
28. the clown, charles mingus
29. pithecanthropus erectus, charles mingus
30. root down, jimmy smith
31. the sidewinder, lee morgan
32. blue train, john coltrane
33. a love supreme, john coltrane
34. in pursuit of the 27th man, horace silver
35. the real mccoy, mccoy tyner
36. live-evil, miles davis
37. jack johnson, miles davis
38. unit structures, cecil taylor
39. big band bossa nova, quincy jones
40. oh yeah, charles mingus
41. underground, thelonious monk
42. money jungle, ellington mingus & roach
43. blow-up soundtrack, herbie hancock
44. saxophone colossus, sonny rollins
45. illumination!, elvin jones
46. self-titled, clifford brown and max roach
47. study in brown, clifford brown
48. the sermon, jimmy smith
49. afro-cuban, kenny dorham
50. jazz advance, cecil taylor