Congrats Jaimy

Jaimy Gordon's 'Lord of Misrule' is on the Orange prize longlist. A book that I loved last year but struggled to place reviews for, I couldn't really tell why. It won the National Book Award in the states but UK editors even manage to be sniffy about this!

It's about a racing track in Indiana - low-level betting scams and an Amazing witch doctor character who cooks up 'medicines' for the horses. A wonderful and challenging blend of 1st and 3rd person, a feeling for how subject and object interrelate and that's what makes up a place. Compelling Woman writing (outcast Jewish American women with a feeling for their own bodies, women who commune with animals and the land, women who are scathing and funny as fuck). An over-educated Kathy Acker, lamenting the education, modulated by some of the wisdom of Kathleen Graeber, grounded in detail.

I'm interviewing her for 3am in the next few weeks, which is exciting. I hope both things will lead more people to her work - both 'Lord of Misrule' and others.