Kate Zambreno

"The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas" is the self-published debut collection by the creator of Found magazine, the publication that pays tribute to the genius of debris and the discovery of thrown-away photographs, letters and lists. There's nothing throwaway in these five lean, gritty stories, that call to mind Denis Johnson, compiled in a slim, orange pocket-sized book. Rothbart writes with surprising clarity and empathy in these tales of lost and found--lost innocence, found love, lost love, found wisdom. His characters are morally suspect delinquents and loners living on the margins of society, in jail and on the outside. Yet they're still hopeless romantics, from the American working for hoodlums on the Mexican border who falls in love with the 14-year-old daughter of a prostitute to the boy who idolizes his best friend, a petty thief who also steals his girl. Completely unnerving and kind of heartbreaking.

Davy Rothbart reads from "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas" on June 19 at 9pm at the Hideout, 1354 West Wabansia, (773)227-4433.

(2003-06-18)

Also by Kate Zambreno

Tip of the Week
In his debut collection, "Short People," Joshua Furst, winner of the Nelson Algren Award for Fiction, examines childhood and its discontents with utmost empathy, refusing to sentimentalize the harrowing process of growing up.
(2003-06-11)

Till death, or whatever, do us part
I never entertained the fantasy of the white wedding dress, nor did I have a mother breathing biological clock voodoo down my neck.
(2003-06-11)

Starving artist
Caroline Knapp died last year at the age of 42 from lung cancer one month after her diagnosis, and it's difficult to read her posthumously published "Appetites: Why Women Want" without being poignantly aware that she was unconsciously near the end while so close to fully realizing herself.
(2003-06-04)

Clothes calls
Back in 1998, when the fashion designer resided in Los Angeles, camisoles she stitched together out of sari fabric brought back from a trip to Bali adorned the likes of Madonna and sold out at Fred Segal in four days. Then the Indonesian economy collapsed, crushing her nascent business just as it was taking off.
(2003-05-28)

Tip of the Week
(2003-05-07)

Author Visit
(2003-05-07)

Tip of the Week
(2003-04-30)

Author Visit
(2003-04-30)

Fine young culinary maestros
(2003-04-30)

Tip of the Week
(2003-04-22)

Baby, if you've ever wondered
(2003-04-22)

Tip of the Week
(2003-04-15)

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