Writer, singer, composer and poet Rick Moody first gained widespread acclaim with his 1994 novel, The Ice Storm, a portrait of dysfunctional suburban life that plays out over the course of a long Thanksgiving weekend. In 1999, The New Yorker named Moody one of America’s most talented new writers, with a voice that constantly pushes the stylistic boundaries of modern literature. He has published five novels, three collections of short fiction and two nonfiction works. He also performs with the Wingdale Community Singers, an acoustic band that blends the sounds of old-time folk, gospel and bluegrass, with hints of rock and baroque chamber music to augment their arch, literary lyrics. Their most recent album is Night, Sleep, Death, released only on LP by Drag City. Moody will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Moody: Want to know what middle age really feels like? “Poor patient pig—trying to keep his balance/That’s all, upright on a flatbed ahead of me/Somewhere between Pennsylvania and Ohio/Enjoying the wind, maybe, against the tufts of hair/On the tops of his ears, like a Stoic at the foot/Of the gallows.” One of the very best poets on earth, the kind of poet who seems to have found gradations of human consciousness that you didn’t even know were there until he named them. Touch, his most recent book, rewards attention sevenfold.
Video after the jump.
