Show your gangster signs.



Tessa read 26lies a year ago and wrote about it because the world was too fucking cold and she wanted to burn it for warmth, most likely:

Regardless of where this book is pigeon-holed, it remains fucking OARSUM, a little book of brilliance. Ben is a master at playing with structure, and has done so to great effect here, striding through the alphabet and giving the reader a neat catalog of his life and thoughts and opinions. The mosaic is superbly balanced, and the pieces bounce of each other with an ever-growing resonance.

People often talk about the next Great Australian Novel. When I'd finished it, I sat on the train, full of all the meat contained in this slim volume, and thinking of everything it had to say about Australia here, now. I think this is that long awaited Great Australian Novel.

It is only fitting it be written by a white heterosexual middle class male, one who recognises how he fits in the world around him. It is only fitting that this book not be published or available within Australia, and as with the majority of Australia's culture, must be imported.

Link.

I am listening to Taken by Trees do a cover of Guns N Roses 'Sweet Child O Mine' which is actually quite good. You know, once upon a time, I wanted to be a musician. I just didn't have any rhythm to me and I gave up on it. It's still true, you know.

(crossposted)

Some people will claim that last week brought controversy.

Personally, I thought it was a little blown out of proportion. Responses ranged from Robin Pen's 'The Ballad of Ben and Russ', in which generated such things as myself being likened to Aleister Crowely; it's funny, but on the other hand... And there were posts from people such as Shane Cummings who wrote:

There are good reviews, there are bad reviews, and there are reviews somewhere in the middle. Reviews vary, and in my opinion, most of the Australian SF reviews could be more polished and insightful, but that's not really the point. Published writers create work for the public domain, for better or worse. Your readers will praise or criticise, and as I've discovered from reading negative reviews of work I've loved or when selecting awards shortlists and disagreeing quite wildly with fellow judges, people's opinions just can't be fathomed, at times. It's what makes life interesting.

But here's the thing, and writers take note: if you allow your personal neuroses to spill out into a hissy fit/flame war against a reviewer, then editors will not want to work with you and reviewers will no longer wish to review your work. Editors and reviewers have long memories. Writers might think, "fuck 'em, it's just one editor/market" but it's more than that. Editors talk, editors remember. Editors have friends and colleagues and they all talk.

He also finished by saying, "opportunities drying up for some of the more vocal/head-fucked authors going around. Give 'em enough rope...." In response to my post, Grant Watson said, "The critic/reviewer has a job. They are going to read your work, and write whether or not they liked it. You don't interfere with their job. You don't usually complain if they like your work, so why the fuck would you complain if they don't? That isn't cool. That doesn't come across like the intelligent author debating their work with some hack critic. It makes you look like a sad, petulant child who can't take criticism." On my blog, he also added:

You have an alarming tendency to try and make everything about you, as if you're some kind of bad boy of Australian science fiction, when in fact you're arguing yourself into irrelevance. If you want to be a professional writer, start behaving in a professional manner. If you don't feel Russell is reviewing in a professional manner, then leave him to work that out or simply to have his readers abandon him in droves - just like a lot of potential readers may be abandoning you by the way you sometimes act here. Look at the way you treated Jonathan Strahan in your webcomic, for fuck's sake.

That bad boy thing has been thrown at me for ages.

Tansy Rayner Roberts, who ran the risk of being tarred as someone like me, responded to it all and said,

It's all in the execution. Some authors are able to respond to criticism in an interesting, thoughtful way that offers respect to the reviewers and adds an extra layer of dialogue. [info]margolanagan is one who regularly publishes snippets of all her reviews, good or bad, and analyses them in an entertaining manner. Her snarky, self-deprecating meta-commentary is one of my favourite things about her blog, and I love that when she does poke fun at reviews, there's a 50-50 chance it may be a positive or a negative one. Considering the amount of noise that tends to surround Margo's work these days, it's rather nice to have her there, poking holes in the pomp on a regular basis. I'm sure some of you out there can think of other examples of authors who do much the same thing. I'm normally bored to tears by blog entries that are nothing but reprints of positive reviews and blurbs - Margo does something a bit different with it, and I really respect that.

Of course, after that, Alisa Krasonstein said that she found Margo Lanagan's poking fun might be entertaining, but "[doesn't] always find it appropriate and she (Lanagan) often looks like she thinks she is smarter than everyone else in a condescending way." Which just proves that you can't please anyone. Of course, there was more round, but you can't go on linking this shit for everyone, and lets face it, the fact that it seems to have blown out of proportion--and that I can simply link more words written in response than to begin with--kind've shows how touchy people can get.

But you know what?

I win.

Because out of all this nothing, all the good and bad opinions, out of all the people who wish me ill, wish me well--those people aren't connected to the local scene, I might add--all those who agree and disagree, out of all this... Mondyboy actually went and read the book:

What with the recent controversy regarding this review of twenty-six lies/one truth, I thought I'd actually read the book and review it. That's the thing about controversy, it creates publicity and sometimes gets people off their arses and reading so they can make up their own minds.

There's something a bit detached abou 26 lies. I thought it would be angrier. I'm not sure entirely why. Maybe because I imagine Ben to be an angry man, gnashing his teeth at what he considers to be an unfair world. But that image of Ben is more my weird fantasy and has no basis in the real world. It's certainly not evident on his blog. I mean, he's obviously a bloke who likes to state an opinion. But even his rantings have a sort of detached style. As if he believes it doesn't matter in the slightest what he thinks or writes - no one is going to take him seriously anyway.

And that's a little bit how I felt reading 26 lies. I'd call it apathetic writing. Except that's sounds pejorative and that's not what I'm aiming for. There's something detached about the book. A little bit cynical as well - but that's not the main ingredient. If I had to put a finger on it I'd say world weary. As if Ben, a man who has been nowhere, done nothing and met anybody, has become completely desensitized to his existence.

What I'm trying to say is that the book lacks intensity. That doesn't mean it isn't good. The writing is very good indeed. The little snippets about authors who have lied - pretending to be someone who they're not - are genuinely interesting. I even learnt what Factotum meant. But, whether the extracts of his life are true or not, I was hoping to engage with Ben, or at least the person represented in the book. Even his relationship with his girlfriend in Brisbane (the one bit that's probably false, but who knows) lacks punch. I didn't really care. The arguments - presented as lines of speech - are just that, arguments. There's some good stuff in there. But nothing I could hang my emotional hat on.

That said, some of the passages are simply superb and quite funny. Ben's writing shines when he talks about the things he genuinely loves, such as his adoration for Octavia Butler. I also really enjoyed the segments on Bukowski... and now I have a yearning to pick up some Bukowski for myself. In fact, the bright little snippets re-assure the reader that Ben isn't entirely dead on the inside. His still yearns for the things he loves. They just may not be the same things that you love.

Ben's also quite happy to throw around his opinion. And that's cool. I don't agree with him on a number of issues. Especially the bit about Nationalism. But even when I didn't agree with him I couldn't help but nod my head after reading Ben's thought on a particular issue. Also his section on Censorship and how stupid it is, is spot on. I liked his bit on sanctity as well.

Overall 26 lies is the sort of ambitious, clever book that's always worth reading even if it doesn't entirely succeed. While I didn't engage with Ben the character in the book, I never felt bored reading about his life. Not that the book ever dwells on one subject long enough to ever be boring. And the thing is, after finishing the book I felt I'd learnt a number of new things and felt inspired enough to check out the work of a number of writers who I'd never bothered with before. So on that level the book was a success.

So, yes, I do recommend 26 lies. The writing is strong, if a bit detached. And the subject matter is interesting, if a bit matter of fact. But it's obviously the work of a very talented author.

Have yourself a shiny day, all.

(crossposted)

Three years after it was published, Russell B Farr at Ticonderoga Online reviews 26Lies--

Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth - Ben Peek

Wheatland Press, 2006

152 pages

RRP: US$14.95

ISBN 0-9755903-8-3

Reviewed by Russell B. Farr

This book bills itself as an “autobiography of a man who has been nowhere, done nothing and met nobody”, and with such a low peak to aspire to, accomplishes this. It consists of a number of short pieces, sometimes arbitrarily grouped around the alphabet, that overall form several plot lines. Thrown into the mix are examples of literary fraud.

The strength of the work lies in using the structure to create little moments of suspense while telling essentially uninteresting tales. This ends up being a bit like being fed day-old white bread a piece at a time when you’re not sure if you feel hungry or not.

Twenty six lies/one truth didn’t set my imagination racing, nor force me to get my brain out of first gear. It’s a competent book by a competent writer, but I get the impression it has been written entirely for the author’s own enjoyment.

Wheatland Press have a number of excellent, essential titles in their catalogue, but this isn’t one of them.

--though I suppose calling it a review might be a little kind.

Years ago, if I remember right, Ben Payne told me of a conversation he had with Farr, deep in the days when the Australian Spec Fic Scene used to get in an uproar every time I said anything slightly critical about their work, or their awards, or perhaps even the socks they wore. Anyhow, Payne said that Farr planned to write a scathing review of 26Lies, to let loose on it--it's been a while, so I'm not real sure on the details now, but at any rate, here it is, that piece of venom building in the back of Russell B. Farr's throat since 2006.

*Gently pats Russell on the head*

There, there.

Link.

(crossposted)

I think we're coming to the end of 26lies commentary over in the States, but there's still some more left.

Of interest, perhaps, is what the class has been told to do, and how to read the book, which I am, at least, finding interesting. There's really nothing to say about it, other than its nice to see so much attention paid to Anna's pictures.

Comments:

M. Haji Bigman

So Ben Peek's novel "twenty-six lies/one truth" is a truly different approach at telling a story. In regards to the entries on understanding(the pictures), I feel like Peek is expressing his ability to understand the gravity of the situation. I honestly don't feel that he intentionally tried to harm G.

Seriously, he cared deeply for her. I mean, what else could he have done in a split second. The choice, in my eyes, was not between who the car was going to hit, but which direction to turn the wheel. He uses his guilt to try and make a rational reason for her death. He even admits that he likes the lies because they make it easier.

What would you have done? Personally, I probably would have turned the wheel to the right because I am right handed. But since this is Australia and the wheel is on the opposite side, this would have protected me and not the passenger. This is probably way over analyzing this, but I think it is an interesting point. Why would someone, even if he hated the mother, hurt his unborn child?

Chelsea Abplanalp

Ben Peek's entries are all pretty personal but the personal diary entries have that little extra personal touch. When we were asked to re-read JUST the personal diary entries i didn't think it would make that big of a difference as opposed to when we read them along with the story, but i was mistaken ( i guess we should never second guess our professors). We actually found out a lot of things by reading them all in order, for instance that Ben got his book deal the same day that he crashed the car and G died. We also were able to really see into how he was feeling and how he was dealing with the guilt. I cant really imagine how he felt but the diary entries definitely let us into how he was feeling. One that stuck out to me was the one called vindictive. He talks about all these things he was going to say to G through e-mails, calls, messages, but obviously cant do any of that since she is dead. It;s just another way people deal with guilt and stress. Sometimes if you write things out its a way to get it all out of your system and thats kind of what i think he was doing in this entry.

Doug DeMaio

When I was given the assignment to read all of the personal diary entries, in order, in twenty-six lies/one truth I was expecting some sort of grand revelation to fall upon me like a warm blanket on a winter night. Or something like that. But, alas, nothing of the sort took place.

Did anybody else think something like that was gonna happen?

Instead, the entries just made me feel a whole lot of different emotions that didn't seem to be tied to anything in particular. My mind was confused, and my heart was confused. I was confused. I still am confused actually...

I feel as though reading all of the personal diary entries raised more new questions than it answered.

On the positive side though, something is to be said for writing that can make me feel so strongly, whether it be sad, confused, or otherwise. And beyond that, something is to be said for writing that could put our entire lit. class into silence like it did today. I think that is the first time that room has been silent (with us in it) since the time in which no one wanted to record the voice-overs for their digital stories.

I also found it ironic that our assignment was to read those, and to try to reach an understanding about "Understanding." And I didn't reach a definitive understanding of any of them. Just a little more insight.


I wish I didn't have two midterms tomorrow.

Drrogers

First of all if any one reads this post please understand that I am really not sure what Ben Peeks Understanding entries are meant to do. From what I gathered in the two understanding entries/pictures is that even though G's death hurts and depresses him Ben Peek he has to understand that G is gone.
I think that the second understanding post is what really helped me figure out what I thought the meaning of The two understanding posts were. It shows Ben Peek looking over after waking up and seeing that G is not there. The picture shows that G's spot is imprinted on the bed next to Peek. I think the eyes in the first entry represent his look of sadness and understanding that he is expressing in the second entry on understanding. It is doubtful that after G has been gone for so long that there is still an obvious imprint of her presence still on the bed, but the picture is meant to help the reader understand what Ben Peek is feeling. I think that the first entry of the picture of the eyes is purely a connection to the second entry, just more intimate.
I think that using a picture like Peek does in the two understanding entries can truly help the reader grasp his feelings, and also visualize what the characters look like. With out a picture the whole message the Peek is presenting could be presented too directly. Finally if I analyzed this at all correctly then the two pictures are used simply to help the reader understands Peeks thoughts.

Kaleb

The Understanding entries, to me, speak of someone who made a mistake that really wasn't their fault and then coming to own the finality of their decision without owning that it really wasn't their fault. When Ben Peek turned the car away from the truck to make it so that he wouldn't be hit, he wasn't actively trying to kill Geraldine Lee. He just jerked the wheel where he felt he would be safest, as any human would.

That he thought "fuck you" is irrelevant as even he doesn't specify what he was "fuck you"-ing. The survival instinct saved him, but he holds it against himself. In the picture of the eyes, his eyes reflect the full realization that he killed Geraldine, whom he loved, and that she would never be coming back. The understanding was false, though, in that it did not take into account that he really didn't plan on her death. Turning the wheel so that she was hit was the best option, really, when one considers that as both the side of the car with the wheel and the side of the road people drive on is backward, him turning the wheel as he did would have him moving empirically away from the oncoming truck. Thus it is plausible that he was just trying to get the entire car away from the truck.

On an unrelated note, the Personal Diary Entries were a good insight into Ben Peek's thoughts about Geraldine and life in general. The only personal diary entry that wasn't written on Oct. 12, Ben's birthday, was written shortly before Geraldine was killed. Ben had gotten a book deal and was happy and he and Geraldine were going out to celebrate. Then they somehow became pissed at each other and were driving home angry. Geraldine and her unborn baby were both killed in the crash (actually revealed in "X is where you sign your name"). Ben goes througha deep depression on his birthday, where he doesn't feel his life matters.

That's important.

The fact that he feels guilt and remorse on the day he is officially one year older is important because the guilt most likely stems from the thought that he will continue to get older but Geraldine will not. This guilt is compounded by the fact that he only sees himself as respsonsible for the accident.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. You may disagree. I may not care. That sounds harsh. I do care, really. But just a little. Don't take it personally. I never go back on an idea once I have ideated it. Forget that noise.

Austin Underwood

I was a huge fan of Twenty-Six Lies/ One Truth. So much so I had already read A-M way back in August when I first picked up my school books. I just started reading and couldn't put it down. I decided to re-read it so I would be able to comment on the book better in class.

The assignment for the first section was to write about our favorite entry, then go back, re-read it, and write some more on it. This is what I wrote

"My favorite entry is the one where Ben listens to a 13 year old girl's problems and is surprised that his friends think it is a bad thing. I am trying to remember what letter/chapter it was in. Regardless I was a fan of how he brings up the idea of people's perceptions and how they can stop someone from acting to do something good rather then being afraid of implied 'dangers'"

the second part went like this

"So turns out that this was in the E section and called Ethics. It is interesting because Ben is commenting on an ethical view people have and this view cold have kept someone from helping this girl. Ben's voice really comes through when he says "It had never occurred to me that I could be in danger, just for listening to a thirteen year old girl."

Viewing the Ethics section with the hindsight of reading the L section and Sixteen we certainly are left with a lot to wonder. Is Ben a pedophile? Is he trying to justify it with his descriptions of teen sex idols? Is it a societal standard? Is he implying we should act on our sexuality and desires no matter what they are? Should we judge him harshly? Why did he even include those facts in his book? Are they really a big enough part of him to be included in an autobiography? Is this an autobiography? Was any of this real?

I don't think I will get an answer to any of those questions and if Ben is really reading this then I suspect he will leave me to wonder as it adds to the artistic merit and interpretation of the work. Or something like that.

I already read the rest of the book and have been trying to keep it special for those who haven't gotten to the end just yet. I really interacted with the book. A few times toward the end I felt like I had been punched in the gut and had to walk away. Once I even threw my copy across my room in protest.

Erik

So in this post, I expand upon the little passage I wrote in class about the novel "26 Lies/One Truth". My in class post went a little something like this:
My favorite passage (or passages in this case) were the ones about different Australian or international writers who had written fiction under the guise of it being non-fiction. These authors were usually praised for their amazing work, like one got the Australian writers award or something to that extent. But then it was discovered that they "lied" and the works are pure fiction and then people get angry at them and their reputation is ruined.
Then the second one went a little something like this:
So it turns out one of these authors is Laura Albert, who wrote about a person J.T. LeRoy who wasn't really her. Another was Helen Demidenko, who wrote about her Ukrainian heritage, even though she wasn't Ukrainian.
Since writing these two in class, I have also discovered authors such as Konrad Kujau, Norma Khouri, and Rahila Khan (apparently people with "K" last names are more likely to behave this way). I'm sure there are more in the novel too, I just haven't specifically found them. I know there are a lot. I liked these and they stuck out in my mind because they seem to be an important and integral part of the story, It's something connected, that is mentioned a lot, and it seems to me like all these stories will wrap up and make some grand and poignant point at the end. They are important, seem interesting, and are throughout the book, so that's why I liked these passages in "26 Lies/One Truth".

And this gets a special mention, because it made me laugh:

BEN PEEK! I'm calling you out!

I believe that the Understanding sections represent Ben's understanding that Geraldine is actually gone. I don't think it is entirely clear from the first picture. All you can tell is that Ben is looking at something with an emotion, along the lines, of sadness. Once you see the second picture, however, you can see he is looking at an impression in his bed next to him. Presumably that is the spot where G slept and he sees the absence realizing she is no longer there. That is just what I get from it at any rate.

Also my title is trying to get the attention of Ben if he is reading these. I don't know what to do once I have that attention. Nice book though. Could you e-sign my copy by commenting on this post?

Oh I'm star struck

Austin Underwood.

(crossposted)

I have been discovered:

Today I discovered Ben Peek reads our blogs (or did, maybe he still will because we have yet to discuss the end of the book). It was a very surreal moment when I found out. Kind of humbling as well. I mean, how often have you wanted to talk to the author about anything and everything in their book? Reading his blog I found out he actually posted some of our responses on his blog. It looks like some of us in the class weren't expecting that, because some of the posts aren't exactly kind to the novel or to the author. I wonder to what level of offense (if any) he takes to that. I mean, I know not everyone can like a book and everyone is entitled to their own opinions and all that jazz but if I worked hard on a book and thought it was good and worth publishing, I would be a little bias and think that it is a damn good book right? Then when people say otherwise, I would naturally get offended. But maybe real authors have learned to get over this and just ignore the critics, no matter what.

This makes me feel really stupid about my past obligitory 26 Lies post, because looking back on it now it was just something to do quick and dirty to get the requirement done so I could get on with my yucks and youtube videos. But now knowing he actually took a look at them and probably thought "Wow this kid has nothing intelligable to say or contribute to the discussion of my book" makes me. It's cool how simply the author outside the class knowing about our blogs vindicates these posts. Blog posts I would have otherwise not cared about now become meanful and worth returning too. Interesting how that works.

Anyway, thought it was cool the author was reading our blogs. Hi Ben Peek.

Hi, Erik (and everyone in Erik's class).

I figure I'll reply to this post, because I haven't replied to any of the other posts, and don't plan too.

I found you guys through a google alert, believe it or not. A lot of artists have them--I learnt to use it from a musician--because it lets you know when reviews of your work show up, or when people start talking shit about you, or love, you know how it is. Anyhow, what I'm saying is I only find out about the blogs when google picks them up. I figure I've missed a few, which is my way of saying if I haven't linked you here yet, it's simply because I don't know who you are. When I do, I'll link you, no hassle, even though I suspect the people who read this blog are getting a little tired of it. When they start complaining, just ignore them.

Like I said, by and large, you're not going to get much commentary out of me, because when I wrote 26lies, I made a deal with myself that I would never discuss anything within the book. It might seem a little strange, but I don't want to give validity to anything, or to tip my hand to anything that might not be true in the book--one of the concerns with the book is just how much does 'truth' mean to the reader, and how they respond to it, and if I sit round telling you all how to decipher it, it kind've fucks up that. Which also ties into the concern you have about not being intelligent enough, or concerned that I might be insulted, or anything like that. It's really, honestly, nothing you have to worry about. All readings of 26lies are valid, though in discussion, some will prove to be more valid than others; also, in a class environment, where marks are given out, there will be readings that are simply more correct than some others. School, University, College, it's all about following someone else's thought and learning the process to reach that end; it doesn't mean you have to agree with it, but it's there, I figure.

However, you won't find me telling you that you have read the book wrong, or that you've proved to be the equal to a down syndrome kid because you've said bad things about me. The truth is, I don't know any of you, and so your opinions don't have any consequences for me. A lot of authors fuck up on that--there was thing a while back when Anne Rice, the author of Interview with a Vampire, among other badly written horror novels, got onto Amazon and started arguing with people about their reviews of her work. It was idiotic, just as it always is when authors argue with you about their work, because you can't make someone like you're shit. It's also idiotic because she ignored the fact that any one of her readers could have been addicted to meth, touched their little brother, and sniffed the underwear of old people, while also being a hardcore Christian who believes that dinosaur bones are God's test, and the world is flat. Of course, they could also be nobel prize winning activists, porn stars, and people who have worked hard and quietly throughout their entire life to carve out their little bit of happiness in this world, and have a bliss that you and I will probably envy. The point is, you just don't know, and because you don't know, when people start saying they didn't like this or that, you just read it, laugh, and move on, because these people are strangers, and the opinions of strangers are ultimately meaningless to you.

But there's something more important here, which I'd like you all to consider (and everyone else who reads this, I guess). It's not wrong to dislike something. You don't write a book to make everyone happy. You can't. But what you want is that you want people to feel something--you want to hit some kind of nerve in them. Hating a book means you hit that; loving it means the same thing; but it's when someone reads a piece of work, and feels absolutely nothing, then you know you've missed you're mark. I mean, what's the point of doing this kind of shit if it's just so everyone can say, at the end, 'I don't know, I didn't really think anything about it'? Might as well get an office job, holiday pay, and some super. To me, art is about wanting to make people feel something. You want them to love it. To hate it. To feel something passionate--to feel that nerve inside them being hit, like I said. It can be hit in so many ways, through theme, through style, through content, and it's what I demand from authors as a reader, and what I demand from myself as an author.

So: You hate the book? Cool. You love it? Fucking awesome.

But at the end of the day, I sleep the same, write the same, hang with me friends, wonder what the deal is with this girl (or that girl), learn to cook a little, and get by the same either way.

Which is my way of saying that you shouldn't let my presence stop you from feeling that you can't write or say whatever you want. You can. It is one of the coolest things to have a group of people sit around and discuss your work. The pleasure to be able to read the comments, to watch what you're all saying, that's mine, and I don't aim to get in the way of anything that any of you are doing.

(crossposted)

As if I were addicted to crack, I have returned to the comments of students in America reading 26Lies. Maybe you don't find this as fascinating as me... in fact, I'm pretty sure you don't, but fuck it, hey? I can't get enough.

We start with a bit of cunt and then move on to images.

James:

Ben Peek and the Letter "C"

I will post what I wrote in class in response to the question: Which entry in "Twenty Six Lies/One Truth" have you enjoyed the most so far? I think we may be the only blog group where every member chose the same entry or entries. I chose the entire "C" chapter in general with some emphasis on the seventh entry.

My favorite entry/chapter was definitely the "C" chapter. This is by no means based upon the sheer profanity or the shock factor. I actually found his argument about why the "C-word" is considered so offensive in our society, where as other words are seen as less offensive when they actually might be just as, if not more, profane or demeaning. Speaking from personal experience, I have never used the "C-word" in the presence of a woman, However, I have seen other males do so to disastrous effect. Adversely I've never took much offense to something like "dickhead" which is pretty much a masculine equivilent, so I see his point.
I especially enjoyed the passage from the seventh entry where he argues that females should be offended by the offensiveness of the word, and that some feminists have already made this point. His justification is as follows "If someone was to tell me that my cock was considered the physical manifestation of the foulest word in the English language. I'd be pretty fucking pissed off" I think he makes a pretty good case.

On another note, the eight entry in that chapter is a little bit suspect on a couple of different levels.

Melissa Partington:

So, I feel like we were all told to do this a long time ago, but here goes.

My favorite entry for twenty six lies/one truth would be Kinship. In this entry he talks about his family on Christmas and how his mom is an outsider. He realizes his mom, sister and him are all outsiders because his father died. He understands how unfair his extended family is to his mom, so he stops seeing them. I thought this entry should good insight into his family.

charlotte snowe

Trying to Understand " Understanding"
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I believe that this sketch of what I percieve to be Ben Peek's eyes, is probably showing how he is still deeply affected the death of his girlfriend, G. Also, perhaps that he is regretting turning the wheel to the left, and wishes he had turned it the other way to take his own life as opposed to his own? Its seems like something he would say.
I'm not sure on my whole take on this book, if it's really true or really a lie?
I'm not really sure what to think, all i know is that i really liked reading it because Ben Peek was just really blunt and open about everything. He had the confidence to write and didn't really care what other though or didn't think about what he wrote.

-aujwat6:

This week, for our assigned blog entries, we had the choice of whether to comment on Ben Peek's journal entries or figure out what the blog entry "UNDERSTANDING" meant to us. Personally, I like analyzing stuff, so I decided to comment on the "UNDERSTANDING" blog.

For those of you who don't know, the "UNDERSTANDING" blog wasn't a written piece but a picture of Ben Peek's eyes (I'm guessing it was Ben's eyes). What I gathered from this picture was that first of all, he's very sad and probably hasn't been getting a lot of sleep because of the bags under his eyes. This picture was most likely made after G died, and was a representation of what Ben was feeling at that time.

Why he titled the blog entry UNDERSTANDING, is a more complicated matter. I think he titled this the way he did because he finally came to the realization that what happened, really happened. In his blog entry,"Urinal. Personal Diary Entry, October 12th" he mentions that whenever he looks into the mirror in the morning and shaves, he hopes that all the bad things that happened to him the night before will all be cut away. I think that the picture in "UNDERSTANDING" is him looking into the mirror after he shaved. He realizes that shaving, this time, will not cut away what happened, and in turn, he understands that she will not be coming back. This is why he's sad in this picture.

The next blog entry "UNDERSTANDING," is another picture of him, but this time, he's in his bed looking next to himself where G probably slept. This is another representation of his understanding that G is gone forever and won't be coming back. Everything that happened to him was real, and he can't take any of it back. Her future was decided for her that night.

Chas:

Understanding
In the book, Twenty Six Lies/One Truth, their is a section titled U with two drawings in it entitled Understanding. One picture is a pair of sad lonely eyes and nothing else. The other drawing is of the author, Ben Peek, lying alone in a bed. I think the drawings are a representation of how he felt after his girlfriend died in a car accident which he caused. When I see them I see sadness and emptiness which is understandable after a loved-one has died. Also I can't imagine how I would feel if I were the cause of the death. That is just my take I'm sure you all have a different take on it.

Tess:

From what I could tell all of the personal diary entries were on October 12 except for first entry of section B when he's talking about writing the book. All of these entries relate in some way to the night that G died, whether it's about how Ben Peek is feeling emotionally, what he is doing, or what actually happened that night.
In all of the entries it seems that he feels guilty about G's death. In section V one of his entries he makes the point of how he is in denial, "I have done nothing wrong. I keep telling myself that.", further emphasizing it again at the end of the section where he states, "I HAVE done nothing wrong."

Slide:

Overall he is thinking a lot about what happened, and at the end comes to the conclusion that "Nothing you do or say takes back a moment". I think that by this he means that no matter how much he analyzes it he'll never be able to forgive the fact that he turned his side of the car away from the truck (whether he actually did on purpose or not).

I, like Chas, believe the drawing of the eyes are meant to bring out sympathy and an understanding of how Ben Peek felt during his time of loss.

I think it is one thing to read a description of how one feels and then to actually see an image is not only reassuring to his point but also gives me a better sense of his emotion.

Eyes are said to be the looking glass into the soul and it is easy, as humans, to recognize the sorrow that these eyes are portraying. Peek was strongly affected by his loss and it is through his personal diary entries and a series of pictures that help us understand how great his loss was.

And lastly, there was this, from Chas:

My favorite entry from A-M was the Factotum entries. These entries were about the writer Charles Bukowski, who wrote the book Factotum. Peek describes an interveiw in the last Factotum entry, in which Bukowski gets into a fight with his fiance during an interview.
Here it is

Haha as Peek put it best "Bukowski was an asshole. There is no if, maybe, sorta, could've, lets-look-at-this-in-the-parlance-of-our-times statement to add to it." (p.33) So after actually seeing the footage I went looking for more insight as to who Bukowski was and found some amazing quotes and photos to go with them.

“There was nothing really as glorious as a good beer shit—I mean after drinking twenty or twenty-five beers the night before. The odor of a beer shit like that spread all around and stayed for a good hour-and-a-half. It made you realize that you were really alive.”
—Ham on Rye, 1982

"Human relationships didn't work anyhow. Only the first two weeks had any zing, then the participants lost their interest. Masks dropped away and real people began to appear: cranks, imbeciles, the demented, the vengeful, sadists, killers. Modern society had created its own kind and they feasted on each other. It was a duel to the death...in a cesspool."
—Women, 1978

I explained to Djae last night that one of my books was being taught somewhere, and he laughed, and told me I had suddenly become avant garde. I think I'm going to reference myself in bios this way from now on.

Well, probably not.

I mean, that'd just be wank, and there are enough wanky author bios out there.

(crossposted)

More from students reading 26lies.

One:

I didn't have a favorite entry from sections A-M (this is partially because I'm not actually enjoying this book. does everyone else actually like it? i kind of just feel like it has no point, I'm just reading a bunch of words. When we discussed it in class about all the entries that connected, I saw some connections that i hadn't realized when I read it. I hope that there are more and that he actually goes somewhere with his entries because i'm really not enjoying it as it is...)
But I did have a favorite section, like a good number of others i picked C.
I mean, if i'm reading a book of some guys opinions... and random facts about things i don't care about, I want it to at least be humorous... Cunt.... maybe as a female i wasn't supposed to enjoy this section as much as i did. Well, he did defend women saying that if he was a woman he wouldn't appreciate people saying a cunt is the "most disgusting word." But I think he just has a male state of mind. Us females found it amusing. It was weird at first, 10 entries on the same topic when all the other sections were floating around on random topics. It was pretty ridiculous, but I guess the funniest entries were the creative writing and the elementary school classes. When I think of "the c word" I think of "crap". Isn't that what it was when we were kids? Now they just have cunt, a womans private parts? When we were kids I remember "dickhead" was a pretty bad insult you used when you were mad at someone. Guys didn't find that too offensive... so the fact that "cunt is the most dirty word" doesn't actually offend women... well, most of us. i don't know, these are just all the things I thought about as Ben went on and on about cunts.

Two:

My favorite Ben Peek entry of course, was in chapter c. The reason I chose this entry is because it makes a good point in a clever funny way. The entry that I chose is the one where Ben Peek points out that it should be offending to women since the foulest word in English refers to female genitals.
Number one I agree with the point that it is offending or at least should be to women that Cunt is the worst word in the English dictionary. I loved the example when Peek imagines how he would feel if Cock was the worst word in the English dictionary. Using that example helps the male reader get a grasp on Peeks reasoning.
The second thing that I liked about this entry is that it is about the word Cunt. I have always thought that it is really offending, but never new why it should be so offending. Peek cleverly pointed out the real reason why cunt should be offending. Also I thought that this entry expressed Ben Peeks voice well. Overall I really liked chapter C. I am not sure if it is because I think the word Cunt is funny or if it is because of Ben Peeks thoughts on the word. Which ever it is section C is defiantly my favorite section.

Three:

Yes. I do like the portmanteau of "cunt" and "entries."

Ben Peek likes the infamous "c word," and so it is in this spirit that I will only be slightly squeamish about using the word cunt in this entry. Test the waters with it. Write a loveletter about it. Whatever.

Okay, so here is what I wrote on that scrapule of paper in class:

My favorite entry in Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth was the entire Cunt chapter. All of the entries had the same title, so I cannot easily distinguish one from another, but here is a summarizing rundown of the damned thing: Man likes word, "cunt;" man has students use word; man uses as insult; man uses as term of endearment; man has homosexual acquaintance who pretended to have a cunt for online sex channel; man goes into in-depth etymological discussion of cunt; man admits he is fascinated with word cunt; man doesn't like word slurry (nasty); man talks about puissance of cunt in other countries; cuntcuntcunt"

Then when I went back and looked, I was pretty much right, give or take some details. Those were irrelevant. Well, not really irrelevant, but less stand-outish. I really wrote as much. But is isn't droll. So I won't share it. How much more cuntries do you really want to hear about, anyway?

Four:

Ben Peek's "twenty-six lies/one truth" is a fictional autobiography. When asked what entry I liked best, I honestly could only remember one in any detail. That was the entire chapter on letter c. The beauty of the chapter was the continual use of the word cunt.

It's funny because I would have to say I picked the chapter for two reasons. First, this entry was 10 entries on cunt. Now everyone knows that cunt is seen as a taboo. Using the word in any formal setting would be completely inappropriate, albeit funny. So the use of this word was refreshing. Secondly, it was the only series of entries that I clearly remembered.

The etymology of cunt was probably the best entry of the chapter. It's always interesting to learn about how curse words became the awful, make-Jesus-cry words they are. I honestly disagree however with Peek's assumption that cunt is the worst word in the English language. I contend words like motherfucker or such are much worse. Also, anything that tears apart a person based on racial/physical differences.

So take back the word cunt. Using it to greet your best of friends.

Five:

One of my favorite entries in Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth was the entry entitled "Sanctity".

Sanctity is defined as something that is holy or sacred. According to the Church, sex should be saved until after marriage, and pre-marital sex isn't looking kindly upon. Since Peek doesn't hide his dislike of the church, this entry is somewhat of a contrast.

The subject of the entry is sex, more bluntly, the word fuck. He uses the word as a noun, adjective, verb, adverb and probably other parts of speech, and as far as I can tell, it's all used correctly. He goes on the the entry about different things you should not do (according to him) in regards to fucking. For example:

"Don't fuck dead bodies."

"Don't fuck animals."

"Don't fuck with food."

And the list goes on....

"Don't fucking make porn."

"Don't fucking cheat."

My favorite lines from this entry are the at the end: "Don't fuck for revenge. Don't fuck to pass the time. Don't fuck to fuck. Fuck that. Fuck sanctity. Fucking ruins everything."

Through these lines, you can hear Peek's voice and his opinions on the subject. I give him a lot of credit for not taking any crap from anyone about what he thinks and believes. But I have a question to pose to everyone which is up to interpretation. Read the entry. Then look at the last sentence. Does the word fucking refer to the the previous sentence, with the implied meaning "It fucking ruins everything." - OR - Does the word fucking stand on its own as the subject of the sentence?

From what I understand, the blogs have multiple posters, two or three on each. I'm not sure if there are other blogs out there from people taking the course, but if there are, be sure to leave me the link, as I am, absolutely, fascinated by what's going on here.

Apparently the rest of the book was read this week, so with any luck, there'll be more on that.

(crossposted)

Found another:

Last night I decided to have a seat and start reading our assigned homework in twenty-six lies/one truth. I had planned on starting it, maybe reading the first half of the assignment, and then finishing it up the next morning (which, by the way, is this morning that I am currently living in) but, after I started I didn't really want to put it down. I took one break from reading the first half of this book and that was to get food because the dining hall was set to close soon. In short, I really enjoyed the first half of twenty-six lies/one truth. Ben Peek really gets to the cynical, realist core of things in a way that I respect, because he isn't, as many "cynics" are, overly pessimistic. There is a subtle, yet salient, difference between being a pessimist and a cynic. Fortunately, you can easily be a realist and cynic, and apparently a funny bastard in the process, and that is what Peek has done in this book.

To give you a little insight into how much I enjoyed reading these first 13 chapters I'll tell you about how I read them. I sat at my desk, in my dull wooden and metal chair, with my book on my desk before me, and my computer behind that. Eventually, I let my computer go into sleep mode because I had been ignoring it in favor of the book. I sat in my not particularly comfortable chair for about an hour without really moving at all and just ripped through pages and chapters. Many times I read a whole page, or a little entry, over and over a few times because I thought it was funny or provocative and I wanted to remember how he phrased his thought. At some point a couple chapters in, I grabbed the highlighter out of my marking implement and other such thing cup on my desk and began making different types of markings around different pieces that either confused me, made me laugh, or that I just thought were very well-made points.

If you decided that you didn't want to read this book, I recommend that you reconsider. It was worth the short amount of time that you have to dedicate to reading it.

Woke this morning and it seemed to me
That every night turns out to be
A little bit more like Bukowski
And yeah, I know he's a pretty good read
But God, who'd want to be
God, who'd want to be such an asshole?
-Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse

How fucking cool is this, hey?

I love educationally forced text. I used to be down on it, but now I've totally converted.

(crossposted)

A while back, I saw a post about an academic in the states using 26lies in a course about writing on the internet, and 26lies was, from what I understood, required reading, and students would have to create their own blogs. Outside that, I really have no idea what the thing is about, but my google alerts thing sent me links to a couple of posts that, it would seem, were made from people in the course.

Did they hate it, did they love it, did they resent having to read for learning?

One:

I absolutely loved Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth. I started reading it early because I didn't think I was going to have time this weekend to finish the reading, so I did it last week instead. I got really into the book and ended up finishing it because I liked it so much. And that is saying a lot seeing as though I haven't finished a required reading book for an English class in a very long time.

Having said that, I thought that it was really cool that Ben Peek turned his blog into a book, almost like a dictionary of his blog. So if you wanted to know what Peek thought about Identity, Sex, or University, you could look it up and see an entry about the topics, or a story that had to do with one of the topics. I loved how you could really hear Ben's voice through the entries and exactly what he thought about each subject. The interspersed dialogue was effective because you got a feel of the interactions that happened between Ben and his friends/family members.

I think that the different format of the book is what kept me interested, because you still got an idea of a story without resorting to a typical story format. Peek kept it interesting by not telling you everything all the time. He left some things up to interpretation. What also kept me interested was how the semi-randomness of all of the posts/subjects all fit together, and they made sense together.

Two:

So after reading A through M in the book Twenty Six Lies/ One Truth By Ben Peek, I am still sort confused. Does this book have point to it other than random rants? And why is it written to look like a dictionary ( which i like, it seems to make it a faster read). I mean it wasn't a hard read, but it really didn't have a plot or meaning to the story.

It was incredibly entertaining though. All the points that were brought up, seem like they could have been taken from our Campus' paper, The Water Tower.

I love that it's written and from the view point of an Australian. I've always sort of wished I was Australian (partially because I am highly jealous of my friend from Queensland that I've been "pen-pal"ing with since I was 8). I mean think about it, they have the Australian outback as their back yard, ayers rock, opal mines, aborigines, the great barrier reef (where scuba diving must be amazing), kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, emus and they are closer to the orient and asia than we are. Not to mention the warm weather all year round, fantastic surfing oppportunities and super cool accents! They can also hop to New Zealand conviently where there are four different seasons all year round ( not all in the same location, that would be highly impossible). You could be surfing in the northern half of NZ and then travel to the southern moutains and go snowboarding....IN THE SAME DAY!

Anyways, aside from my personal tangent.....I really liked the sarcasm of the novel.

Perhaps a few of my favorite phrases were:

I don't like organised religion. I don't like the goals of organised religion. I don't like organisations, actually, but a room full of people who believe the same thing and who're trying to save their souls just gives me the shits. Inevitably they're going to think my soul needs saving, and my soul is just fine.

I find this to be extremely true, in that when ever I wander into a church or by some one who is publicly broadcasting religion trying to attract potential followers, it freaks me out. I always feel like they feel the need to "save my soul" in the process of "saving their own." As far as I am concerned, thus far I haven't been involved with any one definite religion and I seem to be doing just fine thankyou. Note* Now I'm not trying to dis anyone if they are incredibly religious or religious at all, I'm just saying I'm not, So please don't bombard me with packets on my way to class.

You can bring about world peace?
We'll cancel the cable channels.
What?
The problem is clearly that we watch the news.
I mean if we didn't watch the news we'd never know about this shit. So we'll cancel the cable. We've kill the net. We'll even toss the TV out the window. We'll throw it at a cripple. One of them with the metal crutches. We'll take him out and then steal his crutches and have sword fights.
Come on you know you want it. You're such an idiot

This just made me crack up for some sadistic reason. I don believe that alot of what we watch on tv does affect us ( and at times I do feel like throwing my tv out of the window). The last part is just so random and I can just picture some cruel individual stealing a crippple's cructhes and running off to sword fight with them.

I also found a quote that I live my life to and aspire to continue to in the future.

I don't want to waste my life doing something that means absolutely nothing to me.

Seriously. Think about it. Whenever I see something like this all I can think of is OfficeSpace. Makes me really NOT want to work in a cubicle or any corporate job, EVER. period.

The same poster went on to write this:

When I finished reading A-M in our assigned book, I was confused to as where this story was going. From what I gathered, I felt like Ben Peeks was extremely sexual in a creepy old man kind of way. He drew genitals on the demons in hell and the cherubs in heaven and his whole chapter L was pretty much about sex. The entries where he mentioned tutoring a bisexual 13 year old were just over the top. I mean, they weren't graphic in any way, I just felt like it was an odd detail to mention. First of all, why would a 13 year old tell her teacher that she was bisexual? And furthermore, how could a 13 year old know that she was bisexual at that age? That's way too young in my opinion. I know she needed someone to talk to, but that is not something you say to your teacher. By saying to your teacher that you are bisexual, it means that you have already had experience and, not to be stereotypical, must be wild. No offense, but some males would die to have a girlfriend who was into male and females. And because Ben Peeks is very sex craved, in my opinion, I think that mention of bisexuality would jump-start his hormones. Maybe I'm blowing everything out of proportion, who knows?

Another thing about this subject is that I don't particularly think a teacher and a student should have this close of a relationship. I know teachers CAN have this close of a relationship and have nothing happen, but most of the times, that doesn't happen. Whenever I think of a student getting close to a teacher, I think that something bad is going to happen. I don't know how many times I have heard on the news that a teacher was charged for having sex with his/her student. It's no wonder Ben's colleagues were worried when they found out he was tutoring a young girl!

Because of these factors, I'm guessing that Ben had sex with this 13 year old girl. In chapter L, he mentioned several instances where a man was attracted to a younger girl, i.e. Lewis Carroll, himself, and even mentioned the name for a girl who was sexually active at a young age. He also mentioned that there was porn out there that depicted young girls having sex with older men and even gave us the name of a 15 year old pornstar. If this is his autobiography than these entries MUST have a meaning. I don't think they're random stuff he decided to put it his blog, but actually an inside to what really happened with this 13 year old girl. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe he's telling this from an observant perspective. Maybe she had a relationship with an older man before and Ben was just merely describing her experience. Maybe Ben caught another teacher having sex with her. I don't know the answer.

When we were talking about the Leave entry in class today, I thought that that was the word Ben said in his head while he was having sex with the 13 year old. Maybe he said Leave to himself because he really didn't want to have sex with her and knew he shouldn't be doing this. Another thing that made me think that this was the case was the entry on the next page called Molestation. He mentioned that the girl who was "molested" was very young. I hate to think of this but maybe he molested her, and while he was doing this, said to himself Leave but didn't. I hope this isn't the case!

Third:

I don't really have a favorite entry, but a favorite chapter...and it may seem strange that this is my favorite chapter considering i am in fact female, but i though it was one of the most hilarious things i've read in a while.

I don't know what Peek's reasoning was to make all ten entries about the same thing, but it definitely caught your attention. Each entry got more absurd and you continued reading. One that was extremely entertaining was the one with the 3rd graders. It reminds me of a time when i was also in third grade, and one of the kids dared another to scream sex as loud as he could in the middle of class. I, being the innocent third grader that i was, had no idea what it meant, but some student found this hilarious. I guess they were more mature than I.

Some girls may find this C word extremely offensive, and like Peek stated, "the baddest and worst word ever". I don't really think of it that way. I mean, im not one to use it, but i wouldnt consider it the worst word in the english language. There are definitely much worse. I would consider racist slurs the worst words one could use. But the C word? Come on. I mean, if someone called me one i would not be that happy but for the most part im alright with it.

Awesome, hey?

Obviously, if you've never bought the book, you should.

I need the money.

(crossposted)

I'll be there for the opening night. So should you.

Even if it is in Wollongong.

Somehow I missed this. I did an interview with Jody Macgregor jody_macgregor) for Rave, which went up a week back in a smaller edition, but the larger, full length one is on Jody's blog. It's mostly about 26lies, but it's also about if I'd go on Oprah, and Nowhere Near Savannah, and who is the best looking world leader. Because such things are as important as the music videos celebrities make to tell you who to vote for.

Link.

26Lies picked up a neat review from Jody Macgregor (jody_macgregor) in Rave Magazine:



Rave is a street mag out of Brisbane, and if you follow the link you can download a pdf of it. I've done an interview, too, which'll appear later, but that was a good bit of fun as well, and I was asked things I hadn't been asked before, which is nice.

Anyhow, you can buy 26lies from Amazon, Wheatland Press, and Agog. You should, if you haven't read it. It's critically acclaimed and has a cult following. Which is code for well reviewed and not read by more than a thousand people.

Here's a downright cool review of 26lies from Kirstyn (fearofemeralds):

This book is brilliant, and it shouldn't be. What it should be is a piece of wank, and in the hands of a lesser writer, it absolutely would be. But Ben Peek is not a lesser writer. And twenty-six lies/one truth is a stunning, articulate, and emotionally rich novel. (Yes, it is too a novel, and pickled eggs to anyone who says it isn't. Unless you like pickled eggs. In which case, dog turds to you. And if you like dog turds, you have bigger problems and I shall leave you alone to think what you want.) Of course, I recognise the fact that my own agnostic, left-wing sympathies are in close accord with the author's and this no doubt added to the pleasure of reading certain sections of the book, but this is in no way the whole story. twenty-six lies/one truth is quite simply a highly intelligent, exquisitely crafted and wholly original book that manages to creep up behind the reader and land a sucker punch when least expected. And then it makes you think about it.

It's quite a long post, so you should do the click, and read it.

As always, you can buy it from Amazon, Wheatland Press, and Agog.

This week has been pretty review heavy on the blog, I've noted, and I figure I'm going to close the week out this way, because it's Buy A Book For A Friend Week, and all of you should be rushing out to buy my poor books for your friends.

Not, you know, that you should need a week to buy books for someone, or donate money to cancer, or help suffering people.

But, if you do, here's some choices:



"With the gravitas of a Margaret Atwood or Kazuo Ishiguro, Peek, in his debut novel, Black Sheep, crafts a quietly horrifying world displaced from ours by a century of time and an implosion of globalist attitudes."



"There’s a clear critique operating here of contemporary Australian society, with its expectation that newcomers leave their cultural background at the door on entry... Black Sheep is one of the more interesting novels I’ve read in recent times."



"This is an angry young book... it blazes across the page with absolute intensity. It’s also one of the most interesting and politically challenging science fiction novels to come out of Australia in a very long time. It’s a novel that has something to say."



Buy it from Amazon and Galaxy Bookstore.



"Ben Peek is a writer I fully expect to blunder out into the scene like a run-away brontosaurus one of these days. He has titanic talent generally leashed to micro-detail projects when his true canvas is probably something much wider and deeper. Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth is a gently experimental text that uses a glossary of terms from A to Z to create vignettes, one-liners, and other supports for loosely connected narratives. Some are funny, some are most definitely not funny. All are lively and deserve your attention."



"I emerged from the book feeling somewhat dazed and exhausted (having read it from beginning to end within a 24 hour period), and I’m not entirely sure what I feel about it. Impressed, certainly. Curious, definitely. A little pissed off... well, maybe."



"What I got from it is this: that truth matters when it matters, and doesn’t when it doesn’t. And that each of us must find our own path as to where that distinction lies. 26 Lies, 1 Truth is an intelligent, playful, funny, challenging, thoughtful and deeply moving work. It is a book filled with outrageous lies. And it is a book filled with truth."



"It ought to fail miserably. But, curse his eyes, Mr Peek has written a fantastic book. And despite its structure, Twenty-Six Lies has a powerful narrative drive. Mr Peek as deftly woven a story into his encyclopedia, complete with character development, unfolding themes, and a hard shock of an ending."



"Quite extraordinary."



"Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth is a memoir in the form of alphabetical entries, ten or so entries for each letter. The book is also semiotic, social commentary, a meditation on the truth-telling responsibilities of a writer, a part-time comic book, funny as hell, profane, and melancholy. Like the best memoirs it's deeply personal yet engaging and universal. Peek lays out the truths and lies and is smart enough to trust the reader to fit everything together. Powerful stuff. Highly recommended."



"This is a clever, moving, funny and insightful book. I laughed, and I would have cried, but I'm too fucking hard for that sort of shit. See, I understand, relate and empathise with a lot of the truth in this book, the truths I know are true."



"This book is an autobiography. At least some of it is true, for whatever value you like for 'true.' It tells me (or you, or whoever the reader) over and over again not to trust writers. Writers lie. Words, by their very nature, lie.

I know better than to trust this book. I know not to let it seep into my mind, not to take too much too heart what I think it tells me about Ben Peek.

The only trouble is, I don't know how."



"I find myself unable to call it a brilliant book, although there are certainly brilliant bits, and I am instead left to describe it as an interesting book, which is certainly is - through and through."



"Recently I read Ben Peek's Twenty Six Lies/ One Truth. Yes it's full of bluff and bluster, Peek coming across as a hard-ass, and yes, it's very fucking good. There are moments, in fact, of brilliance."



"A bit too clever."



And

"Ben Peek’s Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth is inebriating, an absinthe of self-deception, a smoke-filled room of conflicted emotion, a hall of mirrors, each of them distorting both perception and reality. Ben Peek dances on the stepping stones of Ben Peek’s supposed life, leaping from philosophy to pop culture, from insight to angst. As one reads this remarkable work, the question arises, “what is the line between the art and the artist”? Peek knows. I know. But you cannot know, for certain, until you pick out the lies. Do you trust your judgement that much? Do you trust Ben Peek? What makes you so certain that you can crack the code of Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth? I’d be careful if I were you. Deception awaits."



Buy it from Amazon, Wheatland Press, and Agog.

Clearly, these are your only choices for Pimp Bang!

Er, I mean, Buy A Book for a Friend Week.

Also, they're good for kindling for people in countries currently under military control or suffering from natural disasters.

It took a year. It seriously took me a year:

Peek is a bit too clever, a bit too cute, for his own good. Sometimes his book reads like the literary equivalent of an actor repeatedly turning to the camera and winking at the audience. At other times, he most resembles the guy who sits next to you at the bar and spends the next three hours deconstructing the world from his own narrow perspective. Peek does it very eloquently and with fewer slurs, but the reader is sometimes left with the same weary wish that he'd just shut up. The second entry in this book is "Autobiography." Under it, Peek writes, "How much can you trust authors who write their own history?" Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth has a point to make, and, by God, the book will bang on about it until the damn thing is blunt.

...

In 1879, Henry James wrote a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a writer perhaps now most famous for writing The Scarlet Letter. In his introduction, James expressed surprise that Hawthorne had lived so uneventful a life—"few men of equal genius and equal eminence could have led, on the whole, a simpler life," he wrote. This line has always struck me as odd, since it seems no more necessary—and no more likely—for a writer to live an exciting life than it does for a street cleaner to do so. Ben Peek has subtitled his book "The Autobiography of a Man Who Has Been Nowhere, Done Nothing and Met Nobody." And then he has made a lot of it up anyhow.

I love when people accuse me of being too clever, since it naturally means that someone was too stupid.

Personally, I've never quite figured out how being too clever is a complaint. "I don't like it when you try things. Try less. Be a little more mediocre." There's got to be better things to accuse me off. But, anyhow, on top of being too clever, I'm too cute. In fact, I'm cute and clever. Clearly you should want a date with me. Email me, hey? I only reply to people with photos.

Anyhow, what can you say? When I wrote 26lies I thought there would be more negative opinions to it, and it's nice to see someone not liking the book, though Hartland in his review still notes some nice things about the writing, so in truth we're probably doing 40/60 or something like that. In the end, his problems with the book are simply those of someone who didn't like it, and maybe wanted it to be something else--and what can you say about that at the end of the day?

Shame he didn't mention Anna, though.

At any rate, if you haven't bought 26lies, you should. You can buy it from Amazon, Wheatland Press, and Agog.

I did an interview with Brendan Connell (brendanconnell), the author of The Translation of Father Torturo and the Dr. Black stories (well, actually, it's probably more fair to say he did an interview with me).

It's a different interview than the others I've done, in that Brendan and I did it over msn, mostly. Time differences meant we did a bit over email as well, but still, the overall result is that it's much more like a conversation than me getting a set of questions and answering them, which is what usually happens. Also, we cover a lot of different things. It's about Black Sheep, but we talk about 26Lies, A Year in the City, and America, oddly enough. Brendan's blog is pretty cool, too, so you ought to click, and spend some time there. In fact, to help you lazy livejournal people, I created a feed for you all, since I've got it running through my bloglines account and don't need it. I do this because I am magnificent and beautiful.

Link.

I did an interview with John Joseph Adams at Sci Fi Wire for Black Sheep:

Australian SF/fantasy author Ben Peek told SCI FI Wire that his book Black Sheep is a dystopian novel set in an alternate reality in which the world has been segregated into three mass races: African, Asian and Caucasian.

"It's the racist utopia, or at least what I imagine is the racist utopia," Peek said in an interview. "I've never understood the urge to hate someone because of the color of their skin or their sexuality."

Link.

There's even a brief mention of 26Lies, just in case people don't want to buy dystopian novels about racism, and instead want to buy experimental books about people they've never heard of. So many choices!

Today is the day of a thousand and one blog posts, it seems. Or at least, three.

Rjurik Davidson, who is the author of the very fine 'Domine' in the most recent Aurealis, read 26lies, and wrote this:

Recently I read Ben Peek's Twenty Six Lies/ One Truth. Yes it's full of bluff and bluster, Peek coming across as a hard-ass, and yes, it's very fucking good. There are moments, in fact, of brilliance, even if the whole sometimes is too single-toned, or perhaps just a little long or perhaps its sheer intensity is tiring. But if you want to understand voice, you can do worse than starting with Peek. He does have a quiet voice that means business, but his voice when writing is not at all quiet. No, at times its something like a controlled Harlan Ellison. A controlled Harlan Ellison! - now that's something to achieve.

Of course, plenty have already written about the book's themes - those of truth and representation, most obviously in writing. It's something I've recently come to realise with this blog of mine, which collects jotted down thoughts and scenes. Sometimes people email me or text me and ask me the oddest things. And I realise that they've been reading my blog, and that it is not a direct representation of my state of mind, nor indeed are the stories all direct representations of the occurences. I select,I compress, I tell stories. Peek does too.

Rju's been comparing me to Ellison for a while now. It never fails to make me laugh, though in a good way. Whatever you've got to say about Ellison the person, he's written some fine fucking fiction.

But mostly, I just find it funny to be compared to other authors.

Anyhow, you know you want to buy the book, so you can get it from Wheatland Press, Agog! Press, and Amazon, where you can buy it with Black Sheep in one of those discount deals that aren't really a discount.

Ross Temple (threemonkeys) read 26lies and wrote,

I'm struck by the similarities between Ben Peek and Clive James. There is a certain physical similarity, a similar background in Sydney and both are too smart for their own good. Both have written autobiographies where truth becomes a slippery concept. In James' case he described it as "unreliable memoir". For Ben Peek, it is less and more than that and it is called twenty-six lies/one truth. A series of dictionary like entries derived from a blog meme. It tells a personal story, an autobiography and plays with the concepts of truth in literature. I really wish I had one of those "I hate Ben Peek" buttons. That way when people ask why I am wearing it, I can say that I don't hate his work at all and that you should be read it. To tell you the truth, I am a little surprised that I feel that way, but there you go.

I wonder if I can get James to endorse the book?

Actually, as an aside, I quite liked the first of James' autobiographies, Unreliable Memoirs. I always meant to read the rest, but never did.

Buy it from Wheatland Press, Amazon, and if you're in Australia, Agog! Press.

Copies of 26Lies are now available for $20 in Australia. This includes postage and handling and so forth.

To get a copy, it works like this: You email Cat Sparks (catsparx) at agogpress at gmail.com and say, "Dear Ms. Sparks, I hear you're wonderful and lovely and you have copies of 26Lies that you have stolen from the corpse of an Australian Postal Worker, may I offer a barter?" To which she will tell you no, and that you better have a paypal account and, like I said, twenty bucks.