Dana Goodyear News

2010-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

This week, in the Talk of the Town department of The New Yorker, I have a story about the jumbo squid "invasion" of Orange County. Details not contained in the story: how I forgot a change of clothes and—crucially—shoes, and drove home barefoot, teeth chattering, at two in the morning, having thrown out my squid-juice-soaked sneakers in a bin on an abandoned street in Newport Beach. The other thing I threw out: the squid steaks given to me by some of the fishermen I met. Why? Because, the following morning, someone was looking at my car to consider buying it, and squid have a powerful fragrance. But I had fried calamari, from teeny little six-inch restaurant-friendly squid, at Bottega Louie last night, and they were delicious.

2010-01-22T11:47:00.001-08:00

I'm delinquent in posting that I have a piece about Neil Gaiman in what is still for a few more days this week's New Yorker. Also, Gaiman and I did a Q&A for readers on Wednesday, which you can read here.

2010-01-22T11:25:00.001-08:00

I'm reading at Book Soup tonight with some of my students from USC's Master of Professional Writing Program. The theme is "Lessons Learned: The Wisdom of Baby New Year." 8818 W. Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90069. Reading starts at 7:30 pm.

2009-12-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

My Blogger was acting up, so I wasn't able to post here what I put on Twitter last week: that I blogged on The Millions about "Tender Morsels," a brilliant fantasy book that's categorized as YA but is as sophisticated as anything "adult" I have read recently. Here's a snippet:

This was the year in which I read Twilight, in something less than forty-eight fevered hours, and thought: Tantric rape fantasy. And: Wait, is this a Volvo ad? This was also the year in which I read Tender Morsels, a young-adult novel by the Australian writer Margo Lanagan. It was a revelation, a dark, engrossing fairy tale whose intricacies and images are as haunting and impossible and psychologically freighted as a dream.

2009-11-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have a little story about Lady Gaga, Frank Gehry, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and twelve dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet in this week's New Yorker.

2009-11-02T20:01:00.001-08:00

I have a piece about Jonathan Gold, the restaurant reviewer for the L.A. Weekly—he's famous for celebrating the city's strip-mall-based ethnic cuisine, and for being the only food critic to have won a Pulitzer—in this week's New Yorker. (It's behind the registration wall.) I also blogged about Gold, and linked to some of his reviews, on the magazine's Web site.

2009-10-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

I have a piece about James Cameron and "Avatar" in this week's New Yorker. It—and a blog post I wrote about the movie's visual effects—are available free at www.newyorker.com

2009-10-11T14:41:00.001-07:00

Next Sunday night, October 18, I'm giving a reading at the Mandrake, with Anthony McCann of Machine Project. Brigid McCaffrey will show two short films. 7692 S. La Cienega Blvd., LA, CA 90034. 7 PM. I remember the drinks at the Mandrake being delicious.

2009-10-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am finally delving into "The Best Technology Writing 2009," edited by Steven Johnson (who, bless him, included my story about Japanese cell-phone novelists) and I'm delighted to see that Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog," published in the Atlantic last fall, is in there, too. It's the first thing I have my USC students read before they start blogging. I love that he talks about the roots of blog style in e-mail style, which is really letter-writing style. Also: danah boyd on the MySpace suicide; Nicholas Carr on Google; and a piece from The Onion about someone who finishes an entire book.

2009-09-07T14:47:00.001-07:00

I have a piece in the new New Yorker, about the L.A. interior designer Kelly Wearstler (Avalon, Maison 140, Viceroy, Tides, Eastern Columbia Building, Broadway Hollywood, & etc.).

2009-08-30T18:09:00.001-07:00

My review of Louise Glück's excellent new book, "A Village Life," is in today's Los Angeles Times.

2009-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to my first publication in Japan. (My ongoing musings about the cell-phone-novel phenomenon, in Japanese.) Also, a blog post about the wine culture of the Napa Valley (vs. Two Buck Chuck) is up on The New Yorker site today.

2009-05-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have a piece about Fred Franzia, the maker of Two Buck Chuck and other "super value" wines, in The New Yorker this week.

2009-05-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have a piece today on cell-phone novels in the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. I'll post the link when I have it.

2009-04-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have a Talk of the Town story about Bret Easton Ellis and "The Informers" in The New Yorker this week.

2009-04-03T11:28:00.001-07:00

I have three new poems in the April issue of The Yale Review.

2009-03-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'll be taking part in a one-day writing conference on June 27, 2009, at USC, hosted by the Master of Professional Writing Program, where I teach. There will be workshops, seminars, panels, etc. Crack of dawn till after dark. Denis Johnson will be there. You can register online.

2009-03-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

My friends the Rescues are playing at the Hotel Cafe on Saturday night, March 28th. 9 pm. 1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga, Los Angeles. A good idea to reserve tickets. They are awesome.

2009-03-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Need I say more? Hyla Matthews, brilliant, funny person, is doing a solo show at M Bar at 8 pm on Thursday night, March 26th. Go, go, go! M Bar is: 1253 Vine St., Los Angeles. For reservations call 323-856-0036.

2009-03-16T21:53:00.001-07:00

I have a story about the artist Chris Burden, his art dealer Larry Gagosian, some $3 million dollars' worth of missing gold, and the financier Allen Stanford in the magazine this week.

2009-03-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

My piece on the cell-phone-novel craze was selected for inclusion in "The Best Technology Writing 2009," edited by Steven "Everything Bad is Good for You" Johnson.

2009-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last Friday (1.16.09) I was interviewed about the cell-phone novel phenomenon on"Q," the arts and culture show on CBC. Here's the podcast. (The interview starts about a third of the way through the broadcast.)

2009-01-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here, in two parts, is a podcast of a reading I did last month with Mark Doty and Timothy Steele at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles: Part I; Part II.

2008-12-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

In which I participate in a Q+A about my cell-phone novels story on the New Yorker's Web site...

2008-12-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

I just did an interview about cell-phone novels on "Word of Mouth," Virginia Prescott's show on New Hampshire Public Radio.