Barry Graham

Barry Graham is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. He also teaches writing at Rutgers and wrote The National Virginity Pledge (Another Sky Press). He is the editor of DOGZPLOT.


what are you reading now

I’m reading Matthew Simmons’s A Jello Horse.


classic you’ve been meaning to read

I keep meaning to read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. I’m not sure if that’s a “classic” though. New Classicism? Did I just coin that term?


last book to bring you to tears

I’ve never cried while reading a book. I’m a big sucker for crying during TV shows and movies though. I just cried last week during an episode of Flashpoint. It was about love. It was beautiful.


book you borrowed and never returned

I borrowed The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin a few years ago from Aaron Burch when we were in Vegas and I noticed it on my bookshelf when I was packing up to move. I don’t feel bad because I loaned him a self-publishing primer and he’s still got it.


if you could write yourself into any book or story

I really wish I was a character in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. I don’t think any elaboration is necessary. It’s obvious isn’t it? Yes?


best book you’ve read so far this year

I read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz about a month ago. Great stuff.


most challenging book you’ve ever read

I’m trying to contextualize Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who! in relation to his entire written universe. It’s pretty fucking explosive.


book you’ve planted on a coffee table to impress someone

I’ve never owned a coffee table or spit game to a female who would be impressed by what book was sitting on top of one.


best american short stories, pen/o. henry prizes, or the pushcart prize anthology

BASS. Although I prefer Dzanc’s Best of the Web to all of the above.


collected stories of

Sherman Alexie (I kid I kid)


if you could subscribe to only one literary journal

Hobart


best thing you’ve read online recently

I really dug "Household Poisons" by Thomas King. I found it in the archives over at Contrary. I wouldn’t mind turning it into some sort of mini-film, so Thomas King, if you're reading this, holla.


most anticipated upcoming release

I’m really looking forward to Suzanne Burns’s Misfits and Other Heroes.


recommended reading list:


Obscure Religious Texts That Are Worth Your Time to Read Even If You Are Foolish and Believe Me to Be Wrong

(in alphabetical order without the “the”)


- Adi Granth

- Apocrypha

- Arzhang

- Avesta

- Bhagavad Gita

- Book of Mormon

- Book of Zodiac

- Buddhavacana (Sutta, Vinaya, and Abhidharma)

- Dhammapada

- Doctrine and Covenants

- Guru Granth Sahib

- Hadith

- Kitab-i-Aqdas

- Kojiki

- Nag Hammadi Library

- Pearl of Great Price

- Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

- Tao Te Ching

- Tattvartha Sutra

- Tripitaka