A paperback and a movie
What better way to spend a spring afternoon?
O subscriber, what fateful things have transpired since we last crossed paths in the cozy world of the Cosmic Cheeto?
The answer is: quite a few, and in very quick succession. Rather than be that friend who rings you up on the phone and barrages you with a novelette of a life-update, I have decided to break things up into a series of highly digestible microfictions. Or micro-nonfictions? Memoir-flash? Tasty, dehydrated info-pellets?
But I digress. As its title suggests, this post will cover two Very Cool Happenings of late: a paperback and a movie.
The Paperback
Lovers of soft covers, rejoice! The paperback of Confidence is out as of yesterday, with a glamorous, trouser-intensive cover straight from the brilliant mind of Math Monahan, who also designed the cover for Bugsy! You can buy it here for the very, very specific price of $16.73!
Looking at Math’s cover, one can see the Ripley-esque aesthetic of cigarette fumes and closeted gay angst colliding with the too-big-to-fail love-psychosis of the MLM (*ahem* “startup”) at the center of Confidence. I honestly can’t imagine a better cover for the paperback! And with excellent quotes from Michelle Hart and Casey McQuiston about precisely how gay and eat-the-rich the novel is, it’s almost as if this cover is too sexy to fail.
Check out how adorable my fiancé looks cuddled up with two copies of this paperback, flowers, and an iced coffee. Subscriber, this could be you!
Maybe you’re wondering, Will he be doing some kind of special promotion linked to the paperback? The answer is yes! I call this the Little Library Giveaway. In order to enter, just do the following:
Pick a copy of a book you love that you’re willing to part with.
Write a kind message on the title page for its next owner.
Put the book in a little library somewhere!
Buy a copy of the paperback of Confidence!
Send photographic evidence of all this + a viable address to frumkinr (at) gmail (dot) com!
In return, I will mail you a ~Mystery Package~ that will be either The Comedown or Bugsy, signed and inscribed!
Not only will you get a free book out of this, but you’ll also get the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping fill the world’s little libraries with more than dollar-store Grisham paperbacks!
The Movie
Have you ever wondered what kind of creative brilliance the creative writing and media arts students are getting up to at Southern Illinois University? Or perhaps you’ve been curious about Jonathan Lethem’s burgeoning acting career? Or maybe you’ve just been wanting to witness the manic chaos of Jack Black as Britney Spears, except in transmasc form?
Well do I ever have an 18-minute short film that will meet your needs! It’s called The Cancellation of Rafael Frumkin, and you can watch it below.
What to say about this movie other than that it was the quick thinking, ingenuity, and remarkable intelligence of my students that made it such a hilarious success? From the impressive directorial skills of third-year fiction MFA Dajonea Robinson to the sparkling acting talents of recent grad Nancy Lee and first-year fiction MFA Abraham Molinares to the crewing + editorial wizardry of the undergrad media arts students at SIU’s own Alt News, this film was hugely a team effort. Thanks to these thoughtful and endlessly creative students, what began as me pitching Simon & Schuster on a five-minute “book trailer” of Shteyngart-style crazed ramblings swiftly escalated into a full-length short film in need of its own trailer!
Special shouts-out to media arts freshman/hilarious character actress Dahlia Dahl (whose YouTube media criticism you really should check out when you have the chance), our hyper-talented/highly capable ADs Lauren Stoelzle and Jordan Marshall, and digital media czar/unpaid therapist Toby Merriman (whose online D&D table you should really join when you have the chance). And let’s not forget W. Graham’s heroism in lending both his comedic talents and real-life TikTok to this production, nor Liz Hartman’s Enby Librarian Glam Rock costuming and acting excellence (they are in an amazing band with Nancy called Squidwhip whose music you should really check out when you have the chance), nor the comic genius of Ash Sternberg, Jay Needham, George Boulukos, and Mandi Jourdan in their respective roles as Fake Boulukos, Kenton Brandwise, Real/Hostage Boulukos, and Wiccan Elf Swiftie.
And now, please enjoy some behind-the-scenes photos from The Cancellation of Rafael Frumkin. I’ll be back soon with more literary info-pellets, don’t you worry!
