Kate Christensen

Thu, 05 Oct 2000 07:00:00 +0000

Combining sly humor with an urban edge, Kate Christensen's "In the Drink" (Doubleday) tells the story of a resolutely clear-eyed young woman who makes a complete mess of her life, and lives to tell the tale.

In this MP3Lit.com exclusive, Christensen reads an excerpt from her novel.

"Like Bridget [Jones], Christensen's Claudia Steiner is a mess, the kind who bumps along falling into bed with losers and who drinks water 'only in the form of melted ice in my drinks'... but Claudia is endearing because she remains appreciative of her own grittiness." -Time Magazine

Loser lit

Thu, 06 Jul 2000 19:23:00 +0000

"Perhaps the price of comfort is that life passes more rapidly," begins Arthur Nersesian's novel "The Fuck-Up," whose unnamed narrator sabotages his own life in one maniacally funny scene after another. "But for anyone who has lived in uneasiness, even for a short, memorable duration, it's a trade-off that will gladly be made."

This attitude is shared by most of the madmen, underdogs, drunks and crackpots who populate the literary genre I call loser lit, an immensely popular but seldom identified tradition that includes Kingsley Amis' "Lucky Jim," David Gates' "Jernigan," Joyce Cary's "The Horse's Mouth," Knut Hamsun's "Hunger," J.P. Donleavy's "The Ginger Man," Elliott Baker's "A Fine Madness," Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys," John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces" and Frederick Exley's "A Fan's Notes." There are many more, but never enough.

Salon.com > Kate Christensen

Kate Christensen

Loser lit