Rec Room: Meakin Armstrong: Steve Erickson

In Arc D’X, Thomas Jefferson is a rapist. Tours of the Black Clock: A Novel follows Hitler’s personal pornographer. Images appear repeatedly, such as islands that appear and disappear. His plots take wild turns, and in some ways, reading him is like careering down an alley in a cab driven by a drunk. He makes you cut through myriad and tangled subplots—and he tells bad jokes. He’s postmodern as they come, but there’s something compelling about Steve Erickson. People seem to love him, follow him as they would a cult leader, or hate him but follow him anyway, because he’s that good. Start with Days Between Stations or Tours of the Black Clock.

Bio: Meakin Armstrong is Guernica’s fiction editor. Read his last recommendation here.

Tags: books, fiction, recommendation

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