Opium for the Arts

For Opium5, we decided we didn't want to contribute to the voyeuristic lift--em-up and tear-'em-down compulsion that keeps our modern celebrities acting so badly. So we turned the cameras around. Instead of focusing on the masterminds behind the work, we zoomed in on the writing. Our new old concept: let the stories speak for themselves. The price includes shipping direct to your mailbox. Featuring: STORIES by Ryan Bartelmay, "Lemonhead"; Thomas Cooper, "The Old-Fashioned Way"; Stephen Elliott, "A Short Essay about Internet Dating"; Jonathan Evison, "Big Bill Down Under"; Rich Ferguson, "More Steve McQueen than Anything"; Jon Paul Fiorention, "Jonny's Mid-Life Crisis Guide to St. Petersburg"; Karen Hugg, "The Vampire at the Bakery"; Richard Lange, "Dead Boys"; Bob Powers, "Happy Cruelty Day!"; Terese Svoboda, "Rex Rhymes with It"; and Holly Wilson, "Whisker Get Your Gun." POETRY by Jennifer Faylor, "Cartography for Beginners"; Nathan Ladd, "The Plan"; Dave Morrison, "Award"; Shya Scanlon, "Still Life with Stars"; Sarah J. Sloat, "On the Way to Meet My Daughter's Teacher"; and Julia Story, "Sad. " CARTOONS by CM Evans, including "Precarious Neighbor," "Our New Neighbor," and "The Other 45 Ways." COLORING BOOK PAGES by Heather Sparks, "It Colors Your Life." an INTERVIEW by James Hass, "The Present is Far More Interesting than the Future: William Gibson." and featuring the 8 winners of the 500-WORD MEMOIR contest, judged by Daniel Handler: Lisa K Buchanan, "The Autobiography of My Celebrity Interview Subject"; Giancarlo Ditrapano, "Benediction"; John Jodzio, "The Future"; Aharon Levy, "Travelers"; Damion Searls, "This is Something that Happened to Me Before I Hit the Big Time"; Anna Vlasova, "Magnolias"; Jay Wexler, "My First Boob"; and Sandra Worsham, "Medusa."A Whopping Collection of Fanatical Literary Brilliance, OpiumMagazine.print #1 features some of the finest contemporary writers that continue Opium's unrivaled online tradition of publishing scorching, heartbreaking prose, rapier wit, and laugh-out-loud funny. Stories, poetry, cartoons and interviews, it truly is a whopping collection. Featuring: STORIES by Nick Antosca, "The Night Salesman"; David Barringer, "Fortune"; Gary Britson, "Modern Communication Techniques in Des Moines"; Spencer Dew, "Honeymooning"; Daulton Dickey, "Acknowledgments"; Pia Z. Ehrhardt, "Stop"; Michelle Garren Flye, "All the Colors"; David Fromm, "The Four Angries"; Larry Gaffney, "Ants of Destiny"; Rose Gowen, "Three Stories About Deborah"; Diana Grove, "The Retrovirus"; Steven Gullion, "The Last Three Times I Saw My Wife"; Susan Henderson, "I Gave an Apple to My Teacher"; Heather Kelley, "Italy," "Him"; Roy Kesey, "At the Pizza Hut, the Girls Build Their Towers"; Darby Larson, "You Couldn't Have Picked a Better Time"; Will Layman, "My New Jersey Boyhood"; John Leary, "Bad Parent"; Tao Lin, "Insomnia for a Better Tomorrow"; Pasha Malla, "It is What Fiction"; Kevin O'Cuinn, "The Time Before I Went Postal"; Amy Prior, "Fashion Victim No. 92 (Case Notes): Jahn and Jan"; Shelly Rich, "Conquering Paradise"; Jim Ruland and Elizabeth Ellen, "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?"; Anthony Tognazzini, "The Great Grandson of J. Alfred Prufrock"; Paul A. Toth, "Monkeybars"; Claudia Smith, "Arson"; and Todd Zuniga, "Love Story." POETRY by Ryan Bird, "Zinger"; Tom Fugalli, "All Things Being Equal"; C. Allen Rearick, "Two Poems"; Will Roby, "Portugal"; and Stephen Snipes, "A Blatant Love Poem." CARTOONS and ARTWORK by CM Evans, Darby Hudson, Nathaniel Johnson, Porter McDonald, and James J. Williams III MUSICAL contributions by CJ Kershner, "Slightly Less-Than-Helpful How-To's From Popular Bands." FILM and TV articles by Grant Bailie, "In Our Next Exciting Episode"; Dan Burt, "Experiencing Film Experimental"; and Joseph Young, "Cinema." a SPORTS variant by Kim Chinquee, "Dribble." TECH pieces by Matthew St. Amand, "The Art of the Deal: Xavier Lipschitz and William Zuma"; and Mike Sacks, "The Personalized Story of How Anthony Mitchell, Written with the Help of Anthony Mitchell, Lost His Virginity on the Football Field of Wendel High School, Poolesville, Maryland, On the Night of October 21, 1975, Anthony's Sixteenth Birthday." INTERVIEWS by Vince LiCata, "A Conversation with Princess Jasmine"; and Todd Zuniga, "Finding Amanda: An Interview with Amanda Filipacchi." REVIEWS by Larry Joseloff with Will Layman, "Beer and Loathing on the Open Road: Classic and Schwag Beers Across the American Continent"; and Angela Lovell, "My Movie Can Beat Up Your Book: A Film Guide For Americans Who Pretend To Read." and LISTS by Melissa Bell, Thomas O'Donnell, and Dunston Procott that are essential for your every day life, including "Rejected Names of Hybrid Tearose Cultivars," "Unflattering Nicknames for Architects," "Cancelled Friends Episodes," "Compound Insults," and "New Doritos Flavors with a Limited Future." Hey, we warned you it's whopping.