Table of Contents

preface xi

introduction xii

1    Unbroken Chain    1

last night's violent math
  Janan Platt    4

family lore
  Dan Brodnitz    5

seven times 7
  Galinsky    7

the ice cream man myth
  John Labovitz    10

remember the woolworth's
  Spike Gillespie    11

getting the hang of yin and yang
  Gael Morlan    15

life with father
  Joseph Squier    19

2    Insignificant Others    30

blind isn't love
  Mia Lipner    32

cat in a tree
  Ben Cohen    34

amy beauty rose
  Xander Mellish    36

jerry was
  Jamie Fristrom    47

almost awake
  Malcolm Humes    55

3    The Center Cannot Hold    64

notes on sinking
  Clay Shirky    68

no bird but an invisible thing
  Christian Crumlish    72

flux
  Various Artists    91

like magic
  Freeman Ng    100

bigamy in the desert
  Christy Sheffield Sanford    102

8 minutes
  Martha Conway    109

4    Tangents    116

gravity
  Jason Snell    119

the damnation of richard gillman
  Greg Knauss    131

the valentine thief
  Carl Steadman    145

intervention
  Walter Miller    153

5    A Thousand Words    163

touch
  Annette Loudon    165

contacting sun ra
  Scot Hacker    169

very short stories
  Steve Seebol    172

negative space
  Mark Napier    174

6    Place    176

water business
  Peter Gannon Crumlish    178

art world rag
  Gregory Severance    196

a geography of smell
  Briggs Nisbet    199

the understanding (2525)
  David Keith    205

why my town is redneck
  Mike Watt    211

7    Alone    214

nigga what couldnt fine no work
  Scott W. Williams    217

some people
  John Humpal    218

lotto
  Alison Dorfman    220

the weight
  Steve Silberman    221

fragmented geographies
  N.G. Meriwether    227

double truth on the second level
  David Alexander    242

dry popcorn
  Sudama Adam Rice    251

farewell letter
  Gregory Pleshaw    253

8    Can Music Save Your Mortal Soul?    255

Maybe Reality Bites, But I'll Take It
  Tabitha Rasa    261

keepers
  Lee Ranaldo    264

fragments from africa
  Meg Wise-Lawrence    265

the second-to-last night at skank's
  Michael McCullough    277

double sun
  Robert Hunter    282

apparition
  Levi Asher    283

a personal history of alternative music and the internet
  E. Stephen Mack    297

Appendix A      finding good writing on the web    301

Appendix B     how to write for the web    312

about the editors    315