HILOBROW’s 2017
By:
January 4, 2018
Here’s what HILOBROW published in 2017. We are grateful to our dozens of first-time contributors, as well as to our loyal, generous friends and regular contributors — without whom this would be impossible.
BEST OF HILOBROW: 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 1Q2022 | 2Q2022 | 3Q2022 | 4Q2022 SNEAK PEEK.
Back in 2009–2010, Rob Walker and HILOBROW’s Josh Glenn co-produced the much-discussed SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS experiment, which resulted in the 2012 book of the same title. In 2017, Walker and Glenn published one hundred (!) all-new, non-fiction object-oriented narratives, here at HILOBROW. They’re named their ever-evolving endeavor PROJECT:OBJECT. Thanks to donated author/artist fees and merchandise sales, in 2017 PROJECT:OBJECT raised nearly $3,000.00 for the ACLU.
During 1Q2017, we published 25 narratives in the POLITICAL OBJECTS volume. Here’s the complete lineup: INTRODUCTION | Luc Sante on CAMPAIGN PAMPHLETS | Lydia Millet on PVC POLAR BEAR | Ben Greenman on MATCHBOX CAR | Rob Baedeker on PRESIDENTS PLACEMAT | L.A. Kauffman on WHEATPASTE POSTER | Astra Taylor on SALAM’S NECKLACE | Carolina A. Miranda on POCHO | Stephen Duncombe on PROTEST SIGN | Marisa Silver on SHAMAN BOWLS | James Hannaham on DR. BUZZARD LP | Virginia Heffernan on HRC PAINTING | Kenya (Robinson) on BURNER PHONE | Kathryn Davis on POLITBUREAU | Chenjerai Kumanyika on NAT TURNER PRINT | Alexis Madrigal on MERMAID COSTUME | Anne Boyer on ALL KNEES AND ELBOWS OF SUSCEPTIBILITY AND REFUSAL | Steven Heller on JFK DOLL | Anne Elizabeth Moore on BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR | Gary Dauphin on RUM BOTTLE | Tom Frank on DNC PASS | Lizzie Skurnick on GROUP PHOTO | Stuart Ewen on SNCC PIN | Benjamen Walker on BEEF BOX 12″ | Rob Walker on CAMPAIGN SIGN | Alex Kalman on THEM=US PIN.
Stephen Duncombe’s PROTEST SIGN and Anne Boyer’s ALL KNEES AND ELBOWS OF SUSCEPTIBILITY AND REFUSAL were among our most-viewed posts of 2017.
During 2Q2017, we published 25 narratives in the TALISMANIC OBJECTS volume. Here’s the complete lineup: INTRODUCTION | Veda Hille on CROCHET SHEEP | Gary Panter on DINOSAUR BONES | Jami Attenberg on SELENITE CRYSTAL | Annie Nocenti on MINIATURE DICE | Wayne Curtis on CLOCK WINDING KEY | Judith Zissman on SPINDLE WHORL | Amy Fusselman on BOX OF PENCILS | Josh Glenn on MONKEY WHIMSEY | Mike Watt on DASHBOARD TOTEMS | Gordon Dahlquist on CLAY FOX | Mark Kingwell on ZIPPO | Jennifer Schuessler on BEER-CAN CHAIR | Anne Gisleson on WISDOM TEETH | Ben Ehrenreich on CHROME LUMP | Matthew De Abaitua on HATCHET | Ty Burr on INFLATABLE KING KONG | Jacob Covey on ARGUS COIN | Jessica Helfand on PILL BOTTLE | Shelley Jackson on IMPUNITY JANE | Jennifer Krasinski on LEO’S LIGHTER | Molly Heintz on EVIL EYE | Mark Frauenfelder on MARTIAN FINK RING | Amanda Fortini on PRAYER CARD | Ed Skoog on MAMMOTH IVORY | CONTEST-WINNING STORY: Seth on PEANUTS PAPERBACK.
Mike Watt’s DASHBOARD TOTEMS was one of our most-viewed posts of 2017.
During 3Q2017, we published 25 narratives — including several audio stories! — in the ILLICIT OBJECTS volume. Here’s the complete lineup: INTRODUCTION | Kio Stark on PEEPSHOW TOKEN | Sari Wilson on TOMBSTONE PARTS | Annalee Newitz on CAR-BOMB REMNANT | Tito Bottitta on MOONINITE DEVICE | Eric Bennett on DIRTY MAGAZINE | Natalie Kestecher on EROTIC RECORDING (audio) | Wayne Chambliss on RADIOACTIVE TRINITITE | Julian Hoeber on PIG HAMMER | Catherine Newman on HOARDED VICODIN | Josh Glenn on JAY-PEE SLUGGER | Nicole Pasulka on SHROOMS (audio) | Paul Lukas on STOLEN CORKSCREW | Shelby El Otmani on OCCULT CANDLE (audio) | Sam Dingman on HACK DOCUMENTS (audio) | Andrew Leland on GUIDE CANE (audio) | Douglas Rushkoff on LEARY’S STASH BOX | Kalila Holt on BURNT UNDERWEAR (audio) | William Gibson on RACIST BOOK | Alison Fensterstock on FUNERAL FLOWER | Julia Barton on PREGNANCY TEST (audio) | Miranda Mellis on GOLD TEETH | Katie Notopoulos on COPULATING PIGS | Ramona Martinez on STOLEN REMNANT (audio) | Wesley Stace on TOM WAITS NOTE | Mike Montiero on BO DEREK CARDS.
William Gibson’s RACIST BOOK, Douglas Rushkoff’s LEARY’S STASH BOX, and Kio Stark’s PEEPSHOW TOKEN were among our most-viewed posts of 2017.
BONUS! Listen to ILLICIT OBJECTS audio stories — plus a Q&A with PROJECT:OBJECT’s Rob Walker — via Benjamen Walker’s terrific THEORY OF EVERYTHING podcast.
During 4Q2017, we published 25 illustrated narratives in the — beautifully illustrated! — LOST OBJECTS volume. Here’s the complete lineup: INTRODUCTION | Kate Bernheimer on MULLET WIG (ill. Amy Evans) | Dan Piepenbring on COLOGNE (ill. Josh Neufeld) | Doug Dorst on STRATOCASTER (ill. John Holbo) | Paul Lukas on VANILLA BEAN (ill. Allison Bamcat) | Mimi Lipson on DODGE DART (ill. Mister Reusch) | Luc Sante on CLUB CHAIR (ill. Kate Bingaman-Burt) | Nina Katchadourian on FOUNTAIN PENS (ill. Lisa Congdon) | Matthew Sharpe on BAUBLE (ill. Glenn Jones) | Claire Lehmann on PEANUT-BUTTER CRACKERS (ill. Karen Kurycki) | Jessamyn West on ENGINEER RING (ill. Amanda Clarke) | Mandy Keifetz on ORGONE ACCUMULATOR (ill. Emory Allen) | Molly Sauter on DESKTOP DOG (ill. Shayna Piascik) | Amy Thielen on DOG-FUR SCARF (ill. Heather Kasunick) | Stephen O’Connor on HUNTING HAT (ill. Oliver Munday) | Alice Boone on COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS (ill. Rick Pinchera) | Dante Ramos on ROAD ATLAS (ill. Joe Alterio) | Alex Balk on SHOOTING GALLERY (ill. John Lowe) | Chelsey Johnson on NOTEBOOK (ill. Rubi McGrory) | Susannah Breslin on SILICONE VAGINA (ill. Jennifer Heuer) | Seth Mnookin on .22 REVOLVER (ill. Alex Eben Meyer) | Dan Fox on CONKER (ill. Linzie Hunter) | Lisa Takeuchi Cullen on GLASS CLOCK (ill. Rose Wong) | Michael Tisserand on WALKING SHOES (ill. Jackie Roche) | Jeff Turrentine on BASEBALL MITT (ill. Andrew DeGraff) | Randy Kennedy on SNAKE RATTLES (ill. Max Temescu).
Rob and Josh are very grateful to PROJECT:OBJECT’s writers and illustrators, to the artists (Rick Pinchera, Jacob Covey, Joe Alterio, Kate Bingaman-Burt) who designed each volume’s logo, and to SEMIOVOX for sponsoring the series.
#SQUADGOALS was a weekly series in which talented HILOBROW contributors — 52 of them, over the course of the year — waxed enthusiastic about their favorite gangs, bands, teams, and cadres. Here’s the complete lineup:
Annie Nocenti on THE WILD BUNCH | Alice Boone on PRETTY LITTLE LIARS | Gordon Dahlquist on BOWIE’S BAND | Rob Wringham on THE HOME GUARD | Jennifer Krasinski on WATERSHIP DOWN RABBITS | Annalee Newitz on ROBIN HOOD’S MERRY PALS | Adrienne Crew on THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP | Mark Kingwell on THE HONG KONG CAVALIERS | Adam McGovern on KAMANDI’S FAMILY | John Overholt on THE CLUB | Greg Rowland on THE VULTURE SQUADRON | Sara Ryan on BETSY, TACY & TIB | Chelsey Johnson on VI ÄR BÄST! | Brian Berger on THE JOHN FORD STOCK COMPANY | Sherri Wasserman on THE WARRIORS | Jessamyn West on FAREYNIKTE PARTIZANER ORGANIZATSYE | Josh Glenn on DADA | Matthew De Abaitua on THE TIME | Mandy Keifetz on THE FOUNDING FATHERS | William Nericcio on ZOOT SUIT PACHUCOS | Deb Chachra on FIREFLY CREW | Matthew Battles on THE ANIMAL FAMILY | Ingrid Schorr on THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS | Joe Alterio on THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS | Dan Reines on THE BREAKFAST CLUB | Rob Walker on LES TROIS INSÉPARABLES | Devin McKinney on 1975 RED SOX | Steph Burt on DAMAGE CONTROL | Elina Shatkin on THE HOLOGRAMS | Chris Spurgeon on THE ALKALI METALS | Carl Wilson on NEW YORK SCHOOL POETS | Barbara Bogaev on THE MOD SQUAD | Franklin Bruno on THE AACM | Judith Zissman on THE FUTURIANS | Mimi Zeiger on ARCHIGRAM | Jacob Mikanowski on THE RATBASTARDS | Lynn Peril on THE DALY SISTERS | Anindita Basu Sempere on MEG MURRY’S FAMILY | Libi Rose on THE ENIAC TEAM | Gary Panter on THE TRIBE OF HIPPIES | Peter Doyle on CORNEL WILDE BOYS | Ken Layne on THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG | Molly Wright Steenson on BAUHAUS | Katie Hennessey on BEAT POETS | Mimi Lipson on THE RUNAWAYS | Jordan Ellenberg on BOURBAKI | Michael Campochiaro on THE SUICIDE SQUAD | Deborah Wassertzug on THE BLOODHOUND GANG | Colin Dickey on ACÉPHALE | Douglas Wolk on SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY | David Smay on THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF THE OINGO BOINGO | Karinne Keithley Syers on BLACKLIPS PERFORMANCE CULT.
Josh Glenn edited the #SQUADGOALS series; he is very grateful to its contributors.
During August, HILOBROW published 25 posts, by 25 contributors, in the series KLUTE YOUR ENTHUSIASM, which analyzes and celebrates a few of our favorite neo-noir movies from the Sixties (1964–1973). Here’s the complete lineup:
Series Introduction | Kio Stark on THE KILLERS | Alix Lambert on BANDE À PART (BAND OF OUTSIDERS) | Judith Zissman on ALPHAVILLE | Mark Kingwell on HARPER | Lynn Peril on BLOW-UP | Devin McKinney on SECONDS | Drew Daniel on BRANDED TO KILL | Luc Sante on POINT BLANK | Gordon Dahlquist on LE SAMOURAÏ | Alice Boone on LE CERCLE ROUGE | Brian Berger on COTTON COMES TO HARLEM | Adrienne Crewe on PERFORMANCE | David Levine on THE FRENCH CONNECTION | Dan Fox on GET CARTER | Melissa Gira Grant on KLUTE | Brandi Brown on SHAFT | Kaleb Horton on FAT CITY | Peter Doyle on THE GETAWAY | Sarah Weinman on HICKEY & BOGGS | Annie Nocenti on BADLANDS | Josh Glenn on CHARLEY VARRICK | Gary Groth on THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE | Lisa Jane Persky on THE LONG GOODBYE | Mimi Lipson on MEAN STREETS | Sherri Wasserman on SOYLENT GREEN.
Melissa Gira Grant’s KLUTE installment was one of HILOBROW’s most viewed posts of 2017.
Josh Glenn edited the KLUTE YOUR ENTHUSIASM series; he is very grateful to its contributors.
Adam McGovern’s semi-memoiristic, semi-culture-critical, always insightful column, THIS:, appeared weekly. Here’s 2017’s complete lineup:
LIFELINES | RE-SISTER | ONE YEAR | LOOK AT THOSE CAVEMEN GO | CONSUMER CULTURE | OUTSIDE THE BLACK BOX | DRAWN IN BLOOD | THE GATHERING BRAINSTORM | BLUE LIFE | BAD DREAMERS | LET THEM EAT TAKE-OUT | IMAGINARY ENEMY | SECOND TIME AROUND | SOUL SEARCH | BLACK TIE ENTRAILS | ALIVE IN THE MIND | WHAT GOES AROUND | THE GREAT LOOP | REUNION ARMY | ALICE, ALAS, AT-LAST | THE AMAZING JOURNEYMAN | EYE OF THE BELIEVER | SMALL WONDER | OUT OF MANY | TO PROTECT AND FRIEND | THE FAILING | DYING IS EASY | THE OTHER ANVIL DROPS | TIME SENSITIVE | UNCHANTED | BANGS AND WHIMPERS (1) | BANGS AND WHIMPERS (2) | ’TIS OF THEE | MY BACK ISSUES | JOIN, AND DIE ANYWAY | WHAT GOES NATURALLY | LITTLE GREEN | 2400-YEAR PARTY PEOPLE | NAME BRANDING | OBJECT IMPERMANENCE | WORLDS GONE SAD | WATCHING A GHOST | ALLEGORIES OF THE STAGE | RED FALLING STAR | DASHED PESSIMISM | NO IMMUNITY | REGULAR ORDER | THE FAULT IN OUR STARS | DROWN | THAT WAS THAT.
The THIS: installments LOOK AT THOSE CAVEMEN GO (a shocking Q&A with comic-book writer Mark Russell) and ALLEGORIES OF THE STAGE (an inquiry into Gemini CollisionWorks’ Twentieth Anniversary of Hysteria) were among our most-viewed posts of 2017.
Throughout 2017, we published installments in three amazing monthly series.
Historian Lynn Peril’s PLANET OF PERIL is devoted to Lynn’s favorite obscure historical fads and figures. Here’s 2017’s complete lineup: I CAN TEACH YOU TO DANCE | WEARING THE PANTS | LIBERATION CAN BE TOUGH ON A WOMAN | MALT TONICS | OPERATION HIDEAWAY | TELEPHONE BARS | BEAUTY A DUTY | THE FIRST THRIFT SHOP | MEN IN APRONS | VERY PERSONALLY YOURS | FEMININE FOREVER | “MY BOSS IS A RATHER FLIRTY MAN”.
James Parker’s THE KALEVALA is his bastardization of — and, in some instances, departures from — a Finnish sequence of folkloric songs, runes, and charms. Here’s 2017’s complete lineup: RUNE 23 (485–580): “The Bride’s Lament” | RUNE 30 (1–276): “Icebound” | RUNE 30 (120–188): “The Voyage of the Sea-Hare” (Part One) | RUNE 30 (185–188): “Losing It” | RUNE 30 (departure): “Across the Ice” | RUNE 30 (departure): “Song of the Guilty Viking” | RUNE 34 (1–82): “The Pipes of Kullervo”.
In January, Tom Nealon’s first book, Food Fights and Culture Wars: A Secret History of Taste, was published in the US. The book grew out of Tom’s HILOBROW food-history series, STUFFED. Here’s 2017’s complete lineup: TRUMPED | CHILES EN MOVIMIENTO | THE GREAT EATER OF KENT | GETTING MEDIEVAL WITH CHEF WATSON | KETCHUP AND DIJON | TRY THE SCROD | MOCK VENISON | THE ROMANCE OF BUTCHERY.
Josh Glenn offered notes on a few of his favorite New Wave (1964–1983) science fiction novels, for the series NEW WAVE SCI-FI 75. (NEW WAVE SCI-FI 75 is a sequel to the series GOLDEN AGE SCI-FI 75 and RADIUM AGE SCI-FI 100.) The 2017 lineup includes: William Burroughs’s Nova Express (1964) | Philip K. Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) | Samuel R. Delany’s Babel-17 (1966) | Ursula K. Le Guin’s Rocannon’s World (1966). The complete NEW WAVE SCI-FI 75 list (a work in progress) is here.
From 1Q2017 through 3Q2017, Brian Berger offered notes on perhaps America’s most exciting and controversial publisher, Barney Rosset’s Grove Press, for INTO THE GROVE. Here’s the complete lineup: NAKED LUNCH and NOVA EXPRESS | BEFORE & AFTER KUHLMAN | TO THE HAPPY FEW | CHINESE & JAPANESE TRANSLATIONS | SPANISH OLD WORLD & NEW | IN AMERICA | KUHLMAN IN PURPLE | SAMUEL BECKETT | FREUDIANS | ARE THERE SIX OR ANOTHER QUESTION | THE LAWRENCE CIRCLES, PT. 1 | THE LAWRENCE CIRCLES, PT. 2 | NEGATIVE SPACE IS THE PLACE | WHOSE THIS JUNAY? | ARROWS, MAZES, ILLUSIONS | AFRICA TALKS TO YOU (THE ASPHALT JUNGLE) | CONTRASTS | SCANDALOUS, ANONYMOUS & VOLUPTUOUS | ANNUS MIRABILIS: 1967 | JACK KEROUAC IS JEWISH (SOMETIMES) | GROVE GOES TO THE MOVIES | WAY DOWN SOUTH IN GREENWICH VILLAGE.
During 4Q2017, we began publishing a second HERMENAUTIC TAROT series, of 24 installments. The first 54 installments were published in late 2015 and early 2016; a proper tarot deck contains 78 cards. Here’s 2017’s lineup: Lisa Jane Persky on EXPECTATIONS | Veda Hille on THE DUSTY REVEAL | Wayne Chambliss on THE RIDE-ALONG | Kenya (Robinson) on BALANCE BEAM | Ken Layne on THE DOPPELGÄNGER | David Levine on THE GROOVY | Joe Alterio on THE DROP-OFF | Jennifer Krasinski on PREDATORY VIGILANCE | Libi Rose on ELECTROMAGNETISM | Carl Wilson on THE TRACKER | Mimi Zeiger on THE RED MOON | Vanessa Berry on DARK MATTER | Peter Doyle on THE CHAIN OF FOOLS | Joy Press on THE WAYLAYER | Sarah Weinman on IN THE CORNER | Stephanie De Gooyer on THE INVASION | James Hannaham on THE URBAN HAWK | Annalee Newitz on THE PUBLIC CHARIOT | Jace Clayton on THE BLEACHED FLAG | Chenjerai Kumanyika on THE VEIL.
The Hermenautic Tarot deck is composed of images drawn from HILOBROW friend John Hilgart’s 4CP archive. Josh Glenn and John Hilgart edited the HERMENAUTIC TAROT series; they are very grateful to its contributors. Four more installments to come in 1Q2018!
As part of Josh Glenn’s ongoing BEST ADVENTURES series, throughout 2017 he offered notes on 170 of his favorite adventure novels. Here’s the complete 2017 lineup: 1907 | 1912 | 1917 | 1922 | 1927 | 1932 | 1937 | 1942 | 1947 | 1952 | 1957 | 1962 | Best YYA Lit 1967 | 1968 | 1972 | 1977 | 1982. Each installment was first published as 10 individual posts.
HILOBROW’s Josh Glenn occasionally makes an appearance, in character as “Josh Glenn,” a globe-trotting semiotic brand analyst, on Benjamen Walker’s popular Radiotopian podcast, THEORY OF EVERYTHING. Just in time for Inauguration Day, Ben and Josh wrote and recorded a new THEORY OF EVERYTHING episode about a (real) 1981 spy thriller, The Twentieth Day of January, which uncannily predicts Trump’s ascension to the presidency… and perhaps explains his shamelessness.
THE TWENTIETH DAY OF JANUARY transcript was the most frequently viewed HILOBROW post of 2017. You can listen to the THEORY OF EVERYTHING episode here.
We published many terrific curated series, featuring previously published work by HILOBROW’s friends and contributors, during 2017. Here are a few examples:
HILOBROW friend Jacob Covey’s UNFLOWN series. A well-known book designer explains the how and the why.
Alexandra Molotkow’s IMAGINARY FRIENDS series. Profiles of figures who’ve loomed large in Moltokow’s personal pantheon.
Douglas Wolk’s THAT’S GREAT MARVEL series showcases some Shakespeare-tastic panels and pages from his ALL OF THE MARVELS tumblr.
ADEQUATED is a nine-part series of 27 brilliant nine-line poems by Franklin Bruno. This is their first complete publication.
QUALITY JOE is a series of 10 installments showcasing HILOBROW friend Joe Alterio’s sketches and finished illustrations.
NOT OF THIS EARTH. HILOBROW friend Michael Lewy is an artist whose current work explores midcentury sci-fi and horror movie practical effects; we were pleased to present this curated series of 10 videos that he’s recently created.
COOLING OFF THE COMMOTION. A series of posts featuring writing, music, and podcasting by HILOBROW friend Chenjerai Kumanyika.
12 DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE (AGAIN) series, which reprints stories originally written — by 12 HILOBROW contributors and friends — for Josh Glenn and Rob Walker’s 2009–2010 anthropological-literary experiment SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS.
On to 2018…