Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · 8h

Hmm, sure, call it a cult. But as far as I know Pynchon's books have a body count of zero.

My Gravity's Rainbow undergrad class was among the best I've ever taught. The students loved it, too—or so the letter I received through the W.A.S.T.E. postal system assured me.
#KeepCoolButCare

Inside the cult of the elusive Thomas Pynchon

As the legendary American author releases his long-awaited new novel, Martin Chilton explores Pynchon’s reputation as one of the most ‘reclusive’ writers working right now

www.the-independent.com

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · 4d

In the name of Michael's devil eyes--the FINAL "Slasher Nation" column from the master himself, @sgj.bsky.social just arrived from @fangoria.bsky.social! While all wicked things must come to an end, can't wait for what thrills & chills he'll be conjuring in his next bloody chapter!
#Horror #Slasher

1 3 12

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Aug 16

Last night's @nin.com show was a brutal history lesson. We were the kids in Doc Martens raging against the machine's surveillance state; all that's changed is now we pay a monthly subscription. Reznor's still feeding the perfect drug for our downward spiral.
hollywoodprogressive.com/literature/r...

Reading Fight Club in America’s New Society of the Spectacle

The political right's nostalgic indulgence in its own mythic portrayals of America’s past throws Fight Club’s cultural ironies into even sharper relief.

hollywoodprogressive.com

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Aug 14

Why they gotta drag Kentucky into this, tho!

a man in a purple vest and bow tie is smiling and saying `` you won ! ''

ALT: a man in a purple vest and bow tie is smiling and saying `` you won ! ''

media.tenor.com

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Aug 7

Between Axl and Slash those speakers don't stand a chance!

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Aug 1

That's a great impulse, and that witch's story . . . it can't be called back . . .

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Jul 18

Stoked to see words from my first piece w/ @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social on @sgj.bsky.social's Mapping the Interior blurbed on the back of the new @torbooks.bsky.social 🔥ed!
Just as cool-seeing his previous indie classics getting their own swanky new skins #horror
lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-t...

In the Habitations of Specters: On Stephen Graham Jones’s “Mapping the Interior” | Los Angeles Review of Books

Readers can feel confident following Stephen Graham Jones into the dark and obscure landscapes of his fiction.

lareviewofbooks.org

1 4 19

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Jun 28

Down to the wire & just finished the final interview w/ @sgj.bsky.social bsky.social for my book on his horror canon. Some stories have teeth. This one bites back. Can't wait to share the blood, sweat & fears behind a life shaped by monsters. @fangoria.bsky.social
@sagapressbooks.bsky.social

1 2

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Jun 16

Thanks for sharing, man, and for the nice words!🦬🧛‍♂️🦫

2

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Jun 16

Thanks for sharing--it's my favorite review!

2

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Jun 15

My review of @sgj.bsky.social's 'The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,' is up at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. It confronts the haunting specter of American genocide through the vampire tale, charting the depths of trauma & vengeance in the wake of the Marias Massacre.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-...

How Can You Stop a Country from Happening? | Los Angeles Review of Books

Billy J. Stratton examines Stephen Graham Jones’s “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.”

lareviewofbooks.org

4 9

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · May 31

Yeah, was just looking at several of these online! So cool, and love the way the titles are translated, too!

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · May 30

And talking about not talking about fight club . . . More are breaking those rules as I'm honored to be on @sgj.bsky.social latest "Best Reads" list at his official website via my article on Fight Club! It's a treasure trove, check it out at WWW.DemonTheory.net.
www.demontheory.net/best-reads-f...

Stephen Graham Jones – writer dude

WWW.DemonTheory.net

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · May 11

Man, from you that means a lot!

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · May 10

I def broke the first rule of fight club in this one!
@chuckpalahniuk.bsky.social's critique of consumerism is hitting hard in 2025! My latest examines its enduring relevance within our new "Society of the Spectacle."
hollywoodprogressive.com/literature/r...
#FightClub #SocietyOfTheSpectacle #NIN

Reading Fight Club in America’s New Society of the Spectacle

The political right's nostalgic indulgence in its own mythic portrayals of America’s past throws Fight Club’s cultural ironies into even sharper relief.

hollywoodprogressive.com

4

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 11

Indeed!

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 11

Glad you like it! Yes a cuff or wristband for sure. Does that mean I need to make a gauntlet next!?!?!

a blurry picture of a person dancing in a club .

ALT: a blurry picture of a person dancing in a club .

media.tenor.com

1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 8

@greatdismal.bsky.social Neuromancer predicted our AI reality decades ago—the problem is not sentient machines, but human exploitation of tech. My latest article considers why our fear is better directed at the corporate powers controlling AI, rather than the tech itself. #AI #cyberpunk #posthuman

AI isn’t what we should be worried about – it’s the humans controlling it

The dread that AI evokes seems a distraction from the more disquieting scrutiny of humanity’s own dark nature.

theconversation.com

3

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 6

Yaaas! Or as Jams says...so grim, so true, so reeeaallll!

1 1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 6

Saw this wild self-own circulating around the matrix today, which is also an excellent example of the absence of irony. 🥸

1 7

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 5

1 1

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 5

Oh yes, David Lynch is def my all-time favorite director. Great issue all around, RIP. "Now it's dark . . ." On of my fav albums too, what's your song?

1 2

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Apr 5

Lovin' the latest SlasherNation column by @sgj.bsky.social in @fangoria.com! The question Jones asks is not an easy one: "If not exactly justice, though, then what is it slashers are after? Jason, Leatherface, Jigsaw, Freddy & of course, Billy, they're all there, but you'll have to read to find out.

4 7 38

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Mar 27

As @sgj.bsky.social's tour for @sagapressbooks.bsky.social #TheBuffaloHunterHunter kicks into high gear w/ books flying off the shelves, it seems time to add a song to the soundtrack in honor of Good Stab's success. After all, the future seems very bright indeed!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrr...

Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright

YouTube video by Timbuk3VEVO

www.youtube.com

2 10

Billy Joe Stratton @billyjstratton.bsky.social · Mar 18

From this day onward, March 18th will forevermore be known as Buffalo Hunter Hunter day!
@sgj.bsky.social's latest offers a powerful & haunting tale of loss & survival, the entanglements of memory, history & truth. At the same time, it's a reminder that books & stories never exist in isolation!

3 19