Toad Suck Review #2

Toad Suck Review #2 features cutting-edge work in contemporary literature by Charles Bukowski, Amiri Baraka, Anne Waldman, and a colorful cast of artists, poets, and hybrid artists.

[One] of the ten best new magazines launched in 2011 . . . The [Toad Suck] Review publishes a mix of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, and reviews, and it leans toward the experimental without veering into excessively weird. Unique enough to distinguish itself from the crowd of literary journals while still being accessible, TSR is a solid choice for collections of contemporary literature. --Library Journal

Toad Suck is a kind of spiritual heir to the dormant Exquisite Corpse, and it has some of the same manic energy and freighted playfulness . . . I very much enjoyed Roy Trask's (a pseudonym of the late David Arnott) short story "Supermodel Stupor Model" (excerpted from the posthumously published novel Surreal Killer) and "Beginners," an excerpt from Frank Thurmond's coming-soon memoir Before I Sleep --Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Toad Suck Review has exploded with success since its debut issue in 2011. Volume 2 is titled Obey and follows well on the heels of a remarkable first issue. The table of contents is enough to lure you into a very different and fun structure. Included are: Nonfixion, High-Octane Poetix, Artist-in-Residence Features, Fixion, Translation, Eco-Edge, Critical Intel, and much more. This magazine features not only current writers, but honors great past writers as well. Everything is woven into an incredibly enjoyable read that leaves breadcrumbs along the way to find more where that came from.

I was especially blown away by A Very Nice Sand Castle by Charles Bukowski. At first, I had reader s whiplash. Hadn t we lost Bukowski in the 90s? But this story brings him back to life, even larger than life. The narrator brings his daughter, Louise, to a cement wall that runs along the shoreline. As they are eating lunch, the narrator states: It s too bad I have to look at those people, which sparks an insightful conversation with Louise ...

Unlike the infamous Charles Bukowski, I was unfamiliar with Roy Trask before reading this issue. The excerpt Supermodel Stupor Model highlights some of his novel Surreal Killer. The sarcasm and emphasis is absolutely remarkable; I cannot recall reading such a cheeky and fun piece of writing prior to Trask s work ... There is no punctuation, and the spacing varies throughout the excerpt to emphasis different breaks. Normally, I cringe at the forced gimmicks of such utter breaking of the English language; however, Trask makes the English language his own, and every rule he breaks works together, just as Susan breaks the rules.

In the section titled: Critical Intel, C. Prozac offers us some No B.S. Reviews. Even better, they are in the form of poetry! For example, he begins reviewing John Roch s book titled Road Ghosts as follows:

portrait of a teenage

suicide bomber

Howl ing his trek

across amerigo

1971

Prozac also reviews a 200-page paperback titled Blank by Davis Schneiderman. Following the book s information is a large white space. It s just blank, down to the bottom of the page. Although I have no idea what Schneiderman s book entails, I m assuming it s a big wad of nothing. Which is a very clever way to review a book titled Blank with nothing but a bit of blank page. It is rare for me to blatantly praise a literary magazine for all its glory; however, this issue of Toad Suck Review is an incredible read. --New Pages

Toad Suck Review is a reincarnation of now-retired Andrei Codrescu s Exquisite Corpse. Toad Suck is the name of a location near Conway, AR, home of the writing department at the University of Central Arkansas. The Review publishes a mix of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, and reviews, and it leans toward the experimental without veering into excessively weird. Unique enough to distinguish itself from the crowd of literary journals while still being accessible, TSR is a solid choice for collections of contemporary literature. --Library Journal

Toad Suck Review has exploded with success since its debut issue in 2011. Volume 2 is titled Obey and follows well on the heels of a remarkable first issue. The table of contents is enough to lure you into a very different and fun structure. Included are: Nonfixion, High-Octane Poetix, Artist-in-Residence Features, Fixion, Translation, Eco-Edge, Critical Intel, and much more. This magazine features not only current writers, but honors great past writers as well. Everything is woven into an incredibly enjoyable read that leaves breadcrumbs along the way to find more where that came from.

I was especially blown away by A Very Nice Sand Castle by Charles Bukowski. At first, I had reader s whiplash. Hadn t we lost Bukowski in the 90s? But this story brings him back to life, even larger than life. The narrator brings his daughter, Louise, to a cement wall that runs along the shoreline. As they are eating lunch, the narrator states: It s too bad I have to look at those people, which sparks an insightful conversation with Louise ...

Unlike the infamous Charles Bukowski, I was unfamiliar with Roy Trask before reading this issue. The excerpt Supermodel Stupor Model highlights some of his novel Surreal Killer. The sarcasm and emphasis is absolutely remarkable; I cannot recall reading such a cheeky and fun piece of writing prior to Trask s work ... There is no punctuation, and the spacing varies throughout the excerpt to emphasis different breaks. Normally, I cringe at the forced gimmicks of such utter breaking of the English language; however, Trask makes the English language his own, and every rule he breaks works together, just as Susan breaks the rules.

In the section titled: Critical Intel, C. Prozac offers us some No B.S. Reviews. Even better, they are in the form of poetry! For example, he begins reviewing John Roch s book titled Road Ghosts as follows:

portrait of a teenage

suicide bomber

Howl ing his trek

across amerigo

1971

Prozac also reviews a 200-page paperback titled Blank by Davis Schneiderman. Following the book s information is a large white space. It s just blank, down to the bottom of the page. Although I have no idea what Schneiderman s book entails, I m assuming it s a big wad of nothing. Which is a very clever way to review a book titled Blank with nothing but a bit of blank page. It is rare for me to blatantly praise a literary magazine for all its glory; however, this issue of Toad Suck Review is an incredible read. --New Pages