The Weekly Digest is a weekly (no shit?) update that captures all the topics that aren’t worthy of their own post.
Man v. Shed III
This franchise is about to jump the shark, so we’ll wrap everything up with a happily ever after; everyone goes home happy. The shed is (near-) complete.
You may look at that and say, “Hey, Vin, that’s more of a greenhouse than a shed.”
It’s Vinny or Mr. Reads to you.
Yes, it is in fact a greenhouse. Mrs. Reads is going to use it for her home baking business because apparently being married to me transformed her from Brazilian baddie1 into a tradwife. “Baking greenhouse” makes no sense, so it’s a baking shed.
The point is that I am the pinnacle of man. This is now a manosphere influencer account. Where’s your Maserati greenhouse/shed thing?
Book Bits
Last Acts by Alexander Sammartino — So imagine, you’re a stripmall gunshop owner. Your kid dies of an OD, but some well-timed Narcan brings him back to life. He wants to reconnect, get sober, help with the business. And help he does by creating a viral ad leveraging his resurrection and the opioid epidemic to sell some guns. Then everything starts to spiral. It’s a dark little novel about fate, being a father/son2, American culture (guns! drugs! marketing! capitalism! faith! suburban sprawl!), and a dark satire of all the above. It’s not perfect and there were a few stylistic choices that didn’t jive with me and some places where the subtext became the literal text. But overall, I thought it was a good little novel.
If you’re wondering why I’m reading another book while I’m supposed to be doing Substack Summer, it’s because I have a lot of chores to do and none of my Substack books have audiobooks. A fact I clearly overlooked as a marketing opportunity.
Cubafruit by — Absolutely HUGE week for Alexander S’s here at Vinny Reads Industries. Cubafruit is my first book of Substack Summer. The review is forthcoming in its entirety and should be out this weekend or early next week. I’ll give you a little tease because I’m a flirt like that:
Vinny’s Blurb: A cinematic political thriller with dashes of magic realism and gallons of blood that explores geo-political violence from the ground up. Propulsive and engaging storytelling, dripping with deeper meaning, Sorondo weaves a spider’s web of intrigue that lures you in and holds you there.
If you’d like to know more about the Substack Summer, look no further:
Substack Spotlight:
What the shit is this? A new feature?! Yep, I’m gonna try to highlight something I read on Substack in the previous week and signal boost it as best as my little newsletter can.
This week is a piece of flash fiction from
. I am brand new to Adriane’s work, but this short piece knocked me on my ass in the best possible way. Enjoy.
I’d also like to shout-out
’s “anti-erotica” work: The Lubricious Wanton Levy, which (I think) puts the nail in the erotica-discourse coffin.
Recent Book Haul:
The Wayback Machine by
(Daniel Falatko)Apparently, everyone on Substack just calls him “Wayback,” but I’m partial to “Danny Waybacks” as an unsanctioned nickname.
The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Faux leather version for like $6. Thanks, Book Outlet.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
Random signed edition. Fucking thanks, Book Outlet!
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
You might be saying, “Hey, Vin, there’s some books on here you haven’t read? They seem like entry-level canon stuff.” First: like I said before, it’s Vinny to you. Second: the curse of being an economic pragmatist is that we rarely follow our dreams. I come to reading/writing like an addict: it is a habit I cannot kick. I studied Computer Science in undergrad and went full-Corpo after that. Some people do key bumps in the work bathroom; others hide whiskey in the toilet tank. My secret shame is I pretend to be literate when I haven’t read any Russian literature or Gonzo journalism.
Writing
Tallboys #2 went through some revisions and drafting this week. I don’t usually (never) spend this much time working on a piece, and I haven’t spent a ton on this one, it’s just been in fits and starts. While I will eventually stand astride the wreckage of American literature like a bronzed colossus, shouting “look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!” … my focus has been on building sheds and reading.
I’m hoping to have the Cubafruit review up this weekend and Tallboys #2 (The Saltshaker Incident) up early next week.
Miscellany
Happy birthday (6/15) to my younger brother and absolutely NO ONE else this weekend. And a Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. May your socks be white and your ties be $19.99. Check out this wonderful piece on dadhood by
:
I was lucky enough (terminally online) to score a spot in
’s writing workshop that’s being put on by . I am beyond excited — and nervous! — to be a part of that. It’ll be my first ever writing workshop, outside of a creative writing 101 I took in college.I like said: bronzed colossus, wreckage, resistance is futile, etc.
That’ll do ya for this week. 🤙
— V
Yes, I am bragging. Did you not see “Wife Guy” in the profile?
Look at me being on theme for Father's Day weekend.
Keep the newsletters coming, Vinny, you bronzed colossus you. Thoreau started out by building a tiny house, and now he is in every American lit course.
Appreciate the shout out, Vinny!