Craig Davidson

Craig Davidson's Blog

Hi All,

I'm Craig Davidson, and welcome to my blog set up by the fine folks at Penguin. My latest book is called THE FIGHTER. You can read all about it at www.thefighter.ca. You can buy it online at www.Penguin.ca It is a harrowing book about love in the time of cholera. It is a heartwarming book about the triumph of the human spirit against impossible odds. It is the story of a horse named Gimpy Sue who won the Belmont Stakes on three legs and a broomstick. It's a story of love, honor, redemption, and the hero that lives inside of us all.

HA---no way, Jose! It's about NONE of that stuff.

It's called THE FIGHTER. You can guess what it's about.

Your most humble servant,

Craig Davidson, Esq.
email: craigdavidson11@gmail.com">craigdavidson11@gmail.com
website: www.craigdavidson.net
watch me take a beating: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXfpKxkbUU
...or a different beating: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ames-vs-davidson/865956516
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/craig_b_davidson
STEROIDS ARTICLE: http://www.esquire.com/features/steroids-0408

THINGS PEOPLE SAID ABOUT "RUST AND BONE":

"Davidson�smudges the line between comedy and horror, cruelty and mercy. His remarkable stories are challenging and upsetting�Don�t look for comfort here." �Chuck Palahniuk, FIGHT CLUB.

"These big, riveting stories about tough guys in trouble are the best I've read in a long time from a young writer. There's enough incident, shock, and suspense for a dozen books. This collection is filled with stories you haven't heard before." � Bret Easton Ellis, AMERICAN PSYCHO

"There is a strikingly original tone to Mr. Davidson's stories. The prose is spare yet elegant, the insights are fresh and real, and best of all there is a boundless humanity in Mr. Davidson's writing: a love of life that is beautifully woven with an acute sense of its darkness. This is in every way an extraordinary book." � Clive Barker

"... in "On Sleepless Roads," a repo man "wondered what it was about property seizure that gave rise to soliloquies so melodramatic they'd embarrass a threepenny hack." Once Davidson can curb the same impulse, he'll be on his way." ---Lizzie Skurnick, NY Times. (thanks a bunch, Lizzie! I love you, too!)

THINGS PEOPLE SAID ABOUT "THE FIGHTER":

"This is more than a stunning debut. It reminds me how vacuous, banal and insipid most highly-touted fiction is. Craig Davidson asks�and answers�some big, uncomfortable questions about the nature of our
humanity. The Fighter is an essential novel, destined for cult status at the very least." ---Irvine Welsh, author of FILTH

"More a grunt than a novel. 'Macho' doesn�t begin to cover it."
---Unnamed Reviewer, KIRKUS.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 12.22.07 @ 12:16 PM EST [link]

Tuesday, March 9th

Daniel O'Thunder

Hello all,

The final meeting of the Afterword Reading Society - I think I mislabeled it the Gentlemen's Reading Society earlier, which was a lie as one of our panelists, Erin Balse, is most assuredly not a fella - is up right now on the National Post blog, The Afterword.

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/afterword/archive/2010/03/09/the-afterword-reading-society-of-cinematic-scope.aspx

It was a great book as I've said and as the other panelists have said, with one panelist sort of fence-sitting - but that's pretty decent odds when it comes to a book. I don't know why you're not buying a copy. Really, I do not. Get. It. One. Little. Bit. No.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1553654358/ref=s9_simvh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0E4TXHAXF3XRHY3E89PC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383531&pf_rd_i=915398

Also, if you're in Toronto, there's a wrap-up party and reading and what-not at Ben Mcnally Books tonight (March 9) with Ian Weir, the man himself, who will be giving a reading. I would be there myself but alas, the notion of hopping a Greyhound for the 24-hour milk run just didn't have any justifiable appeal. But all the other panelists will be there, those hip Torontonians, those movers and shakers, and surely some other literary folks and book-lovers; should be a good time. The Facebook link on the bottom of the Afterword post, so surely you would be welcome ... unless you're a weird stalker type, there to harass and bother Ian or somebody else, in which case still come along but be sure to take your meds beforehand.

All best,
Craig.

Craig Davidson on 03.09.10 @ 02:41 PM EST [link]

Saturday, March 6th

A few little things

Hi All,

My father sent me this link, which is Jacques Audiard speaking on A Prophet, and my name is mentioned so my father's google alert went haywire:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/a-foreign-film-contender/article1491348

Also, there's this:

http://www.amazon.ca/Sarah-Court-Erik-Mohr/dp/1926851005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267890902&sr=8-1

... in other news, I did turn in my newest manuscript to my agent. I say so because once a week, sometimes twice, I get emails from somebody asking "What's next?" And now I can say, "Well, Sarah Court is next, barring some unforeseen disaster"---which can happen at any time! My editor and I still have to hack out a pretty serious edit on it, but he's a champ and we've worked together and he's got some really positive buzz building around his press so I'm psyched about this book seeing the light of day.

But after that, well, I have no clue. The new manuscript has been out floating around for a month now, I think, depends when my agent started submitting it. I haven't heard anything. Some might say, "Well, no news is good news." Others might say, "You're boned, dude! Totally boned!" Which could be true. I don't imagine I'll broadcast anything here unless there is something of a positive development. But just to let those who every so often write me to ask: yes, I'm still writing. Yes, I'm still giving it the ole college try. At some point, though, it gets out of your hands and you just sort of sit around waiting for come-what-may. So we're sort of in the 'come what may' stage right now, but since I'm earning a steady paycheck doing something I generally enjoy, it's not as fraught as prior instancees, when I got myself cooked into a frothing lather fearing I might end up eating Alpo under a train trestle.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 03.06.10 @ 11:07 AM EST [link]

Friday, March 5th

LWOT Panel

Hi all,

I'm doing a lot of panels lately. With the Afterword, the National Post blog, and here with LWOT (Lies With Occasional Truth), run by the esteemed Ryan Ross. Here us panelists are asked, I think, what is the worst thing someone has ever said of your artistic endeavors? Needless to say, oodles of odd and nasty things have been said of mine over time ... well, not that many really, but I suppose there would be more had said works fallen over a larger readership. That notwithstanding, I had a little something to say, as did the other panelists.

As a sidebar: I enjoy participating in panels, generally, but it's no way to make a living. Unless you wish to make a living as a bagman, in which case it's a good start. But no worries, writing and panelist-ing is really only a cover for my true career: deputy editor of a small alterative urban weekly in the Maritimes. Which in itself is a cover for my hobby: an international hitman known only as "The Rapier" who works for several shady cartels and government 'Spook' agencies.

http://lwot.blogspot.com/2010/03/lwot-panel.html

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 03.05.10 @ 11:44 AM EST [link]

Wednesday, March 3rd

Top Ten, Feb 25 edition

Hi All,

So this week the editorial decision was made to cut #6; it was deemed a little too racy for the paper, which is run, as some know, by a large oil concern. But the interesting thing is that #4 stayed. You have to read that one a little closely, and have some familiarity with Urban Dictionary, to see what's going on in that one. Pretty juvenile, I'll admit. But hey, that's me. I give credit to my friend Rob for introducing me to 'The Manhattan Transfer.' Thanks, Rob. Thanks a lot.

Very best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 03.03.10 @ 10:33 AM EST [more..]

Thursday, February 25th

Some more Top Bets (Week of Feb 19)

Hi All,

Here's another batch. It's too bad I can't post them with their illustrations; our graphic designer lays these all out really nice on the last page of each issue, with a bunch of correspondingly goofy pics.

Oh, and you all should keep an eye out for Much Music's Video On Trial, where my brother Graham is currently raking cheesy videos over the coals. Check your local listings, fo shizzle.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 02.25.10 @ 08:01 AM EST [more..]

Friday, February 19th

Top Ten Bets

Hi All,

So, one of the few writing tasks I take on on an every week basis is this section called 'Top Ten Bets.' It was originally supposed to be this simple listings service, which is one of my main duties here at this weekly paper; listings, for those of you not in the newsy 'biz,' is where you just give a rundown on the concerts and gallery openings and plays and so forth, little capsule ads, 30 words long: Jimbob and the Hayseeds play at Cooter's, Feb 23, 7pm, $10 cover. That sort of thing. So Top Ten Bets was supposed to be that, basically; ten interesting things going on that week. Well, the structure was never really hammered out so I was able to retrofit it to my tastes, and since it's really the only writing I'm doing right now, which is admittedly sort of sad but whatever, I have fun with it, crafting little stories or whatever. I think I'll share them with you, since if you don't live in the Maritimes you won't be able to read the paper. They follow below, and I'll try to update every week.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 02.19.10 @ 01:57 PM EST [more..]

Wednesday, February 17th

The Afterword's Gentleman's Reading Society

Hello All,

Thought I would put a bug in your ear about this online reading society put on by The Afterword, the National Post's books blog. I'm part of a panel talking about Daniel O'Thunder, a fantastic book by Ian Weir. Come follow along with the conversation, which is happening in weekly installments. You can follow the progression here:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/afterword/archive/tags/The+Afterword+Reading+Society/default.aspx

... and keep up to date as it goes along. It needs not be said that you should grab a copy of the book, too, as it really is sensational.

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 02.17.10 @ 10:31 AM EST [link]