The Orange Spotlight

One Damn Thing After Another by Tim Hall (Outsider Writers, 2010)

"So You've decided to become an underground lit legend? Congratulations!"

Tim Hall's stories always seem to be ripped directly from his life in one way of another, and in his latest collections he draws on the experiences, frustrations, and even fantasies of a writer. Essentially this is a collection custom build for the writer, perhaps "Chicken Soup for the Independent Writer's Soul" but with a much stronger dose of reality.

In the first story, "Further Notes on the Impossibility of Everything" he focuses on the pressures of a publisher and the struggle to balance reality and digital hate that streams through the inbox. Then in "Michael Estrada, World's Greatest Internet Author" he explores the mind of the self-published supposed internet superstar that may not be as popular or well-received as he would like you to think. That stories leads into "Drunken Fantasies Vol. 1" where Hall first writes a letter to Bret Easton Ellis and then slips into a fantasy world of literary fame and fortune and even a love affair with Cameron Diaz.

The eight story collection closes with perhaps my favorite story by Hall, "How To Be Underground Lit Legend". It's a step by step guide, and a biting and dead on satire, on how to achieve a certain level acclaim in underground lit these days. It's insightful and hilarious just like the rest of the collection. Hall proved he is not just about producing novel after novel, and that there are many facets of his life he can draw from.

This is Hall's first collection for Outsider Writer's, and can be purchased here.

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