"Another historical fiction novel. Set in the American west and the impossible to imagine violence and betrayal that occurred."

"W. C. Fields, with wife, mother-in-law, child, daughter, and son-in-law, played by the wonderful Grady Sutton. All this is pure enjoyment. When were movies ever more alive than in the thirties, when the great performers from the musical and vaudeville stage entered films? W. C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier, Fred Astaire, Marie Dressler, Mickey Rooney, and Judy Garland, among so many others. They were the real authors of their films, needing little help from their directors. American films began with audiences wanting to see performers, not directors, and this, perhaps, continues to separate American films from European films, but we’re lucky to have both, and who’s to say which is really better."

"A total earworm. It’s a guy called Alexander Brettin from Los Angeles. He has to his credit so far one single, two tracks. Wire are taking him on the West Coast leg of our American tour. It lives in a similar world to certain tracks on the last couple of Wire albums, and also Malka [Spigel, Newman’s wife]’s solo album. It’s an assemblage of harpsichord, flute, organ – it’s got a bit of Todd Rundgren, a bit of ’60s psychedelia, a bit of Sébastien Tellier."

"The Western is obviously one of the staples of American cinema, but ironically, the Italian spaghetti-westerns have become more famous in pop culture than the classic American western. And amongst the spaghetti-western directors, Sergio Leone will always be the titan for me. Although I love his films with Clint Eastwood, this epic is one to spend an evening with; from the classic shoot-out at the train depot, to the haunting final three-way gun fight, this may be my favorite portrayal of Charles Bronson on screen. It’s a story of the expansion of the railroad and the opening of the west; of revenge and infamy; of love triangles and justice. And with a sweeping, heartrending soundtrack from Ennio Morricone, what more can you ask of a film?"

"I don’t hesitate to state that no one becomes a great writer without drinking from the spring of fables. Sometimes their influence shows on the surface and at other times it remains hidden inside the story like bones in a body. In this magnificent collection of dark stories, Vollmann — who many consider having written the Great American Novel more than once — proves himself a master storyteller whose pitcher of that fabled water never runs dry. Drawing on sources from the North, The South, The East and the West he takes us on a journey through many last nights on earth and in the worlds beyond."