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Issue 2 Summer
2009
Out of
Print
I recently saw William
Fitzsimmons at the Garfield Artworks. He was on tour
in support of his first studio album, The Sparrow
and the Crow, and he stopped in Pittsburgh to
play a show with Rosi Golan.
In case you aren’t familiar,
William Fitzsimmons is a folk singer who often draws
comparisons to Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine. His
first two albums, Until When We Are Ghosts
and Goodnight, were self-produced, and his
latest effort, which features the single “If You
Would Come Back Home,” debuted at #2 on the iTunes
Folk Chart.
The Artworks was crowded,
especially for a weeknight. All of the seats were
taken, and there was little room to stand next to
the paintings that lined the walls. When William
finally appeared, ushering his guitar like a child
through the crowd, I had to crouch beneath a
surrealist’s depiction of the Point just to see the
stage.
After the show, William signed
autographs next to an iron giraffe. He was wearing a
knit cap and glasses with heavy frames. His beard—I’m
pleased to report—was
even more imposing in person, and he enjoyed a juice
box—fruit
punch, I think—while
conversing with his fans.
Without support from a major
label, artists like William Fitzsimmons have to rely
on luck and perseverance. Talent, of course, also
plays a role in their success, but I would argue
that talent is useless without some kind of
inspiration.
*
Within these pages, edited in
the crawlspace behind the second largest bookcase in
Pittsburgh, are stories from the fringe of human
experience. In Marina Richards’ “Finders Keepers,”
for example, a woman discovers the mangled body of
an estranged classmate. In Nicole Fix’s “The
Relationship of Ruben and Sandra,” an exhibitionist
seduces her neighbor with a nightly display of
domesticity. And in Craig Greenman’s “Pygmalion,
Again,” the writings of Vladimir Nabokov and the
Marquis de Sade collide at Hampton Beach.
From the mechanical landscape
of Kristina Marie Darling’s “The Musician Considers
Modernity” to the flood-swept horizons of Ray Kolb’s
“The Goodbye Party,” this issue is a commitment from
people who love words and love to write. In addition
to new stories by celebrated authors such as Etgar
Keret and Deb Olin Unferth, you will also find some
terrific work by emerging talents, such as Molly
Gaudry and Brandi Wells, who subvert the ordinary
and expose the heartbreak in everyday situations.
*
For best results, Pear
Noir! should be enjoyed in private. We suggest
reading this issue in an attic by candlelight:
Neverending Story-style. If an attic is
unavailable, a broom closet will have to suffice.
Finally, to complete the experience, listen to
William Fitzsimmons, preferably with oversized
headphones. Thus prepared (attic, Fitzsimmons), I
invite you to proceed.
Contributors
Noel Allen,
Lauren Becker, Nystowhen Biter, Noah Cicero,
Kristina Marie Darling, Jarrid Deaton, Donald
Dunbar, Anthony Kane Evans, Nicole Fix, Rebecca
Gaffron, Ricky Garni, Molly Gaudry, Brandon Scott
Gorrell, Barry Graham, Craig Greenman, Jarrett
Haley, Graham Hillard, Colin James, Jason Jones,
Jason Jordan, Etgar Keret, Ray Kolb, Charles Lennox,
Ravi Mangla, Ryan Manning, Pacze Moj, Adam Moorad,
D.C. Porder, Joseph Radke, Marina Richards, Nick
Sansone, Wayne Scheer, Randy Schmidt, Jonathan
Shadel, Miriam Shlesinger, J.A. Tyler, Deb Olin
Unferth, Brandi Wells, Diana Woodcock, and Malkam A.
Wyman.
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