Mark Haskell Smith - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm the author of three comic novels:SALTY is the story of a pampered, paunchy rockstar bass player on vacation in Thailand and what happens to him when his wife is kidnapped by shipless Thai pirates. Author Tom Drury said "Graham Greene meets the Marx Brothers and the result is Salty, Mark Haskell Smith's riveting new novel about unquiet Americans on the loose in Thailand."DELICIOUS is the story of a battle between local Hawaiians and outsiders for the film catering monopoly on Oahu told from the point of view of a young Hawaiian chef. It has been called "sexy and repulsive" by Publisher's Weekly; "brilliant" by Liz Smith; "utterly fresh" by author Jim Harrison, and "Rated NC-17" by Kirkus Reviews. It's kinda like taking a trip to Honolulu, getting drugged, robbed, and waking up on a beach with a nasty rum hangover and a ominous burning sensation when you urinate.MOIST is about a young hipster in Los Angeles who falls in love with an erotic tattoo on a severed arm. Trouble comes in the form of the Mexican Mafioso who wants his arm back. Author TC Boyle called it, "Dark and mordantly funny", and the Los Angeles Times Book Review said "Smith's energetic thriller is an ode to the hard-boiled Los Angeles of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy spun out in brighter-than-life- Starburst colors."You can visit my website at www.markhaskellsmith.com.

My Interests

Culture, conflict, fiction, art, tequila, people, gelato, music, language, dreams, desires, sex and food

I'd like to meet:

People who think reading should be fun.

Music:

What I'm listening to now: Louis XIV, Jurassic 5, Ween, LCD Soundsystem, Laptop, The Shout Out Louds, Jumbo, Plastilina Mosh, The Free Design, Bola de Nieve, Phoenix, The Brasilero compliation, Interpol, Silversun Pickups, Arcade Fire, Hot Chip, Manu Chao, Molotov, Zuco 103, Secret Machines, The Soundtrack of our Lives, Freddie MacGregor, Giant Drag, Metal Assassin, Peter Bjorn & John

Movies:

This has been a suck ass year for movies.

Television:

Anything that's not scripted and predictable.

Books:

Currently reading: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Llosa, Based on the Movie: A Novel by Billy Taylor, Shining City by Seth Greenland, How to Break Bad News by Tim Molloy, Undertown 2 by Jim Pascoe, Beautiful Children by Charles Bock, Pet Sounds by A.S. Bennett, Dead Bears by D. Stutsman... Looking forward to reading: The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss.

Heroes:

Federico Fellini, Didier Drogba, Thomas Keller, Bjork, Shingo Yamamoto

My Blog

Presidential Sloppy Seconds

Still reeling from Richardson's withdrawl from the race, but committed to finding someone to support, I went to hear Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards speak just to see what he's about. ...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:07:00 PST

Bill Richardson tunes in, turns on, and drops out

What can I say? The most experienced, ballsy, intelligent and cool candidate for president has just dropped out of the race. The mainstream media is invested in selling the weak ass Obama vs Hillary...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:44:00 PST

Writers Guild on Strike!

As you may have heard, the Writers Guild of America is on strike against the networks, studios, and "big media". We want a raise. Like... .4 cents per DVD. If you want more info check out www.u...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:27:00 PST

Presidential Politics

I urge you to go to www.richardsonforpresident.com and check out New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He's the most progressive democrat and, easily, the most experienced. The media has, for the m...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:38:00 PST

3 Haikus for Dutch Kickboxer Gilbert Yvel

silent black badassunstoppable foot of Godnow the sweetest sleep boom soundless as asafe dropped from a high placelights out in Hollandthe foot comes for youas sure as death electric fastyou are fucke...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 04:26:00 PST

Vomiting Cat Haiku

the warning yowlrup, rup, rup, gak and spewhairball on the rugoffer the hairballreturning what was lickeddigested in partflame retardant ruglike Kali the destroyerthe cat reguritates...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:45:00 PST

Turn off the lights

The west coast tour for SALTY is over. Don't know if, when, or where I'll go next. Well, that's not true. I'm going to Nebraska to teach at the Univ. of Nebraska's MFA writing program for a few da...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:08:00 PST

The Lives of Others

Yeah. I know. I'm way behind the curve on this. But I just saw the German film, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and I have to tell you that I was blown away. I...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Thu, 10 May 2007 12:06:00 PST

Wall Street Noir

Hey! I have a short story entitled "The Day Trader in the Trunk of Cleto's Car" in a new anthology from Akashic Books called WALL STREET NOIR. I know, short story, long title. It's a great collec...
Posted by Mark Haskell Smith on Tue, 01 May 2007 12:43:00 PST