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Letter From The Founder
I always say that The Soaring Twenties Social Club is about friendly competition, and it is, but at a certain level competition stops being such a concern and such a driver. It is needed as a spur and it is helpful as a catalyst but eventually in art (and everything) people find their own path and what others are doing becomes less and less relevant.
Among our crew here there are now a good number of creators who have found their own obsessions and their own paths and are clearly on the ay towards building a true body of work and attaining true mastery. These are unique voices with unique viewpoints and as a reader I find it a true delight and a true inspiration to see this progress occur in real time.
The whole is greater than the sum of its part and this project has already exceeded my wildest expectation and we have barely begun.
So thanks for reading, thanks for being a part of this and if you want to either participate as a creator and/or see under the hood of this whole thing then feel free to subscribe and join us in the Discord. Without either arrogance or exaggeration I can say that it is the best place on the internet snd that it is not even close.
Join us in the Social Club and you will see what I mean.
Until next time,
Live well,
Tom.
Essays
The Danger of Ignoring Beauty by Luke Burgis 🔒
I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. Everyone knows Luke as a champion of Rene Girard but fewer know that he is also very much influenced by the German thinker Dietrich von Hildebrand. This piece is a wonderfully lucid and engaging introduction to von Hildebrand’s philosophy complete with all of the clear-sighted analysis that Luke’s readers have come to expect and enjoy.
Route 1: New Oxford St (Tottenham Court Road)—Canada Water by Charlie Sherritz
I should note that Charlie also wrote a fantastic book review this week that some would argue is a more fitting candidate to be highlighted here. However, I’m a big fan of psychogeographical writing and daydreaming on public transport so this first entry in a new series is right up my alley and I want to do all I can to champion it. The world needs more personal observational works like this, in my opinion.
Imagining the City to Life By Pr0ph3t
‘A lot of the time, these reflexive naysayers are right, but they are responding to the wrong thing. They think that because an idea isn’t already present and provable in the physical world, it must therefore be a laughable dream or a scam. But we know from a brief look around history that many ideas we now assume as basic began in this same embryonic state.’
Another week another clear-eyed, learned dose of genuine, non hyperbolic optimism from our man Pr0ph3t. I highly recommend anyone who is caught up in pessimism, defeatism and doomscrolling to read this mans essay archive ASAP. It’ll do you the world of good.
A First Note on Travel and Mimetic Desire by Gavin
This was fantastic. A real deep-dive into the cult of travel through the lens of mimetic desire. One of my favourite aspects of this Soaring Twenties Social Club mission is how different writers are cross-pollinating ideas and being influenced by each other. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts which is what salons should be all about.
Seeing the World as a Machine By Hayden
In many ways The Social Club is a continuation of the mission of the now-defunct Hyperion Magazine. Certainly, that site was a huge influence on me and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be a regular contributor there. It is also where Hayden got his start as an essayist so I was pleased to see him re-post this essay that was originally featured there. Hyperion maybe gone, but it is certainly not forgotten.
Marc Maron at the Comedy Store (plus others) by Kieran Majury
Kieran shows his range by offering us an in-depth review of a stand-up show, a medium that is notoriously tricky to review well. There’s a real simple, straightforward honesty and humility to Kierans work that I really like and that I think the world could do with more of. Read this to the end and you will see what I mean.
Never Stop Sculpting Your Own Statue by Kevin
A discussion of improving posture with reference to Plotinus and Nietzsche’s conception of Apollo and Dionysus. Kevin is so far ahead with his posture work and his worldview that it is unreal. He is genuinely in a league of his own, his is genuinely on the path to mastery of his calling in the way that very, very few people are. Inspiring.
On Eating Alone by Olli
I once saw a self-help book in a secondhand shop called something like ‘Never Eat Alone.’ Well, Olli here has shown how misguided this overly simplistic idea is in pretty definitive fashion. I’m going to go as far as to say that Olli can write as well as he can cook which, as regulars of the STSC #food-and-drink channel will now, is a pretty bold statement. But I stand by it.
362 Days At Sea: One Year Anniversary! by Ivan
Ivan has been at the Substack game for a year now. He is one of the very best writers the STSC has in its ranks (and that is saying something) in both essay and fiction forms and he is an extremely helpful, genuine and talented man. In my opinion his work is criminally underrated and I think everyone reading this should subscribe to his Substack immediately. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Who Watches the Baywatchmen? by Ryan
In the spirit of April Fools week Ryan reviews comedy classic Airplane! (1980) and also fails to review risible latter-day cash-in of Baywatch with Zac Efron et al. As I say every week Ryan is a very perceptive and entertaining reviewer (a rare combo) and even his non-review of Baywatch manages to say an awful lot about the state if film today. Excellent work.
Reality flows by Vita
As with Kevin above, Vita is also in a league of his own and on a rarely trodden path to his own version of mastery. Here he talks about flows, bottlenecks, trends and more, in a way that is somehow simultaneously deeper, more entertaining, more thought-provoking and more practically applicable than 99.9% of online ‘content’ that is designed to help you become better.
The Zen of Bull Riding by Clint
This is truly one of those pieces where the intrigue of the title (and it is very intriguing) is absolutely delivered on. I won’t say more other than to emplore you to read it.
Creation Looking Back Upon Itself by David
‘It's easier and better not to write.
Until it isn't, and you find yourself unable to stop.’
I couldn’t agree more, and if you create you will find yourself nodding along as you read this poetic brief discussion of the process and mentality of creating. This might be David’s best work to date.
bookmark #353 by Deepansh
I love Deepansh’s prose-style and these daily bookmarks are a constant delight. I hope he writes thousands and thousands more. That’s all I have to say.
Out-Sickness by Charles Schifano
‘Hans Christian Andersen appears to have first identified the rare disease of “out-sickness.” He describes this malady as similar to restlessness, and as the opposite of a more typical condition—homesickness. The stationary victims of out-sickness sense a “painful travel unrest” at surprising moments—from a wayward breeze, during a sunset, when crossing the street.’
This is an outstanding discussion of this malady- of which Charles admits to suffering- written with Charles trademark wit, style and erudition. A delight.
Your JPEG is brewing sir by Kieran Moran
Years ago I used to live pretty close to Shoreditch and now I don’t and this piece has made me glad of that fact. The mixture of Crypto, advertising, metaverse hyping and overpriced drinks down that way sounds nightmarish. But also darkly hilarious if this piece is anything to go by.
The Pulp Work Ethic by Frank
‘For me, the "Pulpsters" were just as interesting as the stories they penned. Though they wrote for one cent a word, many of them were far from being penniless scribes. They were a generation of writers who experienced dark times of a pandemic, economic turmoil, and war (sounds familiar) and made a comfortable living in producing cheap entertainment for the masses.’
Another home run in Frank’s pulp series. And like the pulpsters themselves I hope he keeps churn out material like this for years and years to come.
You've got to be okay with boring by Lyle
‘When you break it down, everything is mundane. No matter what you do or how famous you are or how much money you have, there’s always a bunch of boring, tedious stuff that comes along with it. Rich people still have to do taxes. Well, maybe they can hire someone to do them, but they still have to manage that person, which I’m sure is incredibly unexciting.’
As I say every week (apart from last week when I accidentally omitted his piece) Lyle is a fantastic writer with real heart and perspective. His latest here highlights these qualities perfectly. And our man also recently passed 1000 readers, so I’m clearly not the only one who feels this way. Congratulations Lyle!
Fiction
The Ferryman by Thomas J Bevan
I’m back. Finally. My first short story in a while and I’m pleased with how it turned out. Essays are fun to write and an instructive exercise to undertake but writing things like this is me in my element. There are a good number of STSC members who I am happy to pass the essay writing torch onto at this point. So let’s see how consistent story writing turns out…
The Sunday Scaries by Zach G
From the first sentence on you know you are in safe hands with Zach. Strong voice, way-more-difficult-than-it-looks simplicity in his prose and an ability to keep you engaged. It’s a delight to see his craft develop with each story.
Poetry
The Farmer’s Way by Adam K
New member Adam K is definitely in the right place. Having dug through his poetry archive I was very impressed with how he is able to keep to the discipline of form and meter without being trapped by it and thus reducing the works to mere technical exercises.
His latest work here is no exception. Check it out for yourself and make him feelnat home in the fold.
Be a patron of the arts by clicking the button below and purchasing a beautiful paperback edition of my debut essay collection. Thank you.
Podcasts
Clown Shoes For Life (Tragedies of Modernity #2) by Thomas J Bevan & Craig Burgess
Like Worldcom before us we have rebranded the podcast as Tragedies of Modernity after one of the busiest (and most fun) channels in the STSC discord. If this episode is anything to go by the future of the podcast will be absurd questions taken way to seriously, flippant discussions of what’s happening in contentland and awkward silences as Craig struggles to keep the show on the road. If that’s your kind of thing then listen in and join us.
The Nature of Nurture by Madspace
He almost fooled me with his April 1st ‘I’m quitting the podcast’ prank. But our long suffering Long Island commuter is back behind the wheel ‘distilling lessons from his horrific commute.’ Listen as he helps some guy to park, empathise as he talks about dreams of flaneuring by the ocean, smile as he discusses teaching pigs to sing. Thaaaank yooou.
A very original cross-genre podcast episode (WA #47) by Craig
How far can you stretch a joke? Further than you think it seems. See the joke is like a Stretch Armstrong action figure and Craig is like a baffled child who can’t help but pull old Strecth’s arms and legs until the other kids get bored and go home for their tea. This podcast is the audio version of that but with lots of sound effects and music cues. I know, yeah. I don’t bet it either. Satire, in’t it?
TJB Film Recommendation
Living in Oblivion (1995)
D. Tom DiCillo
W. Tom DiCillo
S. Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney
People talk about 1999 as being a great year for Hollywood film (The Matrix, Fight Club, Man On The Moon, Toy Story 2 etc etc) but I think that 1995 ( Se7ev, Casino, Before Sunrise, Get Shorty and so on) gets overlooked. In both years you could find something fun that holds up to see at the cinema most weekends.
So it’s fitting that todays recommendation is a great, fun film from 1995 that is about filmmaking and the vagaries thereof. See our man Buscemi is an indie filmmaker shooting a low budget film, which evidently is an absurd nightmare of technical problems, stress, diva-ish lead actors and all the rest. This is pitch perfect satire (it clearly draws from DiCillo’s real life experiences shooting his debut feature Johnny Suede) and the actors in it are uniformly excellent.
Everyone who wants to get into the film biz should watch this. As should everyone who doesn’t as this is a very entertaining and well-crafted piece of 90 minute filmmaking.
Enjoy.
Thank you for reading/listening. Feel free to share this email and the individual authors work and also feel free to leave comments either here or on the authors own sites.
Finally, Craig and I will be recording another episode of the Tragedies of Modernity Podcast at 8pm GMT today (five hours from this post being sent out). We’ll host it and record it live from the Discord and then post it onto this Substack tomorrow (Monday 11th April).
So if you want to hear that either live or via recording (and if you want to join our ranks and contribute your work) then click the button below and choose either monthly, annual or founder member.
I look forward to seeing you over at the Social Club Discord.
Cheers!