Tom Dibblee is a writer living in Los Angeles. His fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train and his nonfiction has appeared in Pacific Standard, the Los Angeles Review of Books and The Point. He is the founding editor of Trop.
PUBLICATIONS
"The Unpaved Path Ahead for the Los Angeles River," Pacific Standard (November 5, 2015). Los Angeles wants to make its river beautiful again. (Yup, LA has a river.) But how much restoration is actually possible?
"A Darwinian Thirst for Veuve Clicquot," Pacific Standard (October 30, 2015). Thoughts on "masstige" marketing and why I gawked at a model named Nacho Figueras.
"Fairy Tales," The Point (July 10, 2014). Elizabeth Gilbert is divisive because she can't resist ending her stories happily.
"Stuck in a Sixth-Floor Penthouse," Glimmer Train (April 2014). This story placed second in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers. It's about a trio of young people who get stuck in a condo. (Print only)
"The Bun in the Proverbial Oven Goes Up in Flames in Neil LaBute's Baby on Fire," Trop (October 4, 2013). Babies born on fire will challenge even the strongest of marriages.
"Sweatpants Wedding Without Any Qualifiers, or, The Sweatpants Without Qualities: An Introduction," Trop (September 18, 2013). Here begins Trop's never-to-be-completed meta-musical about comfort and romance.
"On Being Off: The Case of Amanda Knox," Los Angeles Review of Books (August 12, 2013). Despite a clear lack of evidence, Amanda Knox went to prison for murder because of her "off" personality.
"Rachel Kushner, Nevada, and Spiritual America," Trop (April 9, 2013). Rachel Kushner's novel The Flamethrowers concerns a character from Reno, Nevada aka "Spiritual America." What is Spiritual America? Why is it in Nevada?
"Questions About Lydia Millet, with Answers," The Point (March 13, 2013). Lydia Millet is part Ben Marcus and part Jonathan Franzen, but really, she's a force all her own.
"Bud Light Lime, Unlikely Hope," Los Angeles Review of Books (January 13, 2013). Does Bud Light Lime have soul? This essay appeared in The Atlantic's Week's Best Pop Culture Writing series.
"A Piece of Writing to Commemorate the Release of Both Flesh and Not, David Foster Wallace’s New Book of Essays," Trop (November 6, 2012). An imagined interview with the guy who painted David Foster Wallace's face on the side of a kebab shop.
"Jay McInerney, the New York Fantasy, and Wine," Los Angeles Review of Books (October 3, 2012). Jay McInerney burst onto the literary scene in the '80s with Bright Lights, Big City. Now he does wine writing. How did this happen? What went wrong?
"Club Monaco Man: Part One," Trop (September 24, 2012). Everyone knows Club Monaco pants are perfect. Thanks to this imagined interview, now everybody knows why.
"Anne-Marie Kinney, Radio Iris, and Shitty Job Books," Trop (June 26, 2012). There's a category of first novels that center around underwhelming professions. Anne-Marie Kinney's Radio Iris is one of them.
"Two-Man Book Club: Ben Marcus," Trop (May 16, 2012). An imagined conversation between two ideological opposites on the topic of Ben Marcus's The Flame Alphabet.
"Why French People Love McDonald's and for that matter the USA," Scallywag and Vagabond (March 9, 2009). The American Dream burns bright in France.
"How to Move to Paris with No Money," Matador (January 31, 2009). Empty your wallet and get on a plane because moving to Paris with no money is easy.
THANK YOU FOR READING!