"Ken Sent Me: Lost in the Land of the Lounge Lizards" in Hobart #9
Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 03:39PM 
I recently received my contributor's copies of Hobart #9, which includes my essay "Ken Sent Me: Lost in the Land of the Lounge Lizards" (about the classic computer game Leisure Suit Larry), as well as new work by Kim Chinquee, E.P. Chiew, Barry Graham, MIke Alber, Stephan Kiesbye, Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carré, Jennifer Pieroni, Mary Miller, Brandi Wells, Joe Wenderoth, Dave Madden, Bryan Furuness, and Grant Perry, plus a roundtable discussion about D&D led by Matthew Simmons. Here's the first paragraph of my essay:
I am not Leisure Suit Larry, except for when I am. For instance, when I was eleven, I was Leisure Suit Larry for several weeks while he taught me about sex and I helped him get laid for the first time in his life. Now I am twenty-seven and although I am joining him once again I can’t help cringing at his many mistakes, his misguided attempts at pickup-lines and lovemaking. There is no way to change his destiny, and so the best I can do is get him there efficiently, with a maximum number of points and a minimum loss of life.
On top of all that print goodness, the September online issue of Hobart is full of DVD-style web extras to go along with the print issue, including a brief behind-the-scenes essay of mine titled "My Secret Identity." Here's an excerpt:
I eventually realized that if I was going to survive – much less ever have a girlfriend – I needed to hide who I was and become someone who was, if not exactly cool, at least socially acceptable. What I needed was a secret identity, a way to blend in with everyone else around me.
Luckily, high school is an excellent place to learn to blend into a crowd.
This is how I stopped wearing sweat pants to school. This is how I got shoes that weren't held on with Velcro. This is how I refused to let my mom cut my hair anymore. This is how I gave up taking fantasy novels and D&D rule books to school and started reading my dad's Sports Illustrated instead.
I've had time to read most of the issue myself, and everything I've read so far has been great. Check out the web extras, and then order a copy of the print journal for yourself. You won't regret it.
Matt Bell | Comments Off |
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