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December 26, 2022
John Jodzio's Playlist for His Story Collection "This Is The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
John Jodzio's collection This Is The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed is filled with songs welcomingly absurd, surprising, and wise beyond their handful of pages.
In his own words, here is John Jodzio's Book Notes music playlist for his story collection This Is The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed:
My new book is called "This Is The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed”. It’s thirteen weird and funny stories where characters have existential crises while playing cornhole, where they do lots of horse drugs and regular drugs and where their mountain bikes keep getting stolen by escaped circus bears. Here’s a playlist for the book that I hope you listen to while you read it.
Story: Some People In My Town Were Killed And Some Memorial Trees Were Planted
Song: I Want To See The Bright Lights – Linda and Richard Thompson
This story is about a man with a pet deer who keeps cutting down some memorial trees that block his view of people having car sex in a Taco John’s parking lot. This song seems like one he’d have on in the background while oiling his chainsaw or feeding his pet deer, Curt.
Story: No One Is Pretty Enough To Compete With A Racquet Sport
Song: Whatever – Whatever Tomorrow (Soulwax Remix) – Chet Faker
In this story a woman is simultaneously addicted to/sick to death of dating jackass badminton players. There’s a climactic party scene in this story where I can easily imagine the DJ at this party playing this song by Chet Faker.
Story: Seeds
Song: Together – Nine Inch Nails
The main character in this story is a middle school math teacher who is sleeping under his dining room table drinking tons of rum while he tries to get himself psyched up for the school year. A few days before school his house gets broken into and he exacts his revenge. NIN’s “Together” matches up well with the twists and turns this story takes.
Story: Cornhole or Bags
Song: The Order of Death – Public Image Limited
Mehttp://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/mt/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/italic.gifmbers of an angsty church youth group are totally obsessed and opinionated about playing cornhole/bags and that obsession begets a bunch of mayhem and (probably) death. The only lyrics in this PIL song are “This is what you want, this is what you get” and that mixes well with what’s going on storywise.
Story: The Lake Monster
Song: Funeral Singers – Sylvan Esso with Collections of Colonies of Bees
While searching for a mythical lake monster, a man tries out his new harpoon (a birthday present to himself) and accidentally shoots something which is either a body part or maybe some strange fish or perhaps some weird aquatic slug and then he and his wife argue over what the hell it is. This Sylvan Esso song is somehow both creepy and upbeat and pairs well with everything that’s happening here.
Story: Lisa Won’t Quit Scuba
Song: Roll A Stone – Communist Daughter
A stubborn and deluded man ends up being forced to watch his ex-wife fall in love with another member of their community ed scuba class. This story and this song feel like they were both built with the same emotional bedrock (incredibly aggressive heartbreak).
Story: The Church Went Bankrupt
Song: Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II) – Handsome Boy Modeling Club
The couple in this story have purchased a house from a bankrupt church where a priest once lived and that priest keeps showing up and vandalizing their new place with his sacred crowbar and his holy urine. Holy Calamity seems like a song the characters would play while they demo’ed their kitchen.
Story: There’s No Chicken Fighting In the Infinity Pool
Song: Sadness Theme – Stridulum (The Visitor) – Original Soundtrack – Franco Micalizzi
This story is set at a tropical beach resort and the couple here is trying to save their marriage with lots of cocaine and sex (and chicken fighting in an infinity pool) and this song feels like it was written specifically as an ode to cocaine and sex (and chicken fighting in an infinity pool).
Story: This Was The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed
Song: My Valuable Hunting Knife – Guided By Voices
The character in this story is an unapologetic knife lover who keeps getting stabbed over and over in incredibly escalating ways but will never ever give up his knives no matter what. This is definitely his favorite GBV song.
Story: The Weigh Station Is Closed
Song: Right Down The Line – Gerry Rafferty
This story feels like it exists in the 1970s and this is probably my favorite song from the 1970s so let’s go with it here, okay?
Story: Sometimes I Hide Gold Doubloons In My Baby’s Thigh Folds
Song: Freaking Out – Graham Coxon
This song fits with the anxious and paranoid new father who narrates this story. I would guess he listens to it while he sits in his panic room worrying about someone stealing his son’s valuable baby kidneys and the gold doubloons that are hidden in his son’s chubby thighs.
Story: The Falling Baby
Song: 19.10 – Childish Gambino
I hope this song is playing at top volume at the backyard party in this story where a drug dealer who sells horse drugs to humans saves a falling baby but then immediately fucks up every iota of goodwill he receives from this heroic act.
Story: Lazlo
Song: Spitting Off The Edge Of the World – Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs w/Perfume Genius
Everyone in town loves this escaped circus bear named Lazlo who steals everyone’s mountain bikes amd throws them into the quarry except the narrator (because he gets a bunch of his mountain bikes stolen) and this Yeah Yeah Yeahs song has the right amount of anger and despair for this one and also would be one that the narrator would probably listen to while he biked through the woods.
John Jodzio's work has been featured in a variety of places including This American Life, McSweeney's, and New York Magazine. He's the author of the short story collections, Knockout, Get In If You Want To Live and If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home. He lives in Minneapolis.
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