Ann Beattie’s Rock Star Reading

Vice Magazine recently paired up a literary rock star with a literal rock star. In the new fiction issue, rock & roll front-man Andrew W.K. reads an audio version of “The Field” by short story master Ann Beattie.

W.K.’s deep voice casts Beattie’s quiet yet deadly prose (labeled K-Mart realism by some literary types) in an ominous new light. The fiction issue also includes work by Barry Gifford and Will Self, along with a reading syllabus from Jim Shepard.

From the Beattie story: “I did take a walk last autumn with a dog I was taking care of for a few days while my friend Ellie prepared for her thesis defense, and on the walk I came upon a UPS truck, from which the driver had taken a French easel. He was painting the trees in the distance. He scratched the dog’s ears and dowsed his face toward the dog’s snout, trying to body-block the canvas he was working on.”

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