Michael Backus

"The most NYC job possible": @oilonwaterpress.com settled in for a chat with @mjbackus.bsky.social about the remarkable #TheHeartisMeat, and the vanished New York it captures. oilonwaterpress.com/blog/2026/09...

“Backus dizzyingly re-creates scene after scene of pure 1980s Manhattan, immersing the reader into a forgotten early-AIDS era in New York history.” Read the full Kirkus Reviews piece on @mjbackus.bsky.social The Heart is Meat here: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews... @mjbackus.bsky.social

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews... My book is out in bookstores on May 1. Here's a quote from the review:

Outside Left is a magazine that pushes books they like; they liked my memoir, out on May 1. Got to love the line, "raciest paciest creative non-fiction." Thanks to Lamontpaul. outsideleft.com/main.php?upd...

Holy shit, in the world of terrible appointments, Trump's Patel appt might be the worst. This NY Times article lays out the bullshit he was peddling and how it was wrong. F.B.I. Pick Pushed False and Misleading Claims About Trump Investigations www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/u...

I've written a lot of short film reviews over the years and being new to Blue Sky, I thought I'd post a few screen shots as a way of hooking into whatever film culture there is here. This is a quick take on two Gary Cooper films, one at the beginning and one at the end of his career.

wapo.st/4fMMdHw Once again showing how Citizens United was disastrous. The way out of this is federal funding of all elections, every candidate that qualifies gets the same amount, but impossible to ever see that happening.

Polydactyl cat always find the heating pad, especially in cool weather, but she doesn't like it too hot. Setting #2 seems just right.

www.michaeljbackus.com/recordings I recorded six short readings from my memoir of 80s NYC The Heart is Meat (out everywhere in May); you can access any of them here, I'd suggest starting with Pig Knuckles, which gives a good sense of the tone and style of the book.

www.southwestwriters.com/author-updat... Here's a link to an interview with me; it's about my memoir of working and living in NYC in the early 80s and is available now directly from the publisher. On May 1, 2025, it will have a wide release to bookstores and sites like Amazon and BN.

A short memoir piece in Cutleaf Journal about the ways the present can change how you think about the past. cutleafjournal.com/nonfiction/l...

My memoir about working in the meatpacking district in NYC in the early 1980s will be in bookstores and online on May 1, 2025, but you can order it directly from the publisher (Oil on Water press) here: oilonwaterpress.com/product/the-...