Ben Tanzer

Member for: 1 year 39 weeks

Favorite Bands: The Shaggs, of course, but also X, The Ramones, The Hold Steady, Bruce Springsteen, The Beastie Boys, Avail, Wilco, Johnny Cash, KISS, Lucinda Williams, The Cars, The Beatles, Billy Bragg, Be Your Own Pet, Run DMC, Nirvana, Iron and Wine, Journey, Saul Williams, Patsy Cline, The DOORS, Joseph Arthur, ACDC, The Soviettes, Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, The Grateful Dead, Jay-Z, Waco Brothers, Kanye West, and Rage Against The Machine

Favorite Books: First and foremost, Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack, but then in no particular order of importance The Basketball Diaries, Bastard out of Carolina, Cruddy, Naked, No One Gets Out of Here Alive, Into the Wild, The Godfather, Flowers in the Attic, Carrie, The Messenger if Hot, Fun Home, The Chocolate War, Maus, Jimmy Corrigan - The Smartest Kid on Earth, The Bluest Eye, Bricks and Anchors, Hey Buddy! A Hate Collection, That Was Then This is Now, The Catcher in The Rye, John Carter Warlord of Mars, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Confessions of a Teenage Baboon, American Skin, Hairstyles of the Damned, The Martian Chronicles, Deenie, 40 Hour Man, The Hobbit, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, The Foundation Trilogy, and Meditations from a Movable Chair

Favorite Zines: Have You Seen The Dog Lately?

Favorite Films: Hiding Out, or anything with Jon Cryer, After Hours, Punch Drunk Love, The Squid and The Whale, American History X, The Warriors, Brazil, Salvador, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Short Cuts, Go, The Professional, Drugstore Cowboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Rushmore, Election, Glengarry Glenross, Brother's Keeper, Kids, Caddyshack, Clerks, Amores Perros, Star Wars, Tape, The Believer, Once Were Warriors, Requiem for a Dream, In The Company of Men, Breaking the Waves, Hoop Dreams, Swingers, In The Bedroom, Reservoir Dogs, Breakfast Club, Bad Lieutenant, L.A. Confidential, Niagra Niagra, Do The Right Thing, Apocalypse Now, Ghost Dog - Way of the Samurai, Barfly, and One False Move

I love Jimmy Dean sausages, long walks on the beach, Le Cars, and manatees. I am also a parent, social worker, and writer, and have had work published in a variety of magazines and journals including Punk Planet, THE2NDHAND, Thieves Jargon, 20dissidents, Monkey Bicycle, Rated Rookie, Clamor, Opium, Abroad View, Chicago Parent, Windy City Sports, Caketrain, and Third Coast Press. My debut novel Lucky Man was released by Manx Media this past spring - www.manxmedia.com/luckyman.htm - and is taking the literary world by storm. You can check out my blog "This Blog Will Change Your Life" at http://bentanzer.blogspot.com/.