Good To Go: Short Stories West Coast Style

by Jim Jones (Editor), Alice Wheeler

26 "underground" turbulent & obsessive confessions

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Jim grew up in Lincoln, NE. He graduated from Pius X High School and the University of Nebraska. In 1980 he began the punk fanzine Capitol Punishment, which he published until 1984, documenting the punk scene in Nebraska as well as regional and national/international bands. From 1984-87 he attended the University of Kansas, where he taught as a junior English instructor. He holds an MA in English from KU. In 1987 he moved to Seattle and began a fanzine/publishing company called Zero Hour with long-time friend Alice Wheeler. ZH published the works of Seattle poet Steven Jesse Bernstein and collection of underground short stories by West Coast writers called "Good to Go." In 2009 he published "The Complete Capitol Punishment," a compilation of all the issues of his Nebraska fanzine. In 2023 he published his first novel, "As the River Flows." He lives in Seattle with his partner.

Reviews

[Jim Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the early 1990's we dreamed of a literary scene in Seattle that would explode just as the music scene had done. We gathered all our favorite local authors and put out this anthology to announce that writers in the NW had something new to say. This was our attempt to write about what Nirvana and Mudhoney were saying in their music. The stories are raw, dirty, depressing, transgressive, and sexy. Postcards from a backwater that suddenly had the world's attention!

[Larry-bob Roberts]

(review from Holy Titclamps #14, 1994)

Among the queer contributors to this anthology are Vaginal Davis, Steven Jesse Bernstein, Mark Pritchard, Deran Ludd, Jodi Davis, and many others. Many contributors were first published in zines.

[Chris Estey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember buying this at the Sub Pop Mega Mart across the street from the Terminal Sales Building (and halfway through the block from the tenement where I lived). The store always had delicious swag, bringing back vinyl (at the time, CDs were dominant), selling the Whiskey for the Holy Ghost shot glasses, etc. This was one of my very favorite purchases from the store, even though it wasn't music. At first I thought it was a zine anthology, and wanted to support that cause. I didn't expect fiction, though it was clear from the packaging that it was a collection of short stories. I don't read much fiction; but I devoured this book in one afternoon strung out at the Penny Perk. I still remember the stories, like the older jock with the boy in the hotel room trapped during a blizzard, and the guy who had really cruel sex and then went and had a glass of nice, cold milk. If I could find this in my apartment I would read it again in a heartbeat, but its visceral imagery and gritty verisimilitude has certainly stayed with me over the years. I always craved a sequel, but some things just are so uniquely brilliant and can only happen once. Highly recommended.

[Vern Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would’ve bought this anthology during the summer of ’95 at the now-defunct Pages store on Queen Street in Toronto, then headed to the beach. And wow, did I ever have a fine literary day with these then unknown Seattle writers.

Without question, Steven Jesse Bernstein stole the show with his filthy but outstanding story, “Sissies Suck it Up (Bad Boys Gulp it Down.” But there were scores of highlights, including worthy contributions from Vaginal Davis, Annie Reid, Frank Stauf, Kevin Sampsell, Denise Ohio, Karl Scheer, Richard McFarland, and more.

While it’s hard not to be at least a little uneven with a roster of 26 writers, props to the editors for keeping the subversive thread so well. Seattle wasn’t just in the midst of a music explosion at the time. No, there was an incredible underground literary thing happening, too, and I read all about it on a Toronto beach, sort of wishing I was there.