Press

I think Daniel Nester just insulted me. When I told him that I didn’t understand his chapter, “A.I. Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night”—a 20-page-plus “interview” mocking a real interview between NPR’s Terry Gross and Gene Simmons circa 2002—and how it fit in his latest book, How To Be Inappropriate, the poet and college professor’s response was, uh, unexpected. Geez. I thought we had something special, only to be slammed 13 minutes later. Rough start. Of course, keep in mind, I could be projecting. After all, the dude just penned an entire book about being crass, gross and sometimes douchey.

–interview with Kathy Ritchie in Smith Magazine’s  Memoirville books blog

“Daniel Nester is the kind of writer who looks at his book as an opportunity to be honest with you, and hopefully make you laugh. Which I did.”—Emily Nonko, from her interview on Bomb magazine’s website

“In How to Be Inappropriate, Daniel Nester collects many of his clever essays in one of the year’s funniest books. If you have been reading Nester’s pieces at The Daily Beast, you know how funny he can be, especially when casting his discerning eye towards pop culture.”—Largehearted Boy’s intro to my Book Notes

An interview with Rigoberto Gonzalez at Critical Mass, the National Book Critics Circle blog

“Whoopee! Author Daniel Nester is most inappropriate”—title of Jeff Baker’s piece, with interivew, in The Oregonian

A self-interview, along with an excerpt and other goodies, over at The Nervous Breakdown

Check out the Daniel Nester guest blog posts at the Powell’s Books site

“Nester’s essays are hilarious in their approach to as specific a theme as inappropriateness, and they come highly recommended.”—Bookslut’s John Zuarino’s intro to Indie Heartthrob interview

Library Journal: Former McSweeney’s editor Nester (English, Coll. of Saint Rose), whose writing has appeared in The Best Creative Nonfiction, The Best American Poetry, and Poets & Writers, presents his debut collection of humorous nonfiction, amassing 41 years’ worth of experience in nonconformity. His stories are, as the title suggests, inappropriate, and they often engender squeamishness, discomfort, and laughter. But they are fresh and, at times, touching, qualities that make this an enjoyable read. Subjects include teaching curse words to Chinese ESL students, reimagining a Terry Gross NPR interview of Gene Simmons by substituting Gene Simmons with an AI computer, a collection of references to flatulence in English poesy, the history of mooning, and out-of-context comments he made as a college professor in order to clarify and expand upon his students’ writing. Nester includes photographs, illustrations, and a time line of his inappropriate acts from birth to the present. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy memoirs and essays.—Mark Alan Williams, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

“[A] deeply funny new collection of booger-flecked nonfiction”—Drew Toal’s four-star review of How to Be Inappropriate from Time Out New York

“This guy is intelligent and funny, and so is his book.”—Rod Lott, Bookgasm

Interview with Sage Cohen at Writing the Life Poetic Zine

“Daniel Nester still isn’t sure if he was a starving artist that one time”—The L Magazine Online Questionnaire for Writer Types

“Throughout the book, Nester has a self-deprecating charm that makes his writing seem like he’s just hanging out with you, telling you a good story. Whether it’s recounting the time he moved in next door to an ex-girlfriend while living in New York (“The Puerto Rican Lockhorns Reunion”) or detailing his adventures in self-tanning (“Yes I Tan”) Nester is funny, but never mean. Indeed, even when he could go for the jugular in two of the finest pieces in the book, he instead remains an observer, allowing the laughs to emerge from his subject’s behavior rather than any snarky remark he could have come up with.”—Scott Malchus, Popdose

Tamara Sellman’s “Quick Q&A” at Writer’s Rainbow

“Too much information” should be the tagline for this debut collection of humorous nonfiction pieces from Daniel Nester…Told through a series of essays, lists, rants, play scripts, and profiles, this part-memoir, part-random collection of nonsense is an entertaining look at defying the conventions of appropriate behavior.”—The Daily Beast, Hot Reads listing

Interview with Kim Clune’s BrainDrain

Review by Teresa Farrell in the Saint Rose Chronicle

Linebreak guest blogger posts

“Who Farted?” profile by Cecilia Martinez, Metroland

The Onion’s AV Club mentions the How to Be Inappropriate whoopee cushion, mentioned in “The year in swag: 27 ridiculous promotional items we received in 2009″

Alvaro Villanueva’s cover of How to Be Inappropriate makes it own press in The Huffington Post (17 Coolest Book Covers of 2009), as well as The Book Design Review

Reviews of God Save My Queen and God Save My Queen II.

These two books are absolutely fantastic … raises the profile of obsessive record collectors from nerd to artiste while simultaneously creating a genre of poetry where a new word for ultra-nerd needs to be created to describe the authorship. The first volume features one short poem for every track on every major Queen LP. As the book explores sexuality, humanity and vulnerability the lyrical text confusingly shifts from Nester’s personal biography to the exploits of Mercury and May in a haze of poetics where it doesn’t matter what or who he’s talking about. … To bring this point home the second volume is a track by track series of poems covering obscure Queen albums, solo work and hidden CD tracks, thus, even the fellow fans who were able to recall every Queen track and perhaps relate them to the poems in book one is left headscratching by this volume. These books are as beautiful as fat bottomed girls on bicycles.—Roctober

“Nester’s method considers a serious fan’s bliss impeccably … Nester’s best poems consider the homosexual allure of the band’s late singer, Freddie Mercury, describing Mercury’s gestures, phrasing and lifestyle with aplomb…vainglorious pomposity…”—Ken Tucker, The New York Times Book Review

Sean Thomas Dougherty, American Book Review

David Barringer, Word Riot

Gabriel Welsch, small spiral notebook

Roundtable discussion in Bookninja with Bookninja’s Peter Darbyshire and George Murray along with The Pursuit of Happiness’s Moe Berg

Peter Conners, Double Room

Tom Nissley, The Stranger, Seattle

Whitey Houston, Vue Weekly, Edmonton, Canada

Janine Arman, Clamor; opens in new window

Ross Martin, Crossroads: The Journal of the Poetry Society of America; opens in new window

Henry Yu, MAXIMUMROCKNROLL

J. Thomas Burch, Esq., Slugmag, Salt Lake City

Michael Basinski, The Hold

Gustavo Zapico, Espacio3, Spain

Other press and mentions.

Maple Shade Progress, my hometown newspaper; opens in new window

Alli Marshall, “Tales from the cryptic,” Mountain Xpress, Asheville, NC

“Nobody writes rock geek poetry like Daniel Nester.”—Jessa Crispin, Bookslut

“[A] very funny blend of music biography and personal reflection which demonstrates that, if explained coherently and in sufficient detail, a fanatical obsession with a rock band can seem almost rational. Almost.”—Jesse Delaney, Philadelphia City Paper

Matthew Webster, “Queen aficionado, poet ready to rock HUB,” The Daily Collegian, Penn State University

“Note to those Readers who still want to believe in devotional verse; for those who seek a cure for a spirit sunk under undifferentiated elegance: Take [Daniel] Nester’s God Save My Queen and God Save My Queen II and Reader, write me in the morning.”—Ray McDaniel, Constant Critic

“[A] very funny blend of music biography and personal reflection which demonstrates that, if explained coherently and in sufficient detail, a fanatical obsession with a rock band can seem almost rational. Almost.”—Jesse Delaney, Philadelphia City Paper

Rocking Freddie Mercury-oriented listing in the Chicago Reader

Listing in “Voice Choices,” Village Voice

Jamie Schwartz, CLMP Literary Magazine and Press Directory, 2005

Didi Menendez, MiPoesias, 2004

Ryan Robert Mullen, Word Riot, 2004. The ‘well-kept hockey mullet’ interview

Chris Gage, Gothamist, 2004

Talking About, Queens Public Television, 2004; real audio stream

Sound Affects, VH1 series, Ondi Timoner director, aired 2003

Ross Martin, Nerve, 2003

Kenan Herbert, Gigantic, 2003