A Grand Theory of Everything

What do you do if you’re a teenager, stranded by your parents in New Delhi, without any sort of adult supervision, with easy access to all sorts of strange drugs? If you’re James McGirk, you use your bad trip to develop a philosophy that explains the whole world and all of its complexities. In A Grand Theory of Everything, McGirk takes us from the winding backstreets of New Delhi to his cramped apartment in New York City, and then on to his eventual relocation with his wife to the empty plains of Oklahoma. And, most importantly, he takes us inside his own head, where his weird theories take shape to help him understand his alienation from his family, his struggles to find a career, his wife’s failing health, and all of life’s hardships. 

 

 

 

Published on September 3, 2015 15:39.
Filed under: Clippings, Project Tags: , , ,

1 Comment »

  1. Jamie says:
    October 25, 2015 at 10:22

    Here’s a review in the South China Morning Post http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1870805/new-e-books-and-audiobooks-social-media-theory-everything-and-art

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C.V.

N.B. for privacy reasons this is usually out of date. Contact me for the latest version.

EDUCATION

Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, NY
MFA, Writing, Fiction, Oct. 2011.
Thesis: Fly the Black Flag of Himself.

Columbia University School of General Studies, New York, NY
BA, Cum Laude, May 2007.
Major: Literature/Writing
Thesis: Indian Made Foreign Liquor

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2018 Guest Lecturer, University of California Santa Cruz
Lectured on journalism for a Kresge Core Class.

2017-2018 Public Fellow, Oklahoma Center for the Humanities
Homelands Seminar.

Instructor in English, Northeastern State University
Fall 2015-2017 (as instructor)
Fall 2014-Spring 2015 (as adjunct)
Courses include: Teaching Travel and Adventure Writing (ENG3013) – an upper-division writing class focused on nonfiction; Intro to Creative Writing (ENG3043); Composition II (ENG 1213) and Composition I (ENG1113).

Workshop Instructor, Oklahoma City University
January 2015
Taught a one-day graduate workshop called “On knowing when to steal and make things up.”

Adjunct Professor, University of Tulsa
Fall 2014
Taught two sections of ENG1033, Exposition and Argumentation. 

Adjunct Professor, Bacone College
Spring 2014
Teaching two courses of English 1113, Composition I.
One section of SPCH1713 Speech and Critical Thinking.

Teaching Assistant, Columbia University
Fall 2010
Worked with Prof. Heidi Julavits to develop curriculum for Fiction: A Primer, the introductory graduate survey course for Columbia’s graduate fiction students. 

Fiction Editor, Columbia University
Fall 2009—May 2011
Edited the fiction pages of Columbia University’s premiere literary journal, Columbia Journal of Art and Literature. Solicited authors and edited manuscripts. Four direct reports.

TEACHING COMPETENCIES, INTERESTS

Contemporary fiction
Contemporary non-fiction
New media / Internet
Publishing / communications
Writing fiction / non-fiction
Journalism / editing
Globalization
Fine Art / Contemporary Art History

PUBLICATIONS

Novel/Book-length CNF

A Grand Theory of Everything, Amazon Publishing, Sept. 2015.
American Outlaws, Amazon Publishing, Oct. 2014.
The New Flesh in progress.
Indian Made Foreign Liquor. (2013) Sold to Chiasmus Media.

Anthologies

Forthcoming collection of 3quarksdaily essays.
“The Op in the Expanded Field” &Now Vol 3: Innovative Fiction Awards. Lake Forest College, NC: &Now Books, April 2015. Anthology.
Various pubs. A Voice Was Sounding 3 & 4. Tulsa, OK: This Land Press, November 2014. Anthology
“Claire Accelerates.” Todos Somos Migrantes. Eds. John Washington and Daniela Ugaz. Mexico City: Sur +, forthcoming 2013. Anthology.
“Dominion.” Thesis Anthology. New York City: Columbia School of the Arts/Writing, 2011. Anthology.

Magazines and Journals, Fiction.

“The Plastic Ship.” Under submission.
“Through a 3D Scanner Darkly.” 3quarksdaily.com
“3 Buboes.” 3quarksdaily, Aug. 2013. Online.
“The Godling of Greater Kailash.” Manhattan Magazine Jan/Feb 2013. Print.
“The Op in the Expanded Field.” NNATAN. Issue 0. Nnatan.org, Aug. 2012. Online.
“Memory Scraped onto Landscape with Smell.” 3am magazine.
3ammagazine.com, Jun 2012. Online.
“Kim Jong-un contemplates his failed launch.” 3quarksdaily.
3quarksdaily.com, Feb 2012. Online.
“Armour Brand Desiccated Thyroid bottle (C. 1900).” Gigantic. Issue 3. “Gigantic Indoors.” Thegiganticmag.com, Sept. 2011. Online.
“The Tramp Steamer.” The Drum. Thedrumlitmag.com, May 2011. Audio Magazine.
“The Garbling.” Fence Magazine, Winter 2011. Print. 

Magazines and Journals, Nonfiction.

“Has Satoshi Vision of the Future been Corrupted?” 21Crytpos.
“Predicting the Next Bull Market” 21Cryptos.
“The Future of Blockchain – Predicting the Future” 21Cryptos.
“Bitcoin in Venezuela” 21Cryptos.
“Vaporwave” Angeles Review.
“Oklahoma’s Class System.” This Land Press.
“Growing up as an Expat.” Oklahoma Humanities Magazine. Forthcoming.
“The Horror of the Ouachita Mountains” THIS LAND PRESS
“Restaurant Reviews: Muskogee, Tulsa, Tahlequah.” Oklahoma Today. Forthcoming.
“Art, Literature and All the Crude in America.” Lithub.com. May 2015. Forthcoming. Online.
“My Grandfather’s Imposter.” Roads and Kingdoms. Aug. 2015
“Oklahoma Beards.” Oklahoma Today. April/May 2015. Print.
“Profile: Jenks Football Coach.” Oklahoma Today. January/February 2015. Print.
“Beauty, Purpose, and Preservation.” This Land Press. Nov. 15, 2014. Print.
“Satan Comes to Oklahoma City.” The Paris Review (daily). Theparisreview.org. Nov. 1, 2014. Online.
“Tulsa Modernism.” Oklahoma Today. November/December 2014. Print.
“Heavy Heart, Empty Heart.” Columbia Magazine. Fall 2014. Print.
“Ancestry Days.” Oklahoma Today. August/September 2014. Print.
“The New Nepal.” Roads and Kingdoms. Roadsandkingdoms.com. August 2014. Online.
“Google’s John Hanke.” Wired. July 2014. Print.
“The Surprisingly Strong Case for Colonizing Venus.” CITYLAB. The Atlantic. Online.
“How-to Campfire Cooking.” Oklahoma Today. June/July. Print.
“Beauty, Purpose, Preservation” This Land Press. Print. Forthcoming Aug 15. 2014
“The New Nepal” Roads and Kingdoms. Online. Forthcoming Jul/Aug.
“Kickstarter Equation” Wired. Print. July.
“Inside the Studio: Troy Jackson” Art Focus Oklahoma. Print. May/Jun 2014.
“Indian Country’s Neuromancers” This Land Press. Print. Mar. 2014
“Datastream” Wired. Print. Mar. 2014
“Petrostate” This Land Press. Print. Dec. 1, 2013.
“An Ethnography of the Elite.” Forthcoming. Print.
“Manhattan and the Mephistophelean Mind.” 3quarksdaily. Nov. 2013. Online.
“When the Rodeo Clowns Came.” 3quarksdaily. Sept. 2013
“Moving Down Yonder to the Indian Nation.” This Land Press. Sept. 15, 2013. Print.
“Doomsday Preppers and Reddit Pizza.” Wired. July 2013. Print.
“The Metropolitan Trilogy.” 3quarksdaily. July 2013. Online.
“The Dazzling Debut is Dead.” Newsweek-DailyBeast. Forthcoming June 4, 2013. Online.
“The Cherokee Nation Constitutional Crisis.” This Land Press, May 2013. Print.
“Remote Viewing in the Sooner State.” The Paris Review. Theparisreview.org, May 2013. Online.
“The Great Spy’s Dream.” 3quarksdaily, 3quarksdaily.com. May 2013. Online.
“Inside the Abbatoir.” This Land Press. April 15, 2013. Print.
“Remembering Life in Arcosanti.” Wired. Wired.com, Apr. 2013. Online.
“The Game of (Not) Life.” 3am magazine. 3ammagazine.com, Mar. 2013. Online.
“The State of Cherokee Nation.” TIME. Time.com, Mar. 11, 2013. Online.
“Destination: Oklahoma.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Mar. 2013. Online.
“A Battered Bag of Memories.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Chronicle Review, Feb. 25, 2013. Print.
“Silicon Valley: Literary Capital of the 21st Century.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Feb. 2013. Online.
“Writing and the World of Tomorrow.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Jan. 2013. Online.
“A Universal History of Online Iniquity.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Dec. 2013. Online.
“Jesse Ventura Suspects a Conspiracy Against His Show About Conspiracies.” The Atlantic. Theatlantic.com, Dec 17, 2012. Online.
“M.F.A. Madness.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Chronicle Review. Nov. 12, 2012. Print.
“Art World Apostate.” Oxford American. Oxfordamerican.org, Nov. 2012. Online.
“A Libertarian Paradise in Honduras.” Los Angeles Review of Books. Lareviewofbooks.com, Nov 2012. Online.
“A Republican Literature of the Americas.” Newsweek-DailyBeast. Thedailybeast.com, Nov. 5, 2012. Online.
“Literary Magazines: Read All About It.” The Economist. Prospero blog. Theeconomist.com, Oct. 2012. Online.
“The Q&A: James Ellroy.” The Economist. Prospero blog. Theeconomist.com, Oct. 2012. Online.
“The Smug Technocrats who will Rule Tomorrow.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Oct. 2012. Online.
“Common People: Class and the ’80s.” The Awl. Theawl.com, Aug. 2012. Online.
“A Requiem for Roscoe.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Aug. 2012. Online.
“Google on the L Train: Sci-fi, Wifi and the MTA.” The Awl. Theawl.com, Jul. 2012. Online.
“The Romance of Mayhem and High Explosive.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Jul. 2012. Online.
“Our First Expatriate President.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, May 2012. Online.
“Translit is Neither New nor Subversive.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Jun. 2012. Online.
“Nobody Wins.” The Economist. Prospero. Theeconomist.com, Apr. 2012. Online.
“Diabolical Women.” The Economist. Prospero. The economist.com. Mar. 2012. Online.
“Solving the Inequality Equation.” Columbia GSAS SuperScript. Spring 2012. Print.
“The Different Dialects of Serial Murder.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Feb. 2012. Online.
“Will the Maine Coon Become an American Icon?” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Jan. 2012. Online.
“Thing Writing.” 3QuarkDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Nov. 2011. Online.
“Gripes and Halloween Horrors.” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily.com, Oct. 2011. Online.
“Marco Polo in Boulder, Colorado.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Oct. 2011. Online.
“The Last MFA Essay I Will Ever Write.” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily.com, Sep. 2011. Online.
“A Dose of Bile.” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily.com, Aug. 2011. Online.
“The Thirty-Third Internet Connection in New Delhi.” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily.com, Jul. 2011. Online.
“Writing for Machines.” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily.com, Jun. 2011. Online.
“Imagining an Expat Aesthetic.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, May 2011. Online.
“After the Internet was Shut-off.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Apr. 2011 Online.
“The Starter Gallery.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarkdaily.com, Mar. 2011. Online.
“An Attempt at Unraveling Ridgewood, Queens.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Feb. 2011. Online.
“Could Student Loan Debt Spark Insurrection?” 3QuarksDaily, 3quarksdaily, Jan. 2011. Online.
“Spark Gaps and Circuits.” 3QuarksDaily. 3quarksdaily.com, Dec. 2010. Online.
“Baptism by Soda.” 3QuarksDaliy. 3quarksdaily.com, Nov. 2010. Online.
“A Brief Reflection on Czar Guiterrez’ Bombardier,” HTML Giant. Htmlgiant.com, Oct. 2010. Online.
“The Q&A Tom McCarthy.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Sep. 2010. Online.
“The Q&A Lorin Stein.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Apr. 2010. Online.
“Whitney’s Tepid Biennial.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Mar. 2010. Online.
“Can You Really Rank Writing Programmes?” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, Dec. 2009. Online.
“Strange Breeds.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Oct. 2009. Online.
“The Q&A: Kurt Kauper, Artist.” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, Sep. 2010. Online.
“Art And (Gauche Breaches Of) Etiquette.” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, Aug. 2009. Online.
“Another New York Peep Show.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Aug. 2009. Online.
“A Bandit On The High Line.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Aug. 2009. Online
“Harlem’s Rising Artists.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Aug. 2009. Online.
“Charles Saatchi Has An Addiction.” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Aug. 2009. Online.
“CIA Assassinations,” The L Magazine. Aug. 2009. Print.
“The Life And Death Of A Hipster King,” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, Jul. 2009. Online.
“What Is An Alien Artist To Do?” More Intelligent Life. Moreintelligentlife.com, Jun. 2009. Online.
“An Artfully Disjointed Venice Biennale.” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, Jun. 2009. Online.
“Iggy Pop’s Ambient, Literary Jazz Album.” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, May. 2009. Online.
“The Q&A: Sasha Grey, Performer.” More Intelligent Life, Moreintelligentlife.com, May 2009. Online.
“Why Attack Hotels?” Culture 11, Dec. 2008. Print.
“Ironclad Closet.” Long Island City Magazine, 2008. Print.
“The Madness of the Upperclass.” The L Magazine, Jul. 2008. Print.
“Cyberpunk Is Not Dead.” The L Magazine, Jul. 2007. Print.
“Ben Jonson’s Rebus.” Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism, May 2007. Print.

Art

Art 365 Artist Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 2016-2017
“Faculty Show” 2014, photography display at Bacone College in Fall 2014.
Photo Essay, Stevehuffphoto.com, July 2014.
“Untitled (Over the Void)” 2012, video stills from a 6 min 35 second video. James McGirk and Jaret Vadera.

Public Events

American Anthropological Association, Nov. 2018
Art 365 Events, various, May 2017-Jan. 2018
Readings, NSU Writing. Dec. 2017
This Land Press, July 2017
Chickasaw Literary Festival 2017
This Land Press, July 2016
Art on the Hill, Roger State University, Sept. 2015
Arts on the Avenue, Nonfiction Panel, Jun. 2015
Readings, NSU Writing. Dec. 2014
Bumpkinitis 12, OSU Creative Writing, Nov. 2014
Tahlequah Writers Club, Aug. 2014
“Literary Death Match,” Tulsa. Judge. Oct. 2013
“Columbia Faculty Selects.” KGB Bar. Jan. 2013. Reader.

Published on August 29, 2015 13:47.
Filed under: