ADAM GNADE / PLANET B "Life is the Meatgrinder that Sucks in All Things"

Life is the Meatgrinder that Sucks in All Things is about one San Diego girl’s day spent navigating the streets of her hometown. The main character is Agnes McCanty, who is also the star of my novella Locust House and an unpublished novel called The Adventures of Agnes McCanty. For the most part, Agnes’ adventures in Meatgrinder take place two days before the September 11th attacks. I have always been interested in what happens before a moment of change. When I think back to how we were in those summer days preceding the attacks, I see innocence, decadence, mild depression, parties every night, blatant romanticism, nauseous anxiety, extreme fashion, brave haircuts, friends on heroin, easy days, and glorious free time. (But mostly innocence.) A lot would change quickly that week, and then it would race forward, continuing to this day, rumbling on like a stone rolling down a hill. This audio book is a love letter to that particular sort of innocence. (Innocence is of course a great thing to have, and an important thing to lose.) This is not to say Agnes McCanty’s narrative is one of lightness. Meatgrinder tells a dark story set across a breezy, sunlit landscape. This is a story of blood and guts, flower fields, grief, drug dealers, cigarettes, violence, shoplifting, Mexican markets, endless house parties, Greyhound bus scams, telenovelas, and trying like hell to make your life better but failing at every step. It's a tale of both sunshine and grime, which is the San Diego I knew and loved (and eventually left). It’s a place and time that haunt me, that remind me who I was and who I am, and how those two versions of myself intersect (and what to do about it when they stop). Writing this felt like visiting a friend. -Adam Gnade, Tuesday, February 2nd, 2022 

Track Listing :
1. Life is the Meatgrinder that Sucks in All Things