William Anselmi Knihy

A richly woven story about life in the heart of Umbria, this travel narrative is filled with nostalgic and personal recollections of the city's history, architecture, culture, and its unique people.

Doomed to Fail explores the heaviest music the world has ever heard, tracing doom, sludge, and post-metal as their own distinct (and incredibly loud) traditions. Anselmi covers the bands and musicians that have impacted those styles most―Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Melvins, Eyehategod, Godflesh, Neurosis, Saint Vitus, and many others―while diving into the cultural doom that has spawned such music, from the bombing of Birmingham and hurricane devastation of New Orleans to glaring economic inequality, industrial alienation, climate change, and widespread addiction. Along the way, Anselmi interweaves the musical experiences that have led him to proudly identify as one of the doomed.

"J.J. Anselmi's Out Here on Our Own tells the story of Rock Springs, Wyoming"--

When Ryan and Jason discover the destructive beauty of freestyle BMX, it's a definitive before-and-after moment for them. The two riders gravitate to the freedom and raw aggression of trail riding as a way of coping with their tumultuous home lives: Ryan's domineering father and Jason's father's suicide. The boys prove themselves within the exclusive East Coast BMX scene. They're drawn deeper into the culture when they fall in with a group of older pros who are part of a subterranean world of bisexuality and sadistic humor. As Ryan and Jason fight to preserve their relationship, they must navigate their own emerging sexuality and feelings for one another. The death-drive urge to ride massive jumps makes perfect sense to them, but life outside of riding spills over at the edges. The Dirt in Our Skin is a coming-of-age novel and artistic tribute to an activity that's more lifestyle than sport. It's a book of blurred lines: between friendship and love, humor and abuse, art and sport, fiction and nonfiction, and much more.