The Millions recently published Patrick’s ode to poets for National Poetry Month.
Very honored to have my recent interview with the most famous bugler in America appear in one of my favorite magazines, Oxford American.
For fifteen seconds a year, Steve Buttleman is the most famous man in America. On the first Saturday of every May, sporting his famous red jacket and tiny black hat, he marches from the white pagoda behind the Churchill Downs Winner’s Circle, lifts a polished brass horn to his caramel-colored mustache, and plays “Call to Post.” Buttleman’s rendition—a brief ditty that signals jockeys to lead their horses into the starting gate—grabs the attention of movie stars in Millionaire’s Row, infield drunks, and countless television viewers. It’s also the sign for Kentucky Derby fans to clutch their betting slips and start praying.
Read more here.
Patrick has taken on a twice-monthly gig writing essays for the Weeklings. If you don’t know this site, it’s jam packed with pop/culture essays from very talented writers.
So far, he’s written about rock album “Growers” and the similarities between Smokey and the Bandit II and Jean-Luc Godard.
Big news here at Wentastic Enterprises. For the first time Patrick will be in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Pick up a copy of the April 14 paper and check the Inside the List section.
WHISKEY AND WRY: Writing a best seller can be more like holding a winning lottery ticket than most people imagine — not every payout is worth boasting about. That was the message, anyway, of a recent Salon article with the tell-it-like-it-is headline “My Amazon Best Seller Made Me Nothing.”
Read more here.
Broken Piano audiobooks have arrived!
It’s for sale and ready for your next road trip.
The New York Times recently published Patrick’s essay about being a stay-at-home-dad/domestic gigolo. Read it here.
Here’s the beginning:
A romantic Valentine’s is close. Like, broom-closet close. All you need for a sexy good time is a bucket of cleaning supplies and maybe a notary public — depending on how litigious you are. My wife and I are horrible at paperwork, so we struck our deal with a handshake. It was a dubious-sounding pact that went on to revolutionize our marriage: sex for cleaning.
LitReactor had high praise for Broken Piano.
A cultural satire wrapped in a corporate espionage mystery, and by the end a personal reflection on creativity and individuality. A delicate balancing act, and Wensink pulls it off masterfully.
Broken Piano gets four stars from The Sounds.
Patrick’s highly anticipated collection of magazine articles, essays and emails has been released: Everything Was Great Until it Sucked.
The book’s first line kind of says it all:
I’ve never known an American economy that didn’t smell like Red Lobster’s dumpster…
Folks are raving:
“[Wensink] is our Terry Southern and Paul Krassner and possibly one day even our own Jonathan Swift…”
– SCOTT MCCLANAHAN, author of The Collected Works of Scott McClanahan Vol. I
Insanely proud to announce one of the most respected names in audio books, Recorded Books, will soon be releasing the unabridged audio edition of Broken Piano for President.
Available now!
Broken Piano for President 