Mike Nagel
@misternagel.bsky.social
Bullshit essayist. Author of Duplex and Culdesac from Autofocus Books. Father of Costcocore. Dallas kid.
www.michaelscottnagel.com
www.michaelscottnagel.com
Reposted by Mike Nagel
cover! synopsis! preorder! out in feb!!
"Blending autofiction with fantasy, meta with magic, and earnestness with absurdity, 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢 presents a recognizable but also magical world where we ask, if nothing is real, then why not have as much fun as possible?"
autofocusbooks.com/store/p/tacoma
"Blending autofiction with fantasy, meta with magic, and earnestness with absurdity, 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢 presents a recognizable but also magical world where we ask, if nothing is real, then why not have as much fun as possible?"
autofocusbooks.com/store/p/tacoma
November 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM
cover! synopsis! preorder! out in feb!!
"Blending autofiction with fantasy, meta with magic, and earnestness with absurdity, 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢 presents a recognizable but also magical world where we ask, if nothing is real, then why not have as much fun as possible?"
autofocusbooks.com/store/p/tacoma
"Blending autofiction with fantasy, meta with magic, and earnestness with absurdity, 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢 presents a recognizable but also magical world where we ask, if nothing is real, then why not have as much fun as possible?"
autofocusbooks.com/store/p/tacoma
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Friends, very excited for Morning, Fuckers at Winterruption 2026. We’re gonna make a little magic here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada during the depths of winter, you guys! www.showpass.com/morning26/
October 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Friends, very excited for Morning, Fuckers at Winterruption 2026. We’re gonna make a little magic here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada during the depths of winter, you guys! www.showpass.com/morning26/
Got a little woo woo for the fine folks at @farewelltransmiss.bsky.social.
farewelltransmission.net/2025/10/woo-...
farewelltransmission.net/2025/10/woo-...
WOO WOO - Farewell Transmission
By Mike Nagel My sister-in-law Molly grew up as a pastor’s daughter but at some point in her mid-thirties she became more of a witch. I thought that being a witch meant you invited the devil into your...
farewelltransmission.net
October 10, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Got a little woo woo for the fine folks at @farewelltransmiss.bsky.social.
farewelltransmission.net/2025/10/woo-...
farewelltransmission.net/2025/10/woo-...
Reposted by Mike Nagel
“It wasn’t until I was falling asleep later that night that I wondered: If there hadn’t been a blood clot, what had they removed?”
From “Orientaton,” a new original essay by @misternagel.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/TIOZvYa
From “Orientaton,” a new original essay by @misternagel.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/TIOZvYa
July 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
“It wasn’t until I was falling asleep later that night that I wondered: If there hadn’t been a blood clot, what had they removed?”
From “Orientaton,” a new original essay by @misternagel.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/TIOZvYa
From “Orientaton,” a new original essay by @misternagel.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/TIOZvYa
Reposted by Mike Nagel
I'm so excited to share this essay by @misternagel.bsky.social for @therumpus.net with the world. I remember the first time I read it, I was delighted by how perfectly he captures the absurdity of the situation, amidst the mind-bending power of pre-emptive grief. It was an honor to edit.
Orientation - The Rumpus
At the time, though, I couldn’t make much sense of anything. So I accepted everything with the detached nonchalance of a guy who has no idea what’s going on.
therumpus.net
July 21, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I'm so excited to share this essay by @misternagel.bsky.social for @therumpus.net with the world. I remember the first time I read it, I was delighted by how perfectly he captures the absurdity of the situation, amidst the mind-bending power of pre-emptive grief. It was an honor to edit.
Reposted by Mike Nagel
I absolutely adore this @therumpus.net essay by @misternagel.bsky.social about the upside-down-ness caused by a family health emergency. #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
Orientation - The Rumpus
At the time, though, I couldn’t make much sense of anything. So I accepted everything with the detached nonchalance of a guy who has no idea what’s going on.
therumpus.net
July 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I absolutely adore this @therumpus.net essay by @misternagel.bsky.social about the upside-down-ness caused by a family health emergency. #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
Reposted by Mike Nagel
"My father-in-law’s stroke, an event that has certainly turned our lives upside down, happened at a time in my life when I was feeling a little turned around to begin with."
NEW MIKE NAGEL!
NEW MIKE NAGEL!
Wrote about my father-in-law's stroke and the feeling of getting all turned around for one of my all-time favorite magazines @therumpus.net.
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
Orientation - The Rumpus
At the time, though, I couldn’t make much sense of anything. So I accepted everything with the detached nonchalance of a guy who has no idea what’s going on.
therumpus.net
July 17, 2025 at 4:56 PM
"My father-in-law’s stroke, an event that has certainly turned our lives upside down, happened at a time in my life when I was feeling a little turned around to begin with."
NEW MIKE NAGEL!
NEW MIKE NAGEL!
Wrote about my father-in-law's stroke and the feeling of getting all turned around for one of my all-time favorite magazines @therumpus.net.
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
Orientation - The Rumpus
At the time, though, I couldn’t make much sense of anything. So I accepted everything with the detached nonchalance of a guy who has no idea what’s going on.
therumpus.net
July 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Wrote about my father-in-law's stroke and the feeling of getting all turned around for one of my all-time favorite magazines @therumpus.net.
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
👇👇👇
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...
Listen to me and Aug yuck it up!
We talk Vonnegut (obvs), touring, music, the whole deal. Very fun chat.
We talk Vonnegut (obvs), touring, music, the whole deal. Very fun chat.
I had a fantastic chat with Mike Nagel for the latest Counterforce podcast. One of my favourite interviews. Actually, it wasn’t even really an interview, just a great conversation @misternagel.bsky.social
Listen here to the whole ep here etceteraetc.podbean.com/e/episode-76...
Listen here to the whole ep here etceteraetc.podbean.com/e/episode-76...
July 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Listen to me and Aug yuck it up!
We talk Vonnegut (obvs), touring, music, the whole deal. Very fun chat.
We talk Vonnegut (obvs), touring, music, the whole deal. Very fun chat.
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Is Brian Allen Carr legally allowed back in Texas?
June 23, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Is Brian Allen Carr legally allowed back in Texas?
Reposted by Mike Nagel
two ridiculous, absurd, tender, laugh-out-loud slim books by Mike Nagel
I finished (and loved) Duplex back in 2022 & I finished (and loved) Culdesac this morning
@misternagel.bsky.social
@autofocusbooks.bsky.social
I finished (and loved) Duplex back in 2022 & I finished (and loved) Culdesac this morning
@misternagel.bsky.social
@autofocusbooks.bsky.social
June 16, 2025 at 5:26 PM
two ridiculous, absurd, tender, laugh-out-loud slim books by Mike Nagel
I finished (and loved) Duplex back in 2022 & I finished (and loved) Culdesac this morning
@misternagel.bsky.social
@autofocusbooks.bsky.social
I finished (and loved) Duplex back in 2022 & I finished (and loved) Culdesac this morning
@misternagel.bsky.social
@autofocusbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Hey gang, if you want a vibe, @misternagel.bsky.social has got your ideal surreal-dirtbag-sad-hilarious-grim pandemic-era-but-really-all-era essay collection right here! Out from @autofocusbooks.bsky.social! please get a copy and read it immediately!
April 15, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Hey gang, if you want a vibe, @misternagel.bsky.social has got your ideal surreal-dirtbag-sad-hilarious-grim pandemic-era-but-really-all-era essay collection right here! Out from @autofocusbooks.bsky.social! please get a copy and read it immediately!
Reposted by Mike Nagel
🤩
Managed to perfect the cover on my copy of Still Alive. And just a general reminder that @ljabouttown.bsky.social is the best!!
April 7, 2025 at 10:32 PM
🤩
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Five excellent Southern books selected by this guy!
@southrevbooks.bsky.social
@paulluikart.bsky.social
@misternagel.bsky.social
Also featuring
Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
Charles Portis
Ernest J. Gaines
and the all time favorite
Larry Brown
southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/03/27/r...
@southrevbooks.bsky.social
@paulluikart.bsky.social
@misternagel.bsky.social
Also featuring
Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
Charles Portis
Ernest J. Gaines
and the all time favorite
Larry Brown
southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/03/27/r...
Real Southern Lives
SRB Editor Spencer Pennington rounds up 6 books that embrace what makes the South special.
southernreviewofbooks.com
March 27, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Five excellent Southern books selected by this guy!
@southrevbooks.bsky.social
@paulluikart.bsky.social
@misternagel.bsky.social
Also featuring
Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
Charles Portis
Ernest J. Gaines
and the all time favorite
Larry Brown
southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/03/27/r...
@southrevbooks.bsky.social
@paulluikart.bsky.social
@misternagel.bsky.social
Also featuring
Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
Charles Portis
Ernest J. Gaines
and the all time favorite
Larry Brown
southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/03/27/r...
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Consider supporting us today! We want to publish books for a very long time. You can help! In return, you’ll get access to a handful of digital artifacts (to start), find community around artful autobiographical writing, + save a little $$ at some point. autofocusbooks.com/memberships
March 24, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Consider supporting us today! We want to publish books for a very long time. You can help! In return, you’ll get access to a handful of digital artifacts (to start), find community around artful autobiographical writing, + save a little $$ at some point. autofocusbooks.com/memberships
Reposted by Mike Nagel
A pretty cool (THE coolest& best?) aspect of being an editor, and being one for so long, is falling in love with writers, being a small piece of championing them and helping them find more readers, seeing them get better and better, and watching other La become fans and fall in love too.
Final blurb post which means tomorrow is the official release! Saved this one for last. When you’re a completely unknown writer, if @aaronburch.bsky.social digs your stuff, it’s a big deal. It was for me, anyway. Having fun, trying new shit—I get that from him.
March 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
A pretty cool (THE coolest& best?) aspect of being an editor, and being one for so long, is falling in love with writers, being a small piece of championing them and helping them find more readers, seeing them get better and better, and watching other La become fans and fall in love too.
Reposted by Mike Nagel
"They serve a dish there called “The Farmer’s Breakfast.”
...
I’ve sometimes fantasized about being a farmer, even though nothing about it appeals to me. The only thing that appeals to me about being a farmer is the breakfast. I’ve sometimes fantasized, I guess I mean, about eating breakfast."
...
I’ve sometimes fantasized about being a farmer, even though nothing about it appeals to me. The only thing that appeals to me about being a farmer is the breakfast. I’ve sometimes fantasized, I guess I mean, about eating breakfast."
Have you been waiting for an essay about Mr. Rogers, working at a suicide hotline, and a trip to Kansas City??
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
a new essay by Mike Nagel from Issue Ten
www.littleengines.pub
March 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"They serve a dish there called “The Farmer’s Breakfast.”
...
I’ve sometimes fantasized about being a farmer, even though nothing about it appeals to me. The only thing that appeals to me about being a farmer is the breakfast. I’ve sometimes fantasized, I guess I mean, about eating breakfast."
...
I’ve sometimes fantasized about being a farmer, even though nothing about it appeals to me. The only thing that appeals to me about being a farmer is the breakfast. I’ve sometimes fantasized, I guess I mean, about eating breakfast."
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Have you been waiting for an essay about Mr. Rogers, working at a suicide hotline, and a trip to Kansas City??
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
a new essay by Mike Nagel from Issue Ten
www.littleengines.pub
March 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Have you been waiting for an essay about Mr. Rogers, working at a suicide hotline, and a trip to Kansas City??
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Boy do I have the perfect thing for you 🫶
www.littleengines.pub/p/another-be...
Been a huge fan of @passagesnorth.bsky.social for a v. long time. Stoked to have a new essay in their latest issue.
Topics include: Plano, Texas, advertising, becoming an ordained minister, writing billboards... you get the idea.
😘✌️
www.passagesnorth.com/greetings-fr...
Topics include: Plano, Texas, advertising, becoming an ordained minister, writing billboards... you get the idea.
😘✌️
www.passagesnorth.com/greetings-fr...
Greetings from the City of Excellence! by Mike Nagel — Passages North
www.passagesnorth.com
February 28, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Been a huge fan of @passagesnorth.bsky.social for a v. long time. Stoked to have a new essay in their latest issue.
Topics include: Plano, Texas, advertising, becoming an ordained minister, writing billboards... you get the idea.
😘✌️
www.passagesnorth.com/greetings-fr...
Topics include: Plano, Texas, advertising, becoming an ordained minister, writing billboards... you get the idea.
😘✌️
www.passagesnorth.com/greetings-fr...
Reposted by Mike Nagel
I am beyond proud to share our first publication!!! I fell in love with @emilylauracosta.bsky.social while reading GIRL ON GIRL (grab a copy via @rejectionlit.bsky.social!!) and am so thrilled to be able to break the Pool Party seal with such an epic piece 🔥
"The story is he killed one woman while wearing a pig’s head and then escaped capture. We weren’t even sure if pig’s head meant rubber mask or hollowed-out flesh." 🐷🔪
So stoked to launch Pool Party Mag w/ CRYPTID SUMMER by @emilylauracosta.bsky.social! So good!!🔥🌭🔥
poolpartymag.com/cryptid-summ...
So stoked to launch Pool Party Mag w/ CRYPTID SUMMER by @emilylauracosta.bsky.social! So good!!🔥🌭🔥
poolpartymag.com/cryptid-summ...
Cryptid Summer by Emily Costa
The Mystic Pigman is barely special. No clear eyewitness accounts, no police record. The story is he killed one woman while wearing a pig’s head and then escaped capture. We weren’t even sure if pig’s...
poolpartymag.com
February 11, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I am beyond proud to share our first publication!!! I fell in love with @emilylauracosta.bsky.social while reading GIRL ON GIRL (grab a copy via @rejectionlit.bsky.social!!) and am so thrilled to be able to break the Pool Party seal with such an epic piece 🔥
Reposted by Mike Nagel
just finished @misternagel.bsky.social Duplex. I read the 2nd book in this epic duology 1st which means I did it wrong I think. Oddly enough, I still don’t know exactly what BEEF HAM is. Apparently this book is not about BEEF HAM. Neither is the 2nd book. What I’m saying is you should check it out.
December 26, 2024 at 6:00 AM
just finished @misternagel.bsky.social Duplex. I read the 2nd book in this epic duology 1st which means I did it wrong I think. Oddly enough, I still don’t know exactly what BEEF HAM is. Apparently this book is not about BEEF HAM. Neither is the 2nd book. What I’m saying is you should check it out.
Reposted by Mike Nagel
Honored that my colleciton of essays, The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place, from Autofocus Books is on this list! (I missed this previously, whoops).
independentbookreview.com/2024/12/04/t...
independentbookreview.com/2024/12/04/t...
The Best Books We Read in 2024 - Independent Book Review
THE BEST BOOKS WE READ in 2024 is a collaborative book list by the reviewers at IBR in which they review the best books they read this year irrespective of their publication date. It consists solely o...
independentbookreview.com
December 9, 2024 at 6:16 PM
Honored that my colleciton of essays, The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place, from Autofocus Books is on this list! (I missed this previously, whoops).
independentbookreview.com/2024/12/04/t...
independentbookreview.com/2024/12/04/t...
Reposted by Mike Nagel
HAPPY MFING PUB DAY TO OUR VERY OWN SHORT STORY QUEEN, @emilylauracosta.bsky.social
PRE-ORDERS OF GIRL ON GIRL WILL BE SHIPPING OUT SHORTLY!!!
PRE-ORDERS OF GIRL ON GIRL WILL BE SHIPPING OUT SHORTLY!!!
December 5, 2024 at 4:30 PM
HAPPY MFING PUB DAY TO OUR VERY OWN SHORT STORY QUEEN, @emilylauracosta.bsky.social
PRE-ORDERS OF GIRL ON GIRL WILL BE SHIPPING OUT SHORTLY!!!
PRE-ORDERS OF GIRL ON GIRL WILL BE SHIPPING OUT SHORTLY!!!