From Keith Gessen’s Gracelands: …But the book was also about hitchhikers, misfits and especially drug addicts–its title came from the Velvet Underground’s ode to heroin–and this put it in a different tradition, less of Carver’s suburban miniatures of desperation than of the American hopped-up song of the open road. …Tree of Smoke traces the gradual … More Armistice Day
Check him out. Wouldn’t you like to have him come to speak at your school? I know I would. I would need to get several departments on board with me to organize this, though. Perhaps for next year. Meanwhile, following the advice of Unsane and inspired by Morphological Confetti and Wandering Caravan, I have been … More Geoffrey Philp
1. Now it is Hallowe’en and I have a pumpkin and a black Cat. I admire the Cat who admires Birds; we both dislike Rats. We are lighting candles, pouring out rum for the saints, and reading Voltaire. 2. In news, Shakespeare’s Sister has an excellently reasoned critique of Clinton and Obama that everyone should … More Écrasez l’Infâme
“[An] aching debut…[with] echoes of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…” —Publisher’s Weekly “Reading Dedra Johnson’s Sandrine’s Letter to Tomorrow, I was fully in the presence of the mind, heart, and soul of a richly rendered, fascinating fictional character. I knew I was also in the presence of the brilliant voice and sensibility of … More Dedra Johnson
Saturday there are war protests here and elsewhere, and our featured post on this matter is from the Hedonistic Pleasureseeker. Her featured music, recalling the first antiwar demonstrations we went to, is Peter, Paul, and Mary. We have responded with Grace Slick, in a particularly brilliant performance. Our featured writer for the present historical moment, … More Tacitus
I was asked to suggest exactly five books for the college honors program reading list and listed the first five which came to mind. Call it another of my self-tagging memes, if you wish, and revise it as you see fit. 1. Weatherford, Jack. Savages and Civilization. New York: Random House, 1995. 978-0-449-90957-7 (0-449-90957-3); $19. … More Five Books (Another Self-Tagging Meme)
Mychal Bell is back in jail, and I have just read for the first time Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which is brilliant. The rationalizations of Bell’s new incarceration quite resemble nineteenth century rationalizations of slavery generally and of slaveholders’ behavior specifically. I do not point this out for tendentious … More Harriet Jacobs
People often complain about this novel that they do not understand it because the characters suffer and express pain. Then the music rises and the mountains come into view; they feel exalted and feel the world to be pure and beautiful. The deep rivers to which the title alludes represent and lead toward the non-Western, … More Deep Rivers
On How Using Power Means Being Responsible. In one of my departments I have an administrative role. Nobody understands how I accomplish so much with such little trouble. It is because I inform myself well, assert power in a useful way, look ahead, and keep up with things. I do this because I am working … More Courtney Martin
We now quote from Antonio Núñez’ Amazon.com review of Paul Fussell’s Class: A Guide Through the American Status System (Touchstone, 1983). It is true that the traditional lower (rather than the underclass) and the higher classes have many things in common, among them a deeply ingrained conservatism and a fierce pride in their way of … More Paul Fussell on Class
coldhearted scientist وداد 