jlhoots Posted April 20, 2005 Report Posted April 20, 2005 Who names their daughter "Curtis?" Beats me, but she can write (IMHO). Quote
king ubu Posted April 22, 2005 Report Posted April 22, 2005 Rod, I know what you mean, and believe me, I love some of Tzara's stuff! (Obviously, with my nick, I gotta be a big dada nut...) My point is not this usual process you describe (someone comes out big, others jump in to say they'd been there before but no one noticed back then...), but rather I'd like to urge you to check out Serner! He was definitely one of the most creative minds with words, ever, and he surpasses Tzara by far, no matter how big they came out! I have no idea if anything of Serner's is available in English translation, probably his enjoyable but mostly pretty straight novel, "Die Tigerin", but I'm not talking about this or his criminal novels here, but the rest of his oeuvre. Maybe you read german? There are a few nice dada anthologies around, from Reclam and other publishers, but Serner is most often, even in these anthologies, but a minor character. Also, with Tzara, I think, his getting into the surrealist circles (much much less interesting and much more predictable, is my generalizing verdict, as opposed to the dada movement) did help a lot for him staying everybody's darling. Serner, on the other hand, vanished. There is no certainty about his life after a certain date. The last thing known, I think, is that he taught languages in some Eastern European country, thus maybe the Nazis got him, maybe he started a new with a new identity and no one knew... certainly a mysterious character! *************** Now, just started reading this one (although in a totally different, pinksh, colour): Pretty intriguing, I must say. I'm not sure his argumentation holds up, in the end (from some pretty deep reviews, that is), but the historical part he starts with is very very interesting, and yet another proof that Carl Schmitt's thoughts remain very relevant, no matter how much of a Nazi he was or not. (english title: "State of Exception", available for 12 bucks at Amazon) Quote
king ubu Posted April 22, 2005 Report Posted April 22, 2005 Oh, and I never had any interest in fluxus, don't ask me why, but I always found their stuff extremely boring and lacking any originality. Duchamp, on the other hand... he was a giant, in my opinion. Quote
Chrome Posted April 22, 2005 Report Posted April 22, 2005 Right now I'm reading Nothing ... by Henry Green Green's a fantastic English author who died in the 1970s ... he's kind of got a slightly Joe Henderson-ish thing going on ... very lyrical "straight-ahead" kind of fiction, but with the ability to go "outside" to great effect on occasion. Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 22, 2005 Author Report Posted April 22, 2005 and re-reading Erenberg's SWINGIN' THE DREAM: BIG BAND JAZZ AND THE RE-BIRTH OF AMERICAN CULTURE. Quote
king ubu Posted April 23, 2005 Report Posted April 23, 2005 Rod, thanks for your post! Maybe I'm just too young to get the fluxus movement, maybe I'm too... categorical? I don't know. I'll keep trying, though. (Just please spare me any more Yoko Ono videos and similar crap!) Of course I don't know the names you mention (ok, Paik yes, but none else), but maybe I should give another try, soon. Any suggestions for books? (I suppose it's not something to put into books, but then, what other possibility does one have with things - at least partially - past?) Quote
king ubu Posted April 23, 2005 Report Posted April 23, 2005 but I think that you've already made up yer mind. maybe you're right... if I want to know more, some day, I'll drop you a PM. Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 30, 2005 Author Report Posted April 30, 2005 Ex-girlfriend of mine up in Chicago is really into the Fluxus movement. Now (re)reading Kerouac's THE SUBTERRANEANS in preparation for a Night Lights show... and spent some time this morning reading pieces about the fall of Saigon from the Library of America's REPORTING VIETNAM 1969-1975. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 30, 2005 Report Posted April 30, 2005 I picked up Absalom, Absalom yesterday, but chickened out and grabbed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence instead. Just don't ask me why they were next to each other on the shelf... Quote
AfricaBrass Posted April 30, 2005 Report Posted April 30, 2005 "The Secret Ascension, or Alas Philip K. Dick is Dead," Michael Bishop I just started this today. Thanks Lon!!!! Quote
jazzbo Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 You're welcome. Just keep the Breshnev Bears in a clean cage! Quote
frank m Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 Just fiinished the first Henry James novel I've read since college; "The Europeans" Pfooey Without the backward running sentences, it just reduces to a slight plot, with rather dull people of another era of a social level I , for one, have no knowledge of. Double pfooey. Quote
TheMusicalMarine Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 I like Harry James, even if his work is somewhat dull and depressing. Right now I'm reading "Freedom From Fear" by David Kennedy. It's part of the Oxford History of the United States, and covers from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. So far so good. Quote
jlhoots Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 Just finished Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Just started The Best Of Montana's Short Fiction. Quote
paul secor Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 Michael Dirda's memoir of his early years - 'An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland' Quote
chris Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 The Torturer's Apprentice - John Biguenet The Garden State - Gary Krist Fats Waller - Maurice Waller/Anthony Calabrese JLHoots-- is that the best of Montana as in the state? Who's in there? I'd guess Pete Fromm and Richard Ford, at least. I lke Ford's longer works. Night Swimming by Pete Fromm is on my "coming soon" list, recommended by Chris Offutt, a favorite author of mine from Kentucky. Quote
jlhoots Posted May 1, 2005 Report Posted May 1, 2005 JLHoots-- is that the best of Montana as in the state? Who's in there? I'd guess Pete Fromm and Richard Ford, at least. I lke Ford's longer works. Night Swimming by Pete Fromm is on my "coming soon" list, recommended by Chris Offutt, a favorite author of mine from Kentucky. Yes, the state. Ford, Fromm, & Offutt are all represented. Offutt, of course, wrote The Same River Twice (among others) & is apparently now living in Iowa City. Lots of others including Ralph Beer, Tom McGuane, William Kittredge, Rick Bass, Claire Davis, Debra Magpie Earling, etc.. Quote
chris Posted May 2, 2005 Report Posted May 2, 2005 I liked Offutt's _Kentucky Straight_ the best of all his books-- but there's not a bad one in the bunch. He wrote to me after I reviewed it and I did my best to get him up here for a reading but the stars were never in alignment. Rick Bass is an honorary Alaskan, so thumbs up there too. I'm going to have to order this book! Quote
jlhoots Posted May 2, 2005 Report Posted May 2, 2005 I liked Offutt's _Kentucky Straight_ the best of all his books-- but there's not a bad one in the bunch. He wrote to me after I reviewed it and I did my best to get him up here for a reading but the stars were never in alignment. Rick Bass is an honorary Alaskan, so thumbs up there too. I'm going to have to order this book! Published by the Lyons Press. I buy most of my books from http://www.booksamillion.com Quote
gdogus Posted May 2, 2005 Report Posted May 2, 2005 (edited) Just finished: Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (2005) At one point, Ishiguro was my favorite contemporary novelist; his first three novels, up through The Remains of the Day, were superb, while The Unconsoled and When We Were Orphans were daring and interesting. I'm rather disappointed in this, his latest. Some fine moments, to be sure, but they add up to very little. Kind of boring. Just started: Martin Amis - Night Train (1997) Edited May 2, 2005 by gdogus Quote
BruceH Posted May 3, 2005 Report Posted May 3, 2005 I picked up Absalom, Absalom yesterday, but chickened out and grabbed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence instead. Just don't ask me why they were next to each other on the shelf... An "A to Z" thing, no doubt.... Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.