Mr. Kierkegaard’s Sunday Morning Service
Every human existence not conscious of itself as spirit, or not personally conscious of itself before God as spirit, every human existence which is not grounded transparently in God, but opaquely rests or merges in some abstract universal (state, nation, etc.), or in the dark about its self, simply takes its capacities to be natural powers, unconscious in a deeper sense of where it has them from, takes its self to be an unaccountable something; if there were any question of accounting for its inner being, every such existence, however astounding its accomplishment, however much it can account for even the whole of existence, however intense its aesthetic enjoyment: every such life is none the less despair.
– The Sickness Unto Death
Power Quote: James Joyce
If you would like to read again, or (I’m hoping) for the first time, an excerpt from the penultimate chapter “Ithaca” in Ulysses, wherein Stephen (of A Portrait of an artist as a young man) escorts a drunken Leopold Bloom home, click after the break.
Justin Taylor—
“Goldman Execs Blame anti-Semitism” for Negative Press About Their Looting, Pillaging, and Defrauding of the Country. And now they’re worried about an even bigger shit-storm coming when they hand out bonuses.
Yes, we all know anti-Semitism exists in the world. Those of us born Semites even smell it from time to time. It’s real. (For example, did you see this totally bizarre video from a Nevada Town Hall event?) But it’s also a pretty safe bet–damn near axiomatic, in fact–that when someone raises the anti-Semitism flag out of nowhere, and twirls it around like a coked-up majorette, time to reach for your wallet and make sure it’s still there. From one Jew to another, Lloyd Blankfein- go fuck yourself.
Charlie Gasparino’s Sympathy for Goldman, at Daily Beast.
Previous post at Giant with link to online copy of Matt Taibbi’s enormous piece on Goldman’s crimes, here.
Extra fun: my old boss, Alexander Cockburn’s “My Life as an ‘anti-Semite’.”
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Audio Books
The other day I found this website that offers free downloads of audio books. Not an amazing catalog, but there’s some Nietzsche and a little Jane Austen.
I thought some folks might be interested, so I was going to post this as a little snippet post. But then, right before I pressed the publish button, I got to thinking about audio books.
How many people listen to audio books? How come indie publishers don’t do audio books? In our iPod frenzied times, I’d think there would be a huge market for that sort of thing – and it couldn’t be all too difficult or expensive to do, could it?
I mean, wouldn’t it be cool if I could go to PGP, pay a few bucks, and download a copy of A Jello Horse read by the author?
Or — even better/kookier, what if indie publishers asked authors to do author commentary, like director commentary on dvds? The author could walk through the book and talk about each section or something.
I don’t know. I’m just thinking with my fingers here.
Uncategorized / 31 Comments
August 22nd, 2009 / 10:24 am
August 22nd, 2009 / 10:24 am
Landmark Forum for Cats
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK2SDf-KWbs
After that, read this fantastic article about The Landmark Forum from The Believer.
I feel better about myself after watching that.
Friday Fuck Books, Let’s All Do That Thing With Our Lips and I Love This Girl
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U66tYpzQTE
Friday Fuck Books, Let’s All Maybe Do The One That Looks Like We’re Stirring A Giant Pot, Then
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6Zxj_YWng
Better, Gene?
Friday Fuck Books, Let’s Do That Dance Where It Looks Like We’re Running In Place
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGV9G2okC8I
11 Questions for Stephanie Johnson
How do you make these graphics of the book cover standing up, showing fake pages?
I sent 11 questions to Stephanie Johnson about her book, One of These Things Is Not Like the Others, just out from Keyhole, and she wrote back thanking me for my close reading. But such thanks are unnecessary; the book demands and rewards it. If you don’t read One of These Things with a keen eye, it’s possible to miss out on some of the best writing in a year of great writing. I rank Johnson’s book with two of my other favorites of 2009, AM/PM by Amelia Gray and Big World from Mary Miller. It’s not because they’re all women that I make the comparison, or because of the flash sensibilities, but because they all share a profoundly affecting emotional core that, geyserlike, does most of its work below the surface.
Speaking of below the surface, Stephanie Johnson’s answers to my eleven questions are below the fold. READ MORE >