Front Matter/Back Matter
From TS Eliot’s Introduction to In Parenthesis by David Jones:
A work of literary art which uses the language in a new way or for a new purpose, does not call for many words from the introducer. All that one can say amounts only to pointing towards the book, and affirming its importance and permanence as a work of art. The aim of the introducer should be to arouse the curiosity of a possible new reader. To attempt to explain, in such a note as this, is futile. Here is a book about the experiences of one soldier in the War of 1914-18. It is also a book about War, and about many other things also, such as Roman Britain, the Arthurian Legend, and divers matters which are given association by the mind of the writer. And as for the writer himself, he is a Londoner of Welsh and English descent. He is decidedly a Briton. He is also a Roman Catholic, and he is a painter who has painted some beautiful pictures and designed some beautiful lettering. All these facts about him are important. Some of them appear in his own Preface to this book; some the reader may discover in the course of reading.
How important is the front matter and back matter of a book to you? Do you read introductions by translators and others before you read a book? Or after you’ve read the book? Do you care much about what another person writes in an afterword? Has the name of an introducer ever helped you to purchase a book? What are some introductions/prefaces/afterwords that particularly stand out in your mind as interesting?
Some Reactions to “Some Contemporary Characters” by Rick Moody
All of you know that Electric Literature recently began tweeting what they are calling ‘an experiment in participatory ePublishing’: they are publishing Rick Moody’s story “Some Contemporary Characters” over three days/153 Tweets. They’ve invited anyone who’d like to RT ((re)publish?) the story along with them to participate. As far as I can tell, here’s who is participating: @WritersGarret, @vromans, @shyascanlon, @TheSchooner, @str1cken, @StephenBruckert, @skylightbooks, @skemptastic, @OpiumMagazine, @MWSchmutterer, @litdeathmatch, @FictionAdvocate, @coppernickel, @commongoodbooks, @breathebooks, @brazosbookstore, @blackclockmag, @a_m_kelly, @Andrew_Ervin, @lunaparkreview, @BOMBMagazine, and probably more.
After tweeting the story for today, Electric Literature posted this question on their Facebook page: “Is the Multiple Tweeting of Rick Moody’s Story Awesome, Annoying, or a Bit of Both?”
After the jump, I’ve tried to answer the question as best I could.
READ MORE >
Toilet Reading
Do you read on the toilet? If so, what kinds of books do you read on the toilet? Is there a set of criteria that you have in mind when selecting a book to read on the toilet? Do you sometimes stand at your bookshelf and stare at your books and struggle to select just the right book to read on the toilet? Does it take so much time that you sometimes risk having an accident right there in front of your bookshelf? Or do you keep a book next to the toilet to avoid such confusion? When on the toilet, do you read a new book or a book you’ve already read? If you do read on the toilet, what was the last book you read on the toilet? Or do you already have a list of books to read on the toilet? Do you ever read a book on the toilet and think ‘haha, I’m reading on the toilet’? Have you ever been reading a book on the toilet and not stood up from the toilet after you were finished because you got so into the book that you couldn’t stop reading on the toilet? Is it possible that there exists out there a perfect book to read on the toilet?
Meet Memphis
My wife and I just bought a puppy. We will bring him home on December 13th. We named him Memphis.
I Like My Students a Lot
I asked my Introduction to Fiction students to ‘creatively reinterpret’ a story from the Anchor Book of New American Short Stories (or another story/book at my discretion). They were to turn in a creative project and an essay reflecting upon and explaining their project. The goal of the assignment was to get the student to try to consider reading stories and telling stories from a new perspective, to let him or her be creative and examine that creativity, and to step away from the standard ‘lit-crit’ essay. Many of these projects were, I think anyhow, a nice break from the grind, and I’m really happy with how they turned out. It’s these sorts of things I’ll miss about teaching.
After the break, you can have a quick look at four projects (posted with permission of the students). These are just a few of the great projects I saw. Other students wrote diary entries for the characters, made scrapbooks and photo albums to narrate the story, rewrote the endings (“Do Not Disturb” by AM Homes received this treatment quite a bit), illustrated various scenes. One student planned a three course meal based on “Sea Oak” by George Saunders; she brought pumpkin pie squares in for the class. Another student set up and video recorded four interviews with actors, two of which were based on characters from “Do Not Disturb” by AM Homes and “The Girl In The Flammable Skirt” by Aimee Bender. The other two interviews dealt with real events in the actors’ lives. The idea was to examine the similarities between fiction and reality. Finally, another student wrote and recorded a punk song based on Sam Lipsyte’s “I’m Slavering.” The song was supposed to be a demo tape from Gary’s days of trying to be a rock star despite his having a dead thumb.
More below the thing. Enjoy.
dead horse. sorry. i cant help it.
As some of you may already know, this author mailed a submission to The Laurel Review on Wednesday December 27th 2006. What you don’t know is she then took a picture of herself every day for three years while she waited for a response. True story, everyone!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55YYaJIrmzo
Uncategorized / 36 Comments
November 19th, 2009 / 10:21 pm
November 19th, 2009 / 10:21 pm
From Kim Chinquee’s Facebook feed:
Beginning with the January 2010 issue, noted writer and teacher Kim Chinquee will be editor for fiction and creative nonfiction at elimae. Writers should make their submissions in those fields to Kim beginning on November 30 at kimchinquee (at) gmail (dot) com. Cooper Renner will remain editor for poetry, literary essays and reviews, and interviews. Welcome to Kim!
Fourteen Hills, I’m sorry
The editors of Fourteen Hills have written a smart, generous, and, ultimately, positive response to my childish heckling of their having recently sent out a 700+ day form rejection.
Uncategorized / 54 Comments
November 17th, 2009 / 6:15 pm
November 17th, 2009 / 6:15 pm
Classic Word Spaces (5): Vladimir Nabokov
On the last morning of my summer stay in St. Petersburg, I briefly left my wife and her family to walk to 47 Bol’shaya Morskaya, the childhood home of Vladimir Nabokov. The building, originally the mansion of the Nabokov family, houses on its first floor a museum, which I entered and was allowed to tour on my own for 100 roubles
To celebrate the publication of The Original of Laura, I’d like to post an illustrated account of my visit to the Nabokov Museum. I stupidly did not pay the extra 100 roubles to take photographs, so what follows are pictures I have lifted from around the web, sorry. I’ve also tried to explain, as best I can, what I learned of Nabokov’s life in this house – I consulted the museum website and Wikipedia when my memory failed me. I hope you enjoy, and please, if you have corrections/additions/Nabokov stories, share in the comments.