October 24th, 2008 / 2:50 am
 Random

‘This book is a catalog of the life project’

I am in a bad writing phase or something. I haven’t been writing very much recently. Instead of writing, I’m reading a lot of things: student papers, composition textbooks, books to review, and then some stuff to make me feel better. Everyone has that shelf or two of books that they read to feel better, I guess. I’m rereading Ben Marcus. Slowly. I just finished Notable American Women a few days ago. Now I’ll start The Age Of Wire And String. I pulled the book off my shelf to look at it and a few pieces of paper fell out.

I might have shown this to a couple of people, so sorry if this is old news.

On the papers is an index. I made an index of all the terms Marcus defines in the book and listed the page number of the definition. I made this index one summer a few years ago. I enjoyed making it. It made me feel busy and involved in something. I don’t know if it is worthwhile. I don’t even know if this makes sense.

But some of the terms you can actually look up as you read – DROWNING METHOD, for example, shows up in the text on page 10, but it isn’t defined until page 94.

That was a good summer.

Okay, here it is after the jump (and I understand if you make fun of me):

 

Term Page of Defintion
Age of Wire and String, The 135
Air Hostels 61
Air Tattoos 93
Albert 13
Arkansas 9 Series 122
Autumn Canceler 93
Backward Wind 93
Beef Seeds 27
Behavior Farm 135
Ben Marcus, The 76
Bird Seven 14
Bird-Counter 121
Blain 41
Boise 94
Canine Fields 77
Carl 41
Choke Powder 41
Circum-Feeting 77
Cloth-Eaters, The 42
Cloud Shims 24
Croonal 24
Day of Moments 137
Drafting The Prelife 136
Drowning Method 94
Drowning Wires 78
Eating 41
Expanded House 62
Farm 135
February, Copulated 62
Festival of Garments 136
Fiend, The 25
Food Map of Yvonne, The 42
Food Posse 42
Food Spring 42
Frederick 136
Frusc 94
Fudge Girdle, The 43
Garmet Hovel 63
Gervin 43
Gevorts Box 63
God Charge 24
God-Burning System 25
Godpiece 25
Grass-Bringers 136
Great Hiding Period, The 137
Half-Man Day 139
Hand Words 140
Heaven 25
Heaven Construction Theory 25
Heen Viewing 25
House Costumes 63
Human Weather 95
Jamping 122
Jason, Our 123
Jennifer 15
Jerkins 77
John 121
Kenneth Sisters, The 43
Land Scarf 61
Leg Initiations 13
Leg Songs 121
Legal Beast Language 77
Legal Prayer 27
Listening Frame 63
Living, The 26
Locked-House Books 64
L-Storms 95
Maronies 64
Math Gun, The 26
Messonism 137
Michael% 122
Mother, The 64
Mouth Harness, The 43
Nagle 27
Nestor’s Rape Farm 138
Nitzel’s Gamble 14
Odor Spiraling 44
Ohio 61
Palmer 138
Perkins 26
Prison-Cloth Morning 62
Private House Law 64
Professional Sleepers 13
Quitting the House 61
Rag, The, or Prayer Rag 26
Rain 95
Rare Waters, The 26
Representational Life 77
Rhetoric 78
Sadness 13
Salt 14
Schedules and Dispensing Rules of Seasons 94
Schenk 139
Shadow Cells 44
Shelter Witnesses 64
Shirt of Noise 14
Skin Pooter 65
Sky Films of Ohio, The 95
Sky Interceptin, or Sinter 77
Sleep Holes 13
Sleeping Group 15
Smell Camera, The 138
South Shadow 97
Spanish Boy, The 122
Speed-Fasting Experiments 44
Stinkpoint 43
Storm Lung 44
String Theory of Fatigue 26
Strup 122
Subfeet Walking Rituals 139
Sun Stalls 26
Sun Stick 14
Sun, The 96
Synchronized Family Walking Training 62
Temperature Law 96
The Style of Space 94
Theory of Invisibility 121
Thong, The 139
Topographical Legend and Location of Food Nooks 44
Tower Period, The 136
Treasure of Possible Enunciations 24
Tree Bread 42
Tungsten 78
Tunic, The 139
Universal Storm Calendar 96
Weather Birthing 26
Weather Killer, The 122
Western Worship Boxes 27
Wind Bowl 14
Wind Gun, The 96
Winter Albert 96
Wire, The 140
Yard, The 65

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22 Comments

  1. October 24th, 2008 / 12:06 pm pr—

      I find this very wonderful. I love to see people deeply involved in some book that they really care about. It is the opposite of cynicism.

  2. October 24th, 2008 / 8:06 am pr—

      I find this very wonderful. I love to see people deeply involved in some book that they really care about. It is the opposite of cynicism.

  3. October 24th, 2008 / 1:00 pm Adam R—

      Wow, cool. There are a lot of terms that I remember but don’t see here. What about the walter?

  4. October 24th, 2008 / 9:00 am Adam R—

      Wow, cool. There are a lot of terms that I remember but don’t see here. What about the walter?

  5. October 24th, 2008 / 2:52 pm Ryan Call—

      i had that same problem, adam. i remember, as i was making this, that he didnt define everything. basically, what i did was any word that was in the ‘terms’ section at the end of each part, i noted down the page number of its definition. but i also saw a lot of words that marcus had written in all caps throughout the text but had not defined. they are mystery words: their being in all caps suggests they are defined, but then they dont appear in any of the ‘terms’ sections.

  6. October 24th, 2008 / 10:52 am Ryan Call—

      i had that same problem, adam. i remember, as i was making this, that he didnt define everything. basically, what i did was any word that was in the ‘terms’ section at the end of each part, i noted down the page number of its definition. but i also saw a lot of words that marcus had written in all caps throughout the text but had not defined. they are mystery words: their being in all caps suggests they are defined, but then they dont appear in any of the ‘terms’ sections.

  7. October 24th, 2008 / 3:09 pm littlefairyboy—

      Ban Marcus makes me yawn. I wish he would stick a piece of “tree bread” in his “sleep hole” and then open his “listening frame” to these words: Dear Ben, we are sick of you. Go away.

  8. October 24th, 2008 / 11:09 am littlefairyboy—

      Ban Marcus makes me yawn. I wish he would stick a piece of “tree bread” in his “sleep hole” and then open his “listening frame” to these words: Dear Ben, we are sick of you. Go away.

  9. October 24th, 2008 / 3:14 pm Ryan Call—

      zing!

  10. October 24th, 2008 / 11:14 am Ryan Call—

      zing!

  11. October 24th, 2008 / 4:33 pm Jimmy Chen—

      thank you for making this list. marcus’ indexing of modern life is ‘profound’ i feel. the one problem is language vs. experience/plot. i never remember what happens in the books, only that i was enthralled while reading them. it’s like the story is ‘about’ the reading of the stories, if what makes sense. i went to a reading of his once and there were hot chicks all over the place, and i thought, ‘l like literature.’

  12. October 24th, 2008 / 12:33 pm Jimmy Chen—

      thank you for making this list. marcus’ indexing of modern life is ‘profound’ i feel. the one problem is language vs. experience/plot. i never remember what happens in the books, only that i was enthralled while reading them. it’s like the story is ‘about’ the reading of the stories, if what makes sense. i went to a reading of his once and there were hot chicks all over the place, and i thought, ‘l like literature.’

  13. October 24th, 2008 / 5:57 pm Ryan Call—

      i find i remember phrases and bits of language from age of wire and string

      i like that, holding that word or phrase in my head, removed from everything.

  14. October 24th, 2008 / 1:57 pm Ryan Call—

      i find i remember phrases and bits of language from age of wire and string

      i like that, holding that word or phrase in my head, removed from everything.

  15. October 24th, 2008 / 8:50 pm Blake Butler—

      men barcus

  16. October 24th, 2008 / 8:50 pm Blake Butler—

      ben marcus is reading in georgia next month, i am excited

  17. October 24th, 2008 / 4:50 pm Blake Butler—

      men barcus

  18. October 24th, 2008 / 4:50 pm Blake Butler—

      ben marcus is reading in georgia next month, i am excited

  19. October 25th, 2008 / 12:07 am Matt—

      I was just reading this book again the other day while walking around my neighborhood, and it made me remember that you had sent me your spreadsheet with all this work, and that I should print it and use it. And now I have.

  20. October 24th, 2008 / 8:07 pm Matt—

      I was just reading this book again the other day while walking around my neighborhood, and it made me remember that you had sent me your spreadsheet with all this work, and that I should print it and use it. And now I have.

  21. October 27th, 2008 / 9:24 am Kevin—

      I looooove this book.
      There is a special kind of top secret Joe Wenderoth book that has been in the works forever and it’s kind of like AOW&S. I got to see the manuscript a long time ago. I think it’s due out next year.

  22. October 27th, 2008 / 5:24 am Kevin—

      I looooove this book.
      There is a special kind of top secret Joe Wenderoth book that has been in the works forever and it’s kind of like AOW&S. I got to see the manuscript a long time ago. I think it’s due out next year.