Jeeves, the omniscient valet
From The Paris Review‘s 1975 interview with P.G. Wodehouse: INTERVIEWER How did you create Jeeves, then? WODEHOUSE I only intended to use him once. His first entrance was: “Mrs. Gregson to see you, sir,” in a story called “Extricating Young Gussie.” He only had one other line, “Very good, sir. Which suit will you wear?” [...]
Dr. Laura: saving women from their independence since 1974
Dr. Laura, your ridiculous backwardness makes my head hurt. For those of you lucky enough to be blissfully unaware of her existence: Dr. Laura is an ultra right-wing radio talk show host who offers (terrible) advice to her listeners. She’s 75% Rush Limbaugh and 25% Dear Abby. On her website, she posts letters from her [...]
So as to choose
One of my favorite literary passages of all time, from Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady: “Young girls here–in decent houses–don’t sit alone with the gentlemen late at night.” “You were very right to tell me then,” said Isabel. “I don’t understand it, but I’m very glad I know it.” “I shall always tell [...]
Now if only I had some Floo Powder handy…
Okay, Nerd Alert: I really, really want to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida): (Click on the photo to enlarge it)I’m generally not much for theme parks, but a Harry Potter theme park? YES PLEASE! :)
“Bronte Sisters power up!”
Brontë Sisters Power Dolls: DO WANT! (Via 3 Quarks Daily)
Martin on Kingsley
Oh goodness, I love this. From Martin Amis‘s Experience: I am a novelist trained to use experience for other ends. Why should I tell the story of my life? I do it because my father is dead now, and I always knew I would have to commemorate him. He was a writer, and I am [...]
Amis and Auden on form and style
Yay! The Paris Review‘s site now has a complete interviews archive. Over the past few days, I’ve become quite addicted to downloading/reading interviews from the archive and thought that I’d share thematically-related and spot-on bits from two of my favorites, “The Art of Fiction: Kingsley Amis” and “The Art of Poetry: W.H. Auden”: INTERVIEWER: What [...]
Defective father hypothesis?
A bit more on Jim Spiegel’s book. Remember this ridiculous assertion?: …atheistic rejection of God is precipitated by immoral indulgences, usually combined with some deep psychological disturbances, such as a broken relationship with one’s father One of the “Discussion Questions” on the book’s website expands upon this “broken relationship with one’s father” nonsense: Does Paul [...]
keep looking »