... on the eve of graduation from Yale law school, TMP contributor and friend, and author of Prozac Nation, Miss Wurtzel sits with the New Haven Independent for a typically funny podcast. Click HERE to go to the podcast.
She's lowered her aims these days, but she reminisces about her one-time ambition to solve all problems in the Middle East: “[I thought....] I’m Jewish, I’m blond, and there are things I can do that no one has tried.”
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
A "Nontroversy" - Karl Wenclas
Blogger Karl Wenclas and his band at the ULA (Underground Literary Alliance), including Steve Kostecke and Pat Simonelli, persist with their conspiracy theories about The Paris Review, this even in the aftermath of the NYT Book Review's well-reported essay "The Paranoiac and The Paris Review" by Rachel Donadio (can be found HERE).
Really, there's no satisfying anyone.
Update: I've asked Richard Cummings yet once again to acknowledge, despite his misleading citations, that he has never interviewed me, ever. Over the years I've informed the ULA of the same, but no joy, not even an acknowledgment. Stranger, however, is his suggestion that I'd endorsed a book he'd written, a book in fact I've never read, let alone endorsed.
Wenclas of course is the one who years ago continually propounded a theory that Big Eighties brat-pack novelist Tama Janowitz was a transsexual who'd been born a man, one "Tom A. Janowitz." That one he's still not let go of either, as he recently wrote: "How does anyone know. It was never denied!"
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.
Update, December 2016: It's worth summing up here that over the years I have stated clearly that Richard Cummings never, as he has claimed, interviewed me, nor did I make statements he has attributed to me in his articles. I've made this point to Karl Wenclas, editors at the ULA, the then-Editor of The American Conservative, to the editor of The Lobster, and to author Hugh Wilford who has cited Cummings "interviews" in a book. So far, no acknowledgement of this in print or on-line from any of them.
Really, there's no satisfying anyone.
Update: I've asked Richard Cummings yet once again to acknowledge, despite his misleading citations, that he has never interviewed me, ever. Over the years I've informed the ULA of the same, but no joy, not even an acknowledgment. Stranger, however, is his suggestion that I'd endorsed a book he'd written, a book in fact I've never read, let alone endorsed.
Wenclas of course is the one who years ago continually propounded a theory that Big Eighties brat-pack novelist Tama Janowitz was a transsexual who'd been born a man, one "Tom A. Janowitz." That one he's still not let go of either, as he recently wrote: "How does anyone know. It was never denied!"
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.
Update, December 2016: It's worth summing up here that over the years I have stated clearly that Richard Cummings never, as he has claimed, interviewed me, nor did I make statements he has attributed to me in his articles. I've made this point to Karl Wenclas, editors at the ULA, the then-Editor of The American Conservative, to the editor of The Lobster, and to author Hugh Wilford who has cited Cummings "interviews" in a book. So far, no acknowledgement of this in print or on-line from any of them.
Friday, April 4, 2008
One mind examining itself
Neurologist Jill Bolte Taylor's video presentation "My Stroke of Insight," seen HERE, offers an account of one mind examining itself, in this instance in midst of a left-hemisphere stroke. Provocative on questions of left-brain / right-brain functions, the conception of the individual self, the psychological and physiological background in Buddhist meditation practices... and the prospect for achieving world peace. All in eighteen minutes. I recommend.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Liberty London Girl Revealed!
I've written before about my friend LibertyLondonGirl, the anony-blogger who transplanted to New York last year and was just crowned Fashion Insider Blogger of the Year.
Since then, among the most clicked pages on my site have been "An Another Excellent Thing About French Cinema," concerning the wonderful actress Isild le Besco, and my posts about LibertyLondonGirl. I can attest that every day there are those googling the question "Who is LibertyLondonGirl?" Well, if they only knew the half of it. She's beautiful, smart, erudite, witty, kind, loads of fun, and... though, since we're friends plain and simple, I always tried not to notice too much... she's the living embodiment of the Lord's plenty. Since she herself blogged about it, click here.
After such a tribute as this, I fear now I'll blush next time I get together with her in the East Village to discuss French film or the contemporary English novel. In any case, I do recommend her post, link above, "Breasts vs. the Fashion Industry," which I attest is all true.
And meanwhile leave you with this glimpse of her.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Eisenhower Republicans Redux
In speaking the last few weeks with other Americans in London, as well as New York, Washington, Philadelphia, and elsewhere I've been struck by the strong, if quietly-stated, enthusiasm among many Republicans for the likely Democratic nominee Obama. In most cases, it's a judgment, or comparative judgment, about his character, but also excitement, or perhaps relief, over the prospect of a candidate who demonstrates a commitment to moving on from this era of partisan politics. I first noticed this phenom when Susan Eisenhower gave the candidate an early endorsement, HERE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)