Part 44 (1/2)
page 286 ”using the skills I had taught her”: ”using the skills I had taught her”: This and subsequent Kirkpatrick Sale quotes are from E-mails to the author, May 16 and May 25, 2004. This and subsequent Kirkpatrick Sale quotes are from E-mails to the author, May 16 and May 25, 2004.
page 287 ”[She is] a wonderful writer and troublemaker”: ”[She is] a wonderful writer and troublemaker”: Donald Barthelme, quoted on the book jacket of Grace Paley, Donald Barthelme, quoted on the book jacket of Grace Paley, Later the Same Day Later the Same Day (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985). (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985).
page 287 ”I was so interested in my friends”: ”I was so interested in my friends”: Grace Paley quoted in Judith Arcana, Grace Paley quoted in Judith Arcana, Grace Paley's Life Stories Grace Paley's Life Stories (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 92. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 92.
page 288 ”He was in his life and work a citizen”: ”He was in his life and work a citizen”: Grace Paley, Grace Paley, Just As I Thought Just As I Thought (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998), 235. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998), 235.
page 288 ”He was drinking”: ”He was drinking”: Lynn Nesbit, in a conversation with the author, July 30, 2007. Lynn Nesbit, in a conversation with the author, July 30, 2007.
page 288 ”free-hanging,” ”frivolous,” and ”gentle”: ”free-hanging,” ”frivolous,” and ”gentle”: This and subsequent quotes from ”The Balloon” are from Donald Barthelme, This and subsequent quotes from ”The Balloon” are from Donald Barthelme, Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968), 1522. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968), 1522.
Don's balloon is perhaps the most charming and intriguing ekphrastic article since Keats's Grecian urn. Ekphrasis is a verbal description of visual art, an attempt to convey one artistic experience in terms of another. An anomaly like this, placed unexpectedly in our path, has the power to ”mislocate” us, releasing us from routine-one of art's intended effects. Objects of contemplation also focus our intellect and emotion, and help us fully experience the immediate moment. In Western literature, Keats's urn and Achilles' s.h.i.+eld are the most famous examples of ekphrasis. Just as Don's balloon nudges the edges of skysc.r.a.pers, he sets his story bouncing off literary cornerstones: the epic, Romanticism, and Poe's Gothic tales, such as ”The Balloon-Hoax.” But ekphrasis has its enemies, as Don well knew. Writers ”should not regard the limitations of painting”-mere depictions of objects-”as beauties in their own art,” Gotthold Lessing wrote in Laoc.o.o.n Laoc.o.o.n (1766), consigning ekphrasis minor status, at best, in literature's toolbox. By embracing ekphrasis, Don elevated a single, arguably secondary literary strategy to the very center of ”The Balloon.” Like Daumier, who pursued the rather odd practice of lithography while his peers whipped out battle paintings, Don-perversely and obstinately-appears to tinker with trifles. But if we pay heed, we begin to see the usefulness of the ”mere,” the marginal, and the unexpected as a way of refres.h.i.+ng art, looking askance, viewing things anew. (1766), consigning ekphrasis minor status, at best, in literature's toolbox. By embracing ekphrasis, Don elevated a single, arguably secondary literary strategy to the very center of ”The Balloon.” Like Daumier, who pursued the rather odd practice of lithography while his peers whipped out battle paintings, Don-perversely and obstinately-appears to tinker with trifles. But if we pay heed, we begin to see the usefulness of the ”mere,” the marginal, and the unexpected as a way of refres.h.i.+ng art, looking askance, viewing things anew.
page 289 ”greasy press of people”: ”greasy press of people”: T. J. Clark, T. J. Clark, The Painting of Modern Life The Painting of Modern Life (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1984), 6465. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1984), 6465.
page 289 ”traveler who [had] arrived yesterday”: ”traveler who [had] arrived yesterday”: Nadar, ”Le Dessus et le dessous de Paris,” in Nadar, ”Le Dessus et le dessous de Paris,” in Paris Guide Paris Guide, ed. Corrine Verdet (Paris: Editions La Decouverte, 1983), 171172.
page 290 ”The crush of spectators”: ”The crush of spectators”: Clark, Clark, The Painting of Modern Life The Painting of Modern Life, 83.
page 290 ”Observations” about the painting: ”Observations” about the painting: This and subsequent quotes about This and subsequent quotes about Olympia Olympia are cited in ibid., 83, 94, 118. are cited in ibid., 83, 94, 118.
page 291 an object ”coming over the trees” an object ”coming over the trees” to to ”solitary”: ”solitary”: Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway Mrs. Dalloway (1925; reprints, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, 1953), 2933. (1925; reprints, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, 1953), 2933.
page 291 ”which is good news for all hands”: ”which is good news for all hands”: Roger Angell, letter to Donald Barthelme, January 28, 1966, Ma.n.u.scripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. Roger Angell, letter to Donald Barthelme, January 28, 1966, Ma.n.u.scripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.
page 291 ”I believe that Mr. Barthelme is far and away the most intelligent”: ”I believe that Mr. Barthelme is far and away the most intelligent”: Roger Angell, letter to the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, undated (probably fall 1965), Ma.n.u.scripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. Roger Angell, letter to the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, undated (probably fall 1965), Ma.n.u.scripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.
page 292 ”BABY BOW YEE”: ”BABY BOW YEE”: Donald Barthelme, Donald Barthelme, Snow White Snow White (New York: Atheneum, 1967), 18. (New York: Atheneum, 1967), 18.
page 292 ”an older Bob Dylan”; ”I read a lot of Albert Camus”: ”an older Bob Dylan”; ”I read a lot of Albert Camus”: M. G. Stephens, ”Conrad's List,” M. G. Stephens, ”Conrad's List,” Boston Review Boston Review, December 2003/January 2004; posted at plished the work”: ”Donald Barthelme has accomplished the work”: Earl Shorris, ”Donald Barthelme's Ill.u.s.trated Wordy-Gurdy,” Earl Shorris, ”Donald Barthelme's Ill.u.s.trated Wordy-Gurdy,” Harper's Harper's, January 1973, 92.
page 308 ”Here is a writer one wishes”: ”Here is a writer one wishes”: Jack Kroll, ”The Comanches Are Here,” Jack Kroll, ”The Comanches Are Here,” Newsweek Newsweek, May 6, 1968, 112.
34. The Politics of Exhaustion page 309 ”disputatious student meeting”: ”disputatious student meeting”: Genet [Janet Flanner], ”Letter from Paris,” Genet [Janet Flanner], ”Letter from Paris,” The New Yorker The New Yorker, May 25, 1968, 77.
page 309 slogans appeared; ”an ever-growing bubble”: slogans appeared; ”an ever-growing bubble”: Angelo Quattrocchi and Tom Nairn, Angelo Quattrocchi and Tom Nairn, The Beginning of the End The Beginning of the End (1968; reprint, London: Verso Books, 1998), 17. (1968; reprint, London: Verso Books, 1998), 17.
page 310 tear gas wafting through the windows: tear gas wafting through the windows: Mavis Gallant, ”Reflections, the Events in May: A Paris Notebook,” Mavis Gallant, ”Reflections, the Events in May: A Paris Notebook,” The New Yorker The New Yorker, September 14, 1968, 5859.
page 310 ” ”has been the decisive week”: Genet [Janet Flanner], ”Letter from Paris, ” Genet [Janet Flanner], ”Letter from Paris, ”The New Yorker, June 2, 1968,. page 310 ”crack of authority”: ”crack of authority”: This and subsequent quotes from ”The Policemen's Ball” are from Donald Barthelme, This and subsequent quotes from ”The Policemen's Ball” are from Donald Barthelme, Sixty Stories Sixty Stories (New York: Putnam, 1981), 175177. (New York: Putnam, 1981), 175177.
page 310 people's ”everyday” lives: people's ”everyday” lives: See Henri Lefebvre, See Henri Lefebvre, Critique of Everyday Life Critique of Everyday Life, trans. John Moore (London: Verso Books, 1991), xx. Don admitted suffering from an ”American lack-of-languages,” though he taught himself some French while stationed with the army in Korea. Lefebvre's book did not appear in English until 1991, but translated excerpts were widely available before that, as were parts of the Situationist International's writings.