John Cage | Unforbidden Pleasures | The CIA and American Writers of the 50s | A History of Poverty in America | Olio | Tyehimba Jess | Scabies | COPD | Slavery and the Welfare State

NEW TITLES
Such a Waste of Stars
"Like Crawford, I prefer
a loon or a redwing or an albatross,
black-headed grosbeak, or lesser scaup
much more than a rant about Google, so
I think I'll leave that for
another page."

Vintage Trailer Voyeur
"The more you have driven,
the more you will be able to squeeze your trailer
backwards down a narrow alley without taking something precious,
something you don't own, like a neighbor's car,
or his parking garage, or he himself.
Believe me: backing up a truck with a trailer lives in
the complex world of divine mystery,
not unlike Schrödinger's Cat."

Mrs. Caliban
"Instead of monster pursuing lady,
trying to drag her into the swamp or up some tall building,
she pursues him, tries to keep him from
being nabbed by the police; in the process, she teaches
him about love and the life of
humans."

What She Ate
"There were curried eggs on toast,
mushrooms and oysters on toast, broiled kidneys
on toast, braised kidneys on toast, lamb kidneys on toast,
chipped beef on toast, and a dish called 'Shrimp Wiggle,'
consisting of shrimp and canned peas heated in
white sauce, on toast."

Olio
"Discovery Education computes that
a healthy young slave just off the boat from Africa
'was valued at about $21,000 in today's dollars.'
That same slave, if he or she were still healthy, could be sold again.
'In the years right before the Civil War, such a slave
might bring nearly $2,000 - - - about $40,000
in today's dollars.'"

Unforbidden Pleasures
"We may live in the aftermath of
the myth of the Fall, and the even
longer aftermath of the myth of Oedipus,
but the first traffic lights were invented in the United States
after the First World War."

Finks
How the CIA Tricked the World's Best Writers
"The CIA merely
complicated the author's precarious situation at home
and when Pasternak finally won the Nobel,
his Soviet persecutors presented it
as proof of his collusion with the West
(though he had never consented to any of it).
Facing pressure and threats at home,
Pasternak declined the prize."

Great Reviews from the Past
A People's History of Poverty in America
"Funds for the poor serve as a check
on the morals of the lower class. American relief has
functioned to regulate the sexual, reproductive,
and labor market behavior of vulnerable populations . . .
the principal function of relief is to regulate
the low-wage labor supply and to placate
disruptive poor and unemployed people."

Skin Deep
"It's an autobiography, yes:
but it is also a textbook ---
a very funny textbook ---
about those who go into the tattoo business,
or who come in to get tattooed,
and the art of tattooing itself."

LETTERS
To Say It Unbridled

MORE LETTERS
Scabies, Baby

ARTICLE
The Ultimate Retirement
"Getting COPD in late life is like having
a first-class ticket for the maiden voyage of
the Titanic, but not being able to get to one of
the lifeboats in time."

READINGS
John Cage Refuses an Honorary Degree
"Innovative acts in the arts are criminal.
(Duchamp agreed with me on this point.)
Though I've not been able to refuse punishments,
I can refuse rewards.
In fact, it is my obligation
to do so."

John Cage Tells Us What He Eats
"Don't eat fruit unless you can't resist it.
This is true too for alcohol, though I still don't resist it.
I was drinking beer in Ponape, but that is too liquid;
now I'm drinking whisky straight,
preferably single-malt Scotch."

John Cage
Tells the President of TWA Airlines
About the Best Flight Food
"I am sure that should you change the vegetarian meals
to go with the macrobiotic diet that many travelers would be grateful.
Essentially what we want is brown rice, beans, some vegetable,
preferably carrot, turnip, broccoli, or squash, with ginger pickle or
daikon pickle, and then some fish,
not shellfish."

Great Readings from the Past
Slavery and the Welfare State
"Slavery and its successors
(sharecropping, tenancy, convict labor)
and the prison have been as important throughout
American history in the lives of (poor) African Americans
as have, say, Social Security, homeless shelters,
or Medicaid."

POETRY
Two by Tom Crawford
"It's silly to talk to the peach tree
about future pies, that's why
we have portfolio managers
for those who want to get ahead,
which can be hell on a good night's sleep."

Survival
"Your mother's disappeared again,
he'd call to my daughter, who'd come near, feign
a search for me. Some people need to escape,
she'd say, and wave her hand, and turn away."

The Forge
"how he solved the problem
by picking up the tricycle by the handlebars
and smashing it through the windshield
of our brand new family station wagon,
his face red with scotch, his black tie
and jacket flapping with effort . . . "

Bad Day at the Beauty Salon
"I'm gonna look just like those hot Spanish haircut models,
become brown and bodacious, grow some 7 inch fingernails
painted bitch red and rake them down the chalkboard of
the job market's soul."