R  A  L  P  H  The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities  Volume XII, Number 1 ---Spring, 1996

THE NEWEST RALPHThis will lead you to the latest, and most wondrous, issue of
The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and the Humanities.

HELP US SURVIVEFor $10 a year, you get our love, our thanks,
and the knowledge that we will be around
to haunt you and yours in the future.

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ARCHIVESThe previous issue of RALPH. Which, in turn, will lead you
back to previous issues, which (in turn), will lead you
to the far, dark, and dangerous reaches of Infinity.

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REVIEWS On S. J. Perelman "The violet hush of twilight was descending over Los Angeles.
In the distance a glow of huge piles of burning motion-picture scripts
lit up the sky. The crisp tang of frying writers and directors whetted my appetite."

Spared Angola: Memories from a
Cuban-American ChildhoodBy Virgil Suárez"I am a sick man...a mean man.
There's nothing attractive about me.
I think there's something wrong with my...teeth."

Middle East on a Shoestring
"You probably have to be going something to keep up with
the Lonely Planet people. We're awaiting their guide to Antarctica.
Yikes! I just looked it up. There it is --- for all the penguins in the crowd."

Memoirs of My Nervous IllnessBy Daniel Paul Schreber"As proof of this statement I will at present only mention
the fact that the sun has for years spoken with me in human words
and thereby reveals herself as a living being."

In Flanders FieldsBy Leon WolffBattlelines: World War I PostersBy Libby Chenault "It had meant nothing, solved nothing, and proved nothing;
and in so doing had killed 8,538,315 men and variously wounded 21,219,452."

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BRIEF REVIEWSSam Spiegel, rhinos, blabby psychiatrists,
De-architecture, John Fante, and Drear Arizona

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ARTICLESBeautiful Summer at Camp Alton"The sparkling lake, the towering pines, the air as sweet as fragrant vines,
The swellest Chief you'll ever know, his wife who sets the Camp aglow."

Deep in the Land of Ultimate Projection"Lo, the poor Indian, who
would be devastated by the sicknesses that ran
in the blood, through the hearts, of the Spanish men of god."

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READINGS Hindoo Holiday Flies, ants, and robbing dead soldiers. Bitterness
"My father brings home the blood of horses on his hands,
his rough, calloused, thick-fingered hands."Hurricanes, Slaves, and Gold "Columbus evidently saw no conflict between the desire to
save their souls for God and use their bodies for Spain." The Odor of Death "There are so many distinct smells in medicine: the mousy,
ammoniacal odor of liver failure...the rotten-apple odor
of gas gangrene; the freshly-baked-bread odor of typhoid fever." Two by Osip Mandelstam "It was commonly said of Witte that he had a golden nose,
and the children, who blindly believed this,
looked at nothing but his nose." The Rituals of Anorexia Nervosa "Just look at me: I am nothing but skin and bones
and I might easily die. And if death is the price I have to pay
for my power, then I shall willingly pay it."

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POETRYThe Stars®Us"If you go out (they say) some quadrillion dodecathillion miles
out over there (they say), you could find
a corner of the universe where there is no light..." The Battle at Little Bull Run"My family eats love for dessert topped with nutmeats and cherries.
When asked, they smile out of the past and crush the small rebellions
We bring from school"Eulogy on the Death of Dickie Dickinson(Who weighed in at 335 pounds)"For snacks, a thousand tons or so of Victorian lace panties;
For dessert, an entire army platoon of silky parachutes"The Vivisection Mambo"She does bite the blade, doesn't she? By my white god
I miss her, and her thighs lurking there at the edge
Of my taste."

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NEW LISTINGS
Books that have been sent to us within the last fortnight or so.  

T H E  F A C T SSubmitting BooksThe best way to get books to RALPH for review.Submitting ReviewsSuggestions for would-be reviewers --- and payment schedule. HistoryRALPH didn't spring full-blown from the brows of the gods: We've been around (in different guises) for over twenty-five years. The Fessenden FundOther activities of RALPH's godparents, includingMho & Mho Works

Ralph R. Doister, Editor-In-ChiefPost Office Box 16719
San Diego CA 92176poo@cts.com

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