“All you need for drama is a few people in an enclosed place…” –Peter David
Month: October 2004
“A book review generally carries the implicit premise that the reviewer somehow sees the book, its strengths and weaknesses, more clearly than its author does.” – Brian Morton in his review of Philip Roth’s new novel.
Given all the press the book’s been getting, I guess it’s only a matter of time before I read it. Of course, I should probably first finish reading the dozens of other books I’ve got lined up on my shelf — including the last hundred or so pages of that other Roth novel.
A few things from this morning’s New York Times (registration or BugMeNot login required). First, from an interview with Wynton Marsalis in the Magazine:
My father used to say, “If you want to be different, you got to do something different.”
[snip]
You seem fairly content for an artist.
When I’m sad, I’m happy that I can be sad.
Which means what, exactly?
It’s the blues. It’s like when they say, I am going down the road to put my head on the tracks, and when the train comes along, I am going to snatch my full head back.
From Randy Cohen, the Ethicist, in the same issue:
Incidentally, if there’s a prize for pet marketing, I’d like to nominate whoever changed “Mongolian desert rat” to “gerbil.” That’s even better than “compassionate conservative.”
And finally, from an ad in the Arts & Leisure section:
“If you’re a fan of Hilary Duff, you’ll love every minute of ‘Raise Your Voice,’ because nearly every minute of the film is about her…”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, that. Sort of along the lines of “Crap — for people who like crap in big doses!”