Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

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Angus Jung wrote:My own picks would be Melville's Pierre for the 19th century and William Gaddis's The Recognitions for the 20th. But both of these books would be a bitch to teach, I think.

That's why something like Lolita is a good choice. It's a great book, it is extremely perceptive about (mid) 20th-century America, and you have a pretty good shot at holding your students' attention with it.


I've been wanting to read Pierre ever since someone told me its a precursor to the "hallucinatory" prose I enjoy so much in Denis Johnson's work. Do you think this is accurate?
dontfeartheringo wrote:I need people to act like grown folks and I just ain't seeing it.

Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

34
Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:I've been wanting to read Pierre ever since someone told me its a precursor to the "hallucinatory" prose I enjoy so much in Denis Johnson's work. Do you think this is accurate?

"Hallucinatory" is a good way to describe Pierre's prose. There could be a connection to Denis Johnson there. It hadn't ocurred to me.

Read Fat City by Leonard Gardner if you haven't already. You can really see the roots of Denis Johnson in that book.

Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

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sunlore wrote:I couldn't imagine it being anything else. The bathroom, I mean. Being classy. I see black marble, lush, shiny chrome and towels so thick you could loose a nickel in them.

Yeah! And unlike my proletarian, little-butted toilet seat, his was more than enough for my full-figured man-ass. A writerly throne!

And the toilet paper! It was like a brilliant white cloud making deep, smothering love to my rectum!

He lives near Prospect Park, am I right?

I think it was Park Slope, but basically yeah. A brownstone near the park.

Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

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Angus Jung wrote:
Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:I've been wanting to read Pierre ever since someone told me its a precursor to the "hallucinatory" prose I enjoy so much in Denis Johnson's work. Do you think this is accurate?

"Hallucinatory" is a good way to describe Pierre's prose. There could be a connection to Denis Johnson there. It hadn't ocurred to me.

Read Fat City by Leonard Gardner if you haven't already. You can really see the roots of Denis Johnson in that book.


Fuckin' A, Derek! Love that book. Not a bad little film, either, if you can stomach Stacy Keach.
dontfeartheringo wrote:I need people to act like grown folks and I just ain't seeing it.

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