Subject: Re: An About Town Republican
From: Robbie (vasudeva@pacbell.net)
Date: Thu Mar 09 2000 - 03:50:29 EST
Tim said:
<< the most head-turning assertion is by the Ben Yagoda himself, when
he editorializes (on pages 287-288, "For all the acclaim his stories
received, and for all the undeniable virtues of most of them, Salinger
was ultimately something of a literary novelty act, spinning out a
series of variably intoxicating fantasies." I find that bizarre,
because to me, that's just about the hallmark of a good writer; what,
should a creative writer spin out a series of dull, uninteresting
fantasies? >>
The walls of the 924 Gilman Street Club (an all ages, non-profit
establishment, mostly punk rock stylings but occasionally with bits of
spoken word or any music falling outside of the corporate label
structure) in Berkeley, California, exist in a dynamic state of
constantly evolving graffiti. A band that played a month or two ago
came in early and painted the whole place pink and yellow as a bit of a
joke; the pink and yellow was hardly noticeable a week later. The
entire premises is covered in scrawlings and stickers of various colors
and it's the only place I've ever been where you can buy a soda for a
quarter (it has a not entirely un-Mad Max feel to it). I find that an
effective palliative for boredom and mediocre music is to wander about
with earplugs ($0.25 in back), reading what's been written on the walls,
and to occasionally write replies on them.
Once, I read on one of the walls something along the lines of: "People
who just adore Salinger are too stupid to appreciate Hemingway; people
who just adore Hemingway are too pretentious to appreciate Salinger."
A lot of indie-rock scenesters have turned on Radiohead, not because
their music got bad - in fact, they're better than they've ever been -
but because they slipped up and became a commercial success. And it's
terribly unhip to be caught with a Pearl Jam album these days, despite
the fact that No Code and Yield are two of the greatest goddammed albums
I've ever heard.
People like to hate whatever appeals to the masses, and will settle for
what often amounts to the middle-brow just because it's esoteric and
obscure. It makes them feel like they're part of an exclusive club.
The cretins love The Catcher in the Rye, so Salinger is destined to take
some abuse. I came to terms with that a long time ago.
-robbie
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