Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Ryan's Observer Essays (and a few others)--Republished in Arts & Letters Daily and Elsewhere.


From my Milo essay: “I support anyone's right to speak and publish. But my own feeling is that Milo was often thin stuff—he was one-dimensional, neglecting to locate any other personality trait that might mitigate his constant judgments about people on the left . . . His rhetoric was absent goodwill that might truly persuade, and therefore he lacked complexity and depth on the stage. In short, too much stupidity issued from his pretty mouth.”

Catcher in the Rye essay. "In fact, Holden’s criticism earns all the more trust because it’s deeply personal. Though he’s a child of a corporate lawyer, he never speaks in unison with his class. He has every privilege—and insists on wearing ties and fitting in—but risks his position by his behaviors . . . He’s no beatnik or bohemian, though he’s met with those and has neglected to emulate them. He articulates his own ideas, unafraid to stand alone—an exemplar to millions throughout the world."


From my essay "The Rebel Left is Dead" (Arts & Letters Daily): "I occasionally despair of the loss of the 1960s rebellious left in American life. Many 60s writers refused a total allegiance to their politics. They found singular voices through dissonance, ambiguity, and contradiction—as individuals often do. It’s not surprising that Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Hunter S. Thompson explored free expression on so many of their pages." 

Rumpus Essay: "Many evenings I rode my bike to a Mexican restaurant nearby, ate the free chips and salsa at a booth, and drank beer. Headphones and a notebook were good company. A tacky string of fat little bottles hung blinking on the wall above the table I favored. Mostly I took notes on the short stories I was writing, for an excuse to be alone. But I also liked just drinking and listening to Alien Lanes."


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