-
P’tit soleil noir
An elaborately Barthesian pleasure at reading the first pages of Julia Kristeva’s Black Sun, her book on the psychoanalysis of depression. I giggle, recognize myself, nod understandingly, make comments… “For those who are wracked by melancholia, writing about it would have meaning only if writing sprang out of that very melancholia.” You’re right, I won’t…
-
Insults for the new century
Patrick has invented a new insult for our age: “He has to pay people to read his blog.” He thinks we need a word for that kind of person, too – blogstitution? no, that’s not it. Perhaps this is in line with Anne’s complaint earlier this evening that her students were unpleasantly startled that she…
-
Sullen
Sorry I haven’t written… Continuing irritable, depressed, at a bit of a loss; plus intermittent unexpected headaches, and a chaotic gastrointestinal tension that seems, capriciously, to react badly to whatever I eat. Summer is now technically over, we’re on the verge of masses of work for oncoming students; three days ago a student, after apologizing…
-
Glorious
A truly beautiful day, a glorious day. There have been many fine days this summer – no question about it, the hottest year in history has given us the summer weather that seems proper to me, a real summer in the seventies Fahrenheit, with sun and breezes and all. I am unfortunately so mechanistic (really:…
-
Augusts
[Los Angeles, 1991] My father’s birthday is in August, near the month’s beginning. This fact tends to establish the month’s meaning, its varied characteristics and echoes – aside from the obvious ones such as vacations and unbearable heat. My quiet, gentle father, with his rooms of shelves of memories on film, of papers in disarray.…
-
Nothing
What are our friends doing, when we don’t see them? What are our favorite short story writers doing in the long periods when they aren’t polishing the paragraphs we finally love so much? Or novelists when they aren’t hewing away at the massive structure of their newest Bildungsroman? Or actors when they aren’t getting deep…
Subscribe
Enter your email below to receive updates.
Paul Attinello 