The End of The Fugitive

The End of The Fugitive

We reached the end of The Fugitive. The same stories and desires repeat, but now in a pale, world-weary register. My friend Janine said it reminded her of the end of the Tale of Genji, when, after hundreds of pages of pursuing Ukifune, Kaoru is still at it. Still...
Je suis extremement malade

Je suis extremement malade

  Louis Martin-Chauffier (1894-1980)  I just read the most delightful letter from Marcel Proust. [1] He wrote it two years before his death, in January of 1920, to the twenty-five-year-old archivist, paleographer, and aspiring novelist Louis Martin-Chauffier....
Le monde est fait

Le monde est fait

                    Suzuki Shintarō in 1925, age 30, just before his departure for France.   As I wrote in an earlier blog entry, last summer I paid a long-overdue visit to J. Theodore Johnson, Jr. a favorite professor...
Cities of the Plain

Cities of the Plain

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Untitled (Cathedral) Irregularly shaped blue and white tie-dyed paper, with text from Proust, against blue textile backing. 15 x 25. Date unknown. Photo by Kevin Ryan) Posted by permission of Hal Sedgwick. It’s a straight shot north from Tulsa,...
Kokoro and the Cat

Kokoro and the Cat

I saw an incredible production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” last night at the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown. If you need a refresher on the plot, “Brick” is a former high school athlete who can’t get over the suicide of his close friend...