This Invisible Living Hand

Lapore on Editing and Civilization

Bob — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:02:07 +0000

“It’s not so much that American public life is more idiotic,” Jill Lepore said, referring to both press coverage and the public discussion it spawns. “It’s that so much more of American life is public. I think that goes a long way to explaining what seems to be a ‘decline.’ Everything is documented, and little of it is edited. Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.”

“Learning to Love the (Shallow, Divisive, Unreliable) New Media,” The Atlantic, James Fallows

Philip Larkin on Poetic Aspiration

Bob — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:08:08 +0000

He has said his aim in writing a poem is “to construct a verbal device that would preserve an experience indefinitely by reproducing it in whoever read the poem.”

“The Art of Poetry No. 30,” Paris Review, Philip Larkin

Walser on Curiosity

Bob — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:11:26 +0000

He was very annoyed, as all people are when they are caught on the secret pathways of stealthy curiosity.

Jakob Von Gunten, Robert Walser

Bolaño on Minor Works and Masterpieces

Bob — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:37:40 +0000

Before Archimboldi left, after they’d had a cup of tea, the man who rented him the typewriter said: “Jesus is the masterpiece. The thieves are minor works. Why are they there? Not to frame the crucifixion, as some innocent souls believe, but to hide it.”

2666, Roberto Bolaño

Cortázar on Seduction and Power

Bob — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:06:21 +0000

Michel is something of a puritan at times, he believes that one should not seduce someone from a position of strength.

“Blow Up,” Julio Cortázar

On Guilt and Work

Bob — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:00:31 +0000

The finding: People who are prone to guilt tend to work harder and perform better than people who are not guilt-prone, and are perceived to be more capable leaders.

The research: Francis Flynn gave a standard psychological test, which measured the tendency to feel guilt, to about 150 workers in the finance department of a Fortune 500 firm and then compared their test results with their performance reviews. People who were more prone to guilt, he found, received higher performance ratings from their bosses. Related studies showed that they also were more committed to their organizations and were seen as stronger leaders by their peers.

“Guilt-Ridden People Make Great Leaders,” Francis J. Flynn, HBR

Movie in Words: Julio Cortázar

Bob — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:49:27 +0000

(she’d turned around suddenly, swinging like a metal weathercock, and the eyes, the eyes were there)

“Blow Up,” Julio Cortázar

Cortázar on Being Present

Bob — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:46:00 +0000

Right now (what a word, now, what a dumb lie)

“Blow Up,” Julio Cortázar

Movie in Words: Thomas Bernhard

Bob — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 08:00:33 +0000

…rain at once made them look messy, trickling down their fur coats like so much dirty gravy. Their umbrellas were soon blown inside out, and some were broken, by a fierce gust of wind that blew across the graves…

Thomas Bernhard, Woodcutters

Bernhard on All Things Artistic

Bob — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:43:25 +0000

“artistic dinner,” “artist crisis,” “artistic world,” “artistic life,” “artistic talents,” “artistic riffraff,” “artistic cadavers,” “artistic nonentities,” “artistic shams,” “artistic people,” “artistic preoccupations,” “artistic activity,” “artistic folk,” artistic contingent,” etc.

Thomas Bernhard, Woodcutters