Man, Nathan Bierma's "Books and Culture" blog was so rife with interesting content this week, I've barely had time to find anything to post here. Among the highlights: This New York Times article about "Cool Christianity." Also, a poignant, (though a bit too conservative for my taste) polemic about the stupider elements of political correctness. A while back I linked to a Diane Ravitch piece about the pratfalls of policing language which made similar points.
Finally, a piece about the influence of jazz on literature, which, while offering much about the racial issues present, doesn't speak about the way that the rhythms and structures of jazz influenced the rhythms and structures of prose. Take, for instance, Jack Kerouac, who believed he was writing "spontaneous bop prosody," which consisted of long lines (verbally) blown on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Or, read Langston Hughes' "Weary Blues," and tap your foot to the beat.
Also, where's Phil? Maybe he's on a Neal Pollack-style assignment, chronicling the vagaries of life in Afghanistan caves, or something.
If you still need something more to read, check out this piece on the holocaust and memory, and this piece (by the very cool Jean Bethke Elshtain) on the aesthetics of Nazism.
Finally, a piece about the influence of jazz on literature, which, while offering much about the racial issues present, doesn't speak about the way that the rhythms and structures of jazz influenced the rhythms and structures of prose. Take, for instance, Jack Kerouac, who believed he was writing "spontaneous bop prosody," which consisted of long lines (verbally) blown on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Or, read Langston Hughes' "Weary Blues," and tap your foot to the beat.
Also, where's Phil? Maybe he's on a Neal Pollack-style assignment, chronicling the vagaries of life in Afghanistan caves, or something.
If you still need something more to read, check out this piece on the holocaust and memory, and this piece (by the very cool Jean Bethke Elshtain) on the aesthetics of Nazism.