MEMBER BLOG TAG: arthur japin
| Wednesday, April 25, 2007 6:33PM | | | | Barnaby and the Dermatologist | Tags: History, Truth, Fiction, Arthur Japin, Laila Lalami, Imma Monsó, Michael Wallner, Colum McCann, Brecht, Kwasi Boachi, Lluís-Anton Baulenas, Moses Isegawa, Carlo Lucarelli, Per Petterson, Francine Prose, dermatologist, 192
| | | Barnaby Sandwich rolled out of bed this morning at the crack of dawn—not literally, but for him—and traveled uptown to speak to some high school students about a book he had written. These dozen teenagers, up, like Barnaby, since before any merciful God could have intended, and in receipt of their college acceptance letters, nevertheless managed to keep their eyes open, which is one eye more than Barnaby managed. One of the young men asked Barnaby what year he had graduated from their shared high school, and then noted that he had been in kindergarten in the year named. So do the young flowers dislodge the corpses of their forebears—before falling from the stalk in their turn.
In the afternoon, fortified by an... | | | | | | | Wednesday, April 25, 2007 5:48PM | | | | True Lies | Tags: Colum McCann, Laila Lalami, Truth, Arthur Japin, Imme Monso, Michael Wallner, William Maxwell
| | | “In talking about the past, we lie with every breath we draw.”—William Maxwell
Just back from the first of the three “World Voices” events that I’m scheduled to attend. This one was entitled “ History and the Truth of Fiction.” It featured Arthur Japin, Michael Wallner, Laila Lalami and Imma Monso. It was moderated by the charming Colum McCann. McCann kicked off his remarks with the above quote from William Maxwell, one of my favorite writers. McCann used the quote, along with this one by Brecht—“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality but a hammer with which to shape it”—to lay out the parameters of the panel, namely, how one works... | | | | | |
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