Monthly Archives: May 2020

So Playfully Valorized Seriousness

Posted on May 6, 2020 by JMN

[Wayne Koestenbaum] valorizes the intellectual seriousness of Sontag, and of the poet and translator Richard Howard, but also confesses his attraction to idleness and lassitude. Books are fine and good, but have you tried sex, or doughnuts? So this review … Continue reading →

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Alphabeticalism

Posted on May 5, 2020 by JMN

I once had to choose Arabic or Greek, the sole elective, in a course of study. It made a lot of difference in what I did next. I enthuse time and again over instances of letters lateraled into graven imagery … Continue reading →

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But Here We Are: Me and…

Posted on May 4, 2020 by JMN

I feel foolish at bobbing and weaving through the tall grass of music theory, unled and untaught, not glimpsing even sky, much less horizon. All I would have to have done — note the pluperfect infinitive — is to have … Continue reading →

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Color in Shadow

Posted on May 3, 2020 by JMN

Jordan Casteel’s paintings come at you. There’s no subordination. They are like a roomful of stories told all at once. One figure hides in his colorful skin; two others iridesce, starkly defined. Sofas riot; a hot mirrored lamp commandeers its … Continue reading →

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A Words’ Worth of Picture

Posted on May 2, 2020 by JMN

I like this illustration to Roger Cohen’s column enough to leave it alone. (Roger Cohen, “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” NYTimes, 5-1-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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