Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

‘Style Is Character’

Posted on January 29, 2021 by JMN

Didion once wrote, “Style is character…” Rhetorically, a “this is that” assertion that plops two abstractions around a copulative can be a facile expedient for simulating profundity. Nathan Heller comments that Didion’s observation about style has to do with “the … Continue reading →

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‘Photographism’: Penn’s Eye

Posted on January 22, 2021 by JMN

But is “photographism” even a word? Not entirely. It is, though, a term that was coined by the photographer [Irving Penn]. It isn’t a theory, but an idea supported by sketches, notes, photographs and posters. “It was never clearly defined … Continue reading →

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‘Symphony of Tufts and Touches’

Posted on January 21, 2021 by JMN

How is this doggyphile and wannabe painter not to love the rendition of a master? The art expert Frédérick Chanoit said the painting, measuring 32.5cm by 24.5cm, had been produced in 20 minutes and is an example of Manet’s technical … Continue reading →

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Words of a Stabbing Victim

Posted on January 18, 2021 by JMN

On Sept. 20, 1958, while signing copies of his first book “Stride Toward Freedom” in a Harlem department store, Dr. Martin Luther King was stabbed in the chest by a young woman. The weapon, a letter opener, grazed his aorta. … Continue reading →

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On a Parlous Trek the Ground Slopes East

Posted on January 17, 2021 by JMN

The gap between China and the United States is shrinking as China is the only major economy expected to report economic growth for 2020 despite the pandemic. And brawling with itself at some crossroad truck stop far over the horizon … Continue reading →

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Failure and Exultation

Posted on January 17, 2021 by JMN

“Almost all poetry is a failure,” Charles Bukowski is said to have contended, “because it sounds like somebody saying, Look, I have written a poem.” … Never will I allude to the English Language or tongue without exultation. This is … Continue reading →

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Base Camp

Posted on January 14, 2021 by JMN

They came in all sorts of camouflage, in animal pelts and flak jackets, in tactical gear and even a sphagnum-covered ghillie suit. When you leave the totems of your usual identity behind you free yourself from the laws that govern … Continue reading →

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The Rhetoric of Figments

Posted on January 12, 2021 by JMN

A classic mnemonic for spelling “graffiti” is that it “doesn’t have two fucking titties.” And the classic graffiti on locker room urinals is “A lot of pricks hang out here.” These durable tropes capture the sophomoric tenor of Chris Malone’s … Continue reading →

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Pub Apocalypse?

Posted on January 4, 2021 by JMN

A good pub feels a bit like a living room: a familiar, informal space where you can have a pint with friends and strangers… Enjoying a drink in a room that has been used for the same purpose for hundreds … Continue reading →

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‘The Flag Is Also Waving You’

Posted on January 3, 2021 by JMN

Someone who studies flags is a “vexillologist.” There’s a North American Vexillological Association for persons devoted to this study. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a flag was not so much a symbol as a practical way to tell from … Continue reading →

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