Friday, February 26, 2010

Whatsoever a Man Soweth by Barry Graham

I heard Barry Graham read this at Freebird Books in Brooklyn. I think it's the best thing he's written.

An Interview with Mary Gaitskill

How did I not see this until now? A fantastic interview with Mary Gaitskill at Bomb. In it, she quotes Simone Weil:

"This world is the only reality available to us, and if we do not love it in all its terror, we are sure to end up loving the “imaginary,” our own dreams and self-deceits, the Utopias of the politicians, or the futile promises of future reward and consolation which the misled blasphemously call “religion.” The soul has a million dodges for protecting itself against the acceptance and love of the emptiness, that “maximum distance between God and God,” which is the universe; for the price of such acceptance and love is abysmal misery. And yet it is the only way."

Also, Matthew Sharpe and she discuss "In The Ravine" by Chekhov. You can read "In The Ravine" here.