Tag: cut up writing
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Didion on Burroughs
1966 is calling. At a site called The Beat Patrol, I found a good review by Joan Didion, an author I really like, on William S. Burroughs, another author I really like. Originally published in 1966 in Bookweek, NOT the modern Book Week for children’s books), it begins: There sometimes seems a peculiar irrelevance about…
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William S. Burroughs and Norman Mailer
I enjoyed this Reality Studio article by Jed Birmingham on Burroughs and Mailer, which begins: Norman Mailer’s assessment lingers around Burroughs like a stale fart. You just cannot get away from it. From the back cover of the Grove Naked Lunch to obituary accounts, from the Wikipedia page to academic articles, Mailer’s territorial pissing has marked Burroughs’…
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Philip K. Dick Again
I just finished Lawrence Sutin’s Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick (1989, Harmony Books). Enjoyed every page. Instead of reviewing the entire book, I want to share two good parts. Page 265 features a classic PKD parable mixing scientific knowledge with divine wisdom. Phil wrote this in 1979: A new ambulance is filled with gasoline…
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Fine Lines
I suppose my recent cut-up experiment is more about marketing than writing. It’s certainly easier to write a cut-up than it is to get someone to read it, but I don’t want to trick anyone into reading something that isn’t any good. Quality should always come first. One should believe they have a product of…
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Cut-up Experiment Results, with Commentary
Fresh from the research field! I’m the first to admit this experiment was not as scientifically controlled as it could have been. It was more of a warm-up exercise; nevertheless, I did learn something that I found quite interesting. First, a brief summary of the experiment: I created a piece of cut-up writing from two…
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Bill’s Place is always open for the Crawfish of Love
No one knew what to think when we first saw a band called “Crawfish of Love.” The stage was strewn with surreal artwork, a manikin head, some TV sets all turned on to different channels, guitar amplifiers, drums, and five musicians that looked like they were conspiring mischief among themselves. They were top-notch musicians, at…