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Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

Archives for March 2021

Carl Weissner’s German Essays and Reportage
Notes on Outsiders

March 29, 2021 by Jan Herman

UPDATED: To get the drift of “Aufzeichnungen über Aussenseiter” by Carl Weissner, I’ve been typing pieces of text into google translate. It’s a helluva time-consuming job, as if re-setting type you understand. Matthias Penzel, who edited the collection and wrote an afterword, tells me I should have better things to do with my time. But it’s more than worth the effort.

A Photo Portrait for the Ages

March 24, 2021 by Jan Herman

They don’t make characters like this any more unless you think of Trump’s sourpusses.

Rare Book Collecting
Connecting Brion Gysin and Paul-Armand Gette

March 22, 2021 by Jan Herman

UPDATED // To rate collectors by the use they make of their collections rather than simply by completeness, or by the rarity and excellence of individual items, makes great sense. Jed Birmingham’s new series about collectors of Burroughsiana is essential reading for anyone interested in the usefulness of collecting books of any kind, not just those by Williams Burroughs.

New Folio from Cold Turkey Press

March 19, 2021 by Jan Herman

The stone lion at the gate
wears a mask like mine.
This is where I used to wait
for books that bind,
that put my mind at ease.

From Bike Messenger to Filmmaker
Rich Allen’s ‘Street Shots / Hooky’

March 17, 2021 by Jan Herman

When a book begins like this, notice must be taken: “I woke up, New Year’s Day 1970, in a straitjacket. I had no memory, of anything, at least not at first. I was in an asylum on Long Island after taking an overdose of some pills a shrink gave me. Slowly awareness arose. … I asked to have the jacket removed and they did. Bit by bit memories came back. I could recall details of my childhood. I remembered I’d married Cathy, my girlfriend, months ago when she turned eighteen … In a few days I felt normal.”

Oprah Interview Misses the Bigger Picture

March 10, 2021 by Jan Herman

In all the press coverage I have seen of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan and Harry, it has been treated as a tale of personal tragedy, a terrible racist family squabble, for the British royals — but not one mention of the larger tragedy at the heart of Heathcote Williams’s “Royal Babylon,” namely the immense damage caused by the monarchy’s greedy, rapacious treatment of peoples and nations the worldover.

Easy Listening

March 9, 2021 by Jan Herman

Scarlatti Sonata in B minor K.87

The Long Haul: New York City Grins and Bears It

March 9, 2021 by Jan Herman

“Vaccine acceleration and partial re-openings inspire hope, but coming back from the pandemic will be a complex process.” — Michael Oreskes

Will Oprah Pick Up Where He Left Off?
Heathcote Williams on the British Monarchy

March 6, 2021 by Jan Herman

“‘God save the queen,’ they sang, ‘it’s a fascist regime.’ / And the song’s hook-line became a new anthem — / Disturbing to clutches of flag-wavers lining the streets. / And horrifying to Middle England and the Daily Mail.” — from ROYAL BABYLON

PS: In all the press coverage I have seen of the interview, it has been treated as a tale of personal tragedy, a terrible racist family squabble, for the British royals but not one mention of the larger tragedy at the heart of “Royal Babylon,” namely the immense damage caused by the monarchy’s greedy, rapacious treatment of peoples and nations the world over.

Jan Herman

When not listening to Bach or Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, or dancing to salsa, I like to play jazz piano -- but only in the privacy of my own mind.
Another strange fact... Read More…

About

My Books

Several books of poems have been published in recent years by Moloko Print, Statdlichter Presse, Phantom Outlaw Editions, and Cold Turkey … [Read More...]

Straight Up

The agenda is just what it says: news of arts, media & culture delivered with attitude. Or as Rock Hudson once said in a movie: "Man is the only … [Read More...]

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