Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

Music Theater: ‘Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano’

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This performance was recorded in Taos, New Mexico, in September 2014. The piece had its world premiere in Germany at Theater K-9, in Konstanz, in 1996. Abbie Conant, Soprano & Trombone / William Osborne, Music Text and Video From William Osborne’s brief description: Imagine a singer living among the dumpsters behind the Met. Tomorrow is […]

Last Call for the Burroughs Cut/Up Show

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The materials in this centenary exhibition are drawn from Emory University’s Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, a collection of rare books, chapbooks, little magazines, journals, broadsides, audio recordings, manuscripts, and visual art from all over the world. Assembled by collector Raymond Danowski over 25 years, the collection is thought to have been the largest poetry library […]

Everyone Is Thinking About the Cops

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Aw gee! David Brooks says “not enough attention is being paid to the emotional and psychological challenges of being a cop.” Such fragile flowers they are. I recall that William Burroughs gave it some thought back in 1968 when Flower Power was in bloom: “The people in power will not disappear voluntarily, giving flowers to […]

Cody Maher: ‘Another Day at the Office’

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So it’s back to the grind, which is absurd but apparently necessary for the GDP. Here’s something to chew on besides the turkey leftovers: Subject I He appeared in our office dressed in uniform. He was asking us to believe that he had ever fought for anything in his life. The uniform didn’t go with […]

Dear Cannibals, Have a Sweet Thanksgiving

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Our delicious Thanksgiving team of William S. Burroughs and Norman O. Mustill has been a happy pairing. It still is. But the Straight Up staff of thousands wanted to add a sweetener, something like cranberry sauce, to this year’s celebration of gratitude. Here ‘tiz: Words by Heathcote Williams, narration and montage by Alan Cox.

‘Anatomy of Violence,’ a Prophetic Blast from the Past

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An article in the Washington Post declares that the riots in Ferguson have been “the most significant explosions of racial frustration since the election of the nation’s first black president, and so Ferguson forced the country out of the fantasy that America had entered a ‘post-racial’ era.” I’m not sure who really entertained that fantasy […]

Once Upon a Time, Ginsberg Kept City Lights Humming

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I’ve added a site to the blogroll, calling it “All Things Allen Ginsberg” instead of its official web address allenginsberg.org. I should have added it long ago. Bad housekeeping. The site is a goldmine of information, literary and otherwise, not just about Ginsberg, which is its main focus of course, but also about the Beat […]

Monday Morning Quiz: Who Said That?

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“Every once in a while, it’s nice to be wrong about something.” + Alan Dershowitz + Henry Kissinger + Dick Cheney + V.S. Naipaul + God + Click for the answer. But you get points for guessing it was The Albanian Idol of the BananaRepublic.

More News from Paris: Huge Bookfair Opens Today

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Offprint Paris at the Beaux-arts de Paris showcases publishers of art, photography, design, and experimental music labels. The 2014 edition features more than 130 publishers from nearly two dozen countries, an exhibition (“Disarming Design from Palestine”), and a variety of public discussions and signings. Special guests include Paul Soulellis (Library of the Printed Web), Mathieu […]

The Reviews Are In: How Many Tomatoes for ‘Algren’?

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I took a survey of viewers who saw “Algren,” the new documentary that recently had its world premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival. Here’s what they said: Reviewer #1: Really interesting and fast-paced. It gives me a great sense of the guy without being pious. I’m unsure about the kitschy style. The fast edits […]

Desktopfun: Boo-hooray’s Burroughs Cut/Up Show

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Boo-Hooray, in collaboration with Emory University, is presenting a William S. Burroughs centenary exhibition dedicated to the Cut-Up technique. On view will be hand-edited typescript drafts from the Nova Trilogy, rarely seen publications like the mimeographed newsletter The Burrough and the Sigma Portfolio, alongside correspondence with Brion Gysin, vinyl releases, as well as the original […]

Another Sonnet Maudit from Cold Turkey Press

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More conventional but still not Petrarchan, Spenserian, or Shakespearean. And not in Ted’s style either. Best of all, it’s presented with Gerard Bellaart’s ‘Morose Delectation,’ chosen by my staff of thousands.

Long-Awaited ‘Algren’ Bows at Chicago Film Festival

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Is this Nelson Algren’s moment? If it is, I don’t think he’d give a damn — not personally — considering he’s gone and how long ago that was. I also don’t think he’d appreciate what has become a cliché of the Algren myth — the forgotten writer. Sure, he’s forgotten. Most writers are. And of […]

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