I am a literary gentleman so I shan't inquire into this.
But, perhaps, I should say what it is that I mean when I say "I am a
literary gentleman."
A literary gentleman is a Socialist for he asks "How else shall I be fed?"
Until that day: A literary gentleman exists -- insofar as possible -- on
small loans cadged from his literary chums. He must be relentless about this
and must rarely himself make repayment.
Joyce, for example, was shocked when he returned to Trieste to find that his
brother Stanislaus actually paid the rent on their flat. This upset the
delicate pre-established harmony and circulation of funds that Joyce had set
up. They went hungry for several days. When you meet a gentleman and you
suspect that he may, in fact, be a literary gentleman (perhaps he has
published a few verses -- this doesn't matter) you should -- after he has
borrowed a few ducats from you -- take a walk with him. If he slinks along
the sides of houses, capers along woodland paths and is continually ducking
into buildings -- or if he does all this and also conceals his features with
a black veil -- (as I have) the probablilty is that he is a literary
gentleman. He is, of course, forced into this sort of cryptocircumambulation
because he is avoiding his chums who will demand repayment. His chums are
also avoiding him. My own circle of literary friends were so successful at
this that we didn't meet with each other for five years -- we were forced to
initiate more young fellows into the mysteries of literature by borrowing
from them until, in fact, the entire male population of a town of 10,000
managed, at the end of five years, to entirely avoid one another.
This situation is ideally suited to literary production for, of course,
other reasons are ascribed to this abandonment by one's chums -- treason,
betrayal, cuckoldry.
This leads to the publication of broadsides and complete novels -- such as
_Ulysses_ or even poems (I am thinking of Dante here) in which one's chums
are held up to the contempt of the cultured despisers who are the ideal
readers. Of course,
Readers will inquire as to how to recognize a literary gentlewoman. This is
beyond the scope of this brief excursus. However, you may be assured that
any woman with a literary gentleman is not a literary gentlewoman. Who needs
somebody who has your number?
Life's too short.
On 11/3/07, Anny Ballardini <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Sorry,
> what I wrote is what I meant. Allusions are to be found in previous
> messages.
>
>
> On 11/3/07, MC Ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Joe G. wrote (responding to Anny): "You would gather
> > prima donnas in a faggot?"
> >
> > Her reference was, of course, to queer theory. (Get
> > with the program, man!)
> >
> > Jeez,
> >
> > Candice
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
>
--
Joseph Green
The Pleasant Reviewer
Headmaster, St. John Boscoe Laboratory School
Switchboard Captain, Hollywood Colonial Hotel
All complaints shall be directed to:
Camelopard Breathwaite
The Fallows, 200 Fifth Avenue, Fredonia City
"That's Double Dependability"
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