The first edition of William Burroughs' first novel, published under a pseudonym..
The economist Brad DeLong puts forth an interesting “parlor game” on his blog: write the worst blurb you can imagine for the best book you can think of. It’s an illuminating exercise, because it helps one realize a couple of things. One, that “literary” is really a perceptive filter, a sort of lighting effect that casts a work as somehow Important. Two, that even works of high literature are propelled by plots. When you strip them down to that level, some ethereal classics have rather down-to-earth dynamics at their core.
06.04.09 § 0