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The World According To Irving, Garp, Bensenhaver

Book Review

John Irving has laid his cards on the table. From what seemed to be the beginning of a long realistic chronicle, he has moved into a world of fantasy, symbol, and wild humor, and for the rest of the novel he settles into neither world, but shuttles back and forth between the two.

Man Is

Vision In Black

And cope. I was to hear that again and again. It was multi-faceted, that word. It meant endurance, it expressed discipline — a psychological gymnastics involving stretching, reaching, bending, stooping, doing whatever was necessary to maintain the standards.

Old Master

Book Review

What most impresses me about the work of V.S. Pritchett is its stunning variety. I am faced with the question that often arises in confronting a substantial artist: how can he know all that he does? Each story is unique in its characters, techniques, its tone: each creates its own small peculiar world. “Blind Love,” the title story of an earlier volume, and the third story in this one, deserves special mention.

Making Predictions

Astrology, particularly predictive astrology, can be an awesomely powerful tool. Through it, consciousness is extended beyond its natural limits. Rather than seeing life from ground level as a series of confrontations with specific, seemingly unrelated situations, the awareness rises temporarily into the stratosphere.

All That Glitters

Book Review

American Gold is a book full of poetry, a book of history, the story of a place as it changes through fifty-eight years, the history of the shaping of a sensibility. It is not quite a novel. But it is a book worth having.

Winning In America

A JAKE scream is the best. It can probably out/decibel a primal scream any day of the week, and has the added advantage of surprise attack, giving it increased sincerity. You don’t know you’re going somewhere special to scream. It is convenient, occurring in the ordinary workings of daily life.

An Interview With Peter Caddy

I live in the moment. Fully in the moment, not worrying about the next day or thinking about the past day. So there are certain techniques that one learns. I thoroughly enjoy life. I enjoy what I am doing, and I know that I am guided step by step, and all that needs to happen, happens.

West Virginia

The Death Of The Farm

Every week, hundreds of farms go out of business. Only half the farms that were viably operating in 1950 exist today. In less than thirty years, three million farms have disappeared. The story of their demise is one of America’s greatest tragedies.