Monday, February 11, 2008

CAN ASS BE SAFELY CANNED?

I first read David Ohle's Motorman last fall, on the bus from Montreal to New York, so it's a strange coincidence for me to find this, in which a guy with a soul patch discourses about reading it on the train going the opposite direction. I pulled it out of the library after a long session of reading Jane Eyre to flush out my fevered brainfruits, and I wish I could describe what it's like- there's a pretty good article about it and Ohle here, including a few shots of "The City Moon", a surrealist newspaper Ohle published and distributed in Lawrence, Kansas. In the article, he states that "The motto that I carried away from the City Moon was to always stop just short...To never, ever completely tell enough detail for anyone to figure it out. And I think that applies in almost everything that I write. I don’t want to over-explain things. Leave it kind of vague and uncertain."
The reason why I picked it up is that I'm struggling with my own writing style, which is to keep putting down giant stupid words until I want to remove my own brain, and maybe I'm hoping that a bit will rub off.
Anyway. I suggest it heartily. I'm going to try to actually buy it one of these days, or steal Ben Marcus's photocopy. I have things to promote about Ben Marcus as well.
God, it's strange that they keep referring to William BurroughS, Jr., as "Billy." But now I want to read Kentucky Ham, and also eat some Kentucky ham.

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