Alfred Jarry, Mark Twain, and Reynolds Price

R A L P H
The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the HumanitiesVolume XI, Number 2 --- Summer, 1995

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REVIEWSThe Wit & Wisdom of Mark Twain"Like saying, of a book of Henry James,
"Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up."

A Whole New LifeIn which the author develops a tumor
and meets Jesus in the Sea of Galilee

Why Anti-matter Matters"Alfred Jarry, whose work prefigured theater of the absurd,
Dada, Surrealism and Futurism also may have anticipated
certain modern physics theories."

Communion "They inserted this thing in my rectum. It seemed to swarm
into me as if it had a life of its own."

BRIEF REVIEWSPelicans, Texas Prisons, Traffic Court,
Confucians, Hospitals, and "Troubled People."

ARTICLES The Sweet Sweet Taste of Asophædita By W. L. Warren "For flavor and stink, Asophædita must rank with the inside of a
New York garbage truck, at the end of a long, long week."

Geography Isn't Destiny By Jon Gallant "Sweden could escape those dark winters and the
Strindbergian gloom by simply announcing that
it will henceforth be a Mediterranean country."

READINGS Brain SurgeonBy Lawrence Shainberg"It was just a smelly piece of brown and white meat,
a bit like a veal cutlet, with a texture like foam rubber
and the shape (really beautiful) of a butterfly."

The Space Merchantsby Frederick Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth "We all know," he said, "what put us where we are.
We remember the Starrzelius Verily account,
and how we put Indiastries on the map..."
The Blob That Ate OaxacaBy Carlos Amantea"Women are Ernest's soul and life and heart.
It makes no difference --- age, race, distinguishing marks,
social rank, dimensions, or redeeming natural features."

OnanismBy Mark Twain In which Sam'l Clemens (of all people)
discusses the ins and outs of self-abuse.
The Mouthfrom The Mahabarata "A great wind rose up, an irresistible gust swept
Markandeya toward the mouth."

POETRYTerra Incognitaby D. H. Lawrence "There are vast realms of consciousness still undreamed of
vast ranges of experience, like the humming of unseen harps..."

The Song of Wandering Ængusby W. B. Yeats "I went out to the hazel wood, Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand, And hooked a berry to a thread..."

Song To Onan's Complaining Handby Manuel del Cabral "I am the passion of the condemned. Not the bedroom game
that makes lives. I am the lover of those who don't love."

Three by X. J. Kennedy"Here lies resting, out of breath,
Out of turns, Elizabeth
Whose quicksilver toes not quite
Cleared the whirring edge of night."
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