The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities |
NEW LISTINGS
Maggots, the Design of Manure Boxes,
Classic 19th Century American Daguerreotypes,
And intrusive biographies of J. D. Salinger and Howard Hughes
(who probably should be left to their own devices).
REVIEWS
Great Reviews of the Past
BRIEF REVIEWS
THE WEEKLY RALPH
READINGS
Conversations with Milovan Djilas.
ARTICLES
Part II
Part III
POETRY
Preliminary Investigation of an Angel
LETTERS
ARCHIVES
HELP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dr. Laura
"Ballance called Laura his little plum, she called him
her Pillow Plumsicles. She wrote notes to him signed, Your Tottle Bug.
He dubbed her Ku Klux. Why? Because she is a wizard in the sheets.
The Woman of Rome
"Then there are writers like Moravia who get inside their characters
and turn them inside out for you; and the writing is so powerful
that you think that maybe Moravia is a worm, a heart worm ---
one that burrows into the deepest part of woman-soul. Since
he's a story teller, and such a good one, you don't want it to end."
We're All Doing Time
"This is the work of a loving man --- a man who has chosen
to work with prisoners because of innate humanity.
He may well be one of the secret saints of our society,
for he goesto those who are trapped,
and offers a simple message: that all freedom lies within."
The Way of the World,
Mama Dip's Patio Cooler, and
How to Identify Your Friendly
(Perhaps Too Friendly)
Neighborhood Vampire.
Secret Government Report
"In short, the proposed operation will
bring necessary government funds into the city,
erase persistent hard-core unemployment,
and give the whole community new self-respect"
A Journey in the Bateau-Mouche
"You stink, you didn't wipe yourself! stop poking in your pants!"
was enough in 1900, and tornadoes of whacks ... for emphasis and punctuation ...
an unswatted kid would grow up to be a convict ... a criminal ... a murderer
... God knows what ... and you'd be to blame ... "
because I realized Djilas was always
right. He was able to predict the future.
His technique was a simple one
for an East European, but a difficult one
for an American: he seemed to
ignore the daily newspapers
and think purely historically."
Mexican-American Relations and Jude the Obscure
Part I
"I am not necessarily a fan of Hardy, but
I have to have something to do with my time crossing the border
between Tijuana and San Diego besides twiddling my thumbs and
inhaling great gouts of health-giving smog."
"We accuse Mexicans of not being militant enough.
What we are really doing is saying that their easy-going way of life
is morally wrong, that they must become a military state like America,
immersed in A No-Holds-Barred, No-Quarter-Given War on Drugs."
"Like the bishop who burned Hardy's books, none of them
could even guess that they were twenty or thirty years behind the times;
that history had already passed them by;
that their moral stance was just a shadow;
that the world had begun to move on."
M. Degas Teaches Art & Science
"M. Degas/pursed his lips, and the room
stilled until the long hand/of the clock moved to twenty one
as though in complicity with Gertrude,/
who added confidently,
You've begun/to separate the dark from the dark."
"after a few nights/
the job is finished
the leather throat of the angel/
is full of gluey agreement
how beautiful is the moment/
when he falls on his knees
incarnate into guilt/
saturated with contents..."
Disability and "Bravery"
This will lead you back through previous issues of RALPH
(at least as far back as Winter, 1994 - 1995.)
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The Folio
Titles, authors, and publishers
of all books reviewed in RALPH ---
arranged chronologically.
1995 1996 1997 1998
1999 (Early) 1999 (Late)
San Diego CA 92176
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