words as a weapon

"His war against puritans is what his liberal admirers have in mind when they argue that he should be 'celebrated and remembered' as 'a tremendous liberating force in American culture.' Nowhere has this belief been explained more dramatically (or, in light of the charges of racism so often leveled at him, more relevantly) than in Richard Wright's Black Boy, a copy of which can be found on the shelves of the Mencken Room. Mencken himself marked this passage from the final chapter:

'A block away from the library I opened one of [Mencken's] books and read a title: A Book of Prefaces. I was nearing my nineteenth birthday and I did not know how to pronounce the word "preface." I thumbed the pages and saw strange words and strange names. I shook my head disappointed. I looked at the other book; it was called Prejudices. I knew what that word meant; I had heard it all my life. And right off I was on guard. . . . That night in my rented room, while letting the hot water run over my can of pork and beans in the sink, I opened A Book of Prefaces and began to read. I was jarred and shocked by the style, the clear, clean, sweeping sentences. Why did he write like that? And how did one write like that? . . . He was using words as a weapon, using them as one would use a club. Could words be weapons? Well, yes, for here they were. Then, maybe, perhaps, I could use them as weapon? No. It frightened me. I read and what amazed me was not what he said, but how on earth anybody had the courage to say it.'"

~~ from The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken by Terry Teachout

affordable copies

Why pay less when spending more is so easy and free? Right. In other words, if anyone would like a shipped paperback copy of Auggie's Revenge or Fight for Your Long Day, the internet may be able to deliver. There are also affordable copies of Auggie's Revenge at Apple Books, on eBay, for Kindle, as well as at Bookshop and Smashwords, too.

"Use duffel bags."

"Don't be afraid to get rid of stuff."

signed, rare debut novel

Scarcity determines value.

Xi has read the Russians.

It's true.

James Alan McPherson mention

There's a James Alan McPherson mention around 41:20.

Happy Mother's Day

happy birthday

Thomas Pynchon turns 89 today.

61.8

America's Civilian labor force participation rate continues to slide. In the twenty-first century, these 2026 lows have only been matched by the early COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.

What will my sister think?

"That brings me to another question that memoir writers often ask: What about the privacy of the people I write about? Should I leave out things that might hurt or offend my relatives? What will my sister think?

"Don't worry about that problem in advance."

~~ from On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Auggie's Revenge is the book for you.