Slog - Comments on How to Swear Like an African-American Teenage Male, Circa 1985

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:08:25 -0800

Why do I have a sinking feeling that this isn't the last time we'll see someone use the phrase "with your monkey ass" on Slog.

Comment by Aislinn

Aislinn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:18:10 -0800

Dear Paul Constant:

Please post more on Slog.

With much admiration,

Aislinn

Comment by Kiru Banzai

Kiru Banzai — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:05:15 -0800

I'm gratified that I'm not the only person who wishes she'd stopped reading Fortress of Solitude halfway through. Way to make the moral of your complex coming-of-age narrative "You're allowed to sleep with white girls," Lethem.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:18:04 -0800

Wait, I thought the moral was that he was allowed to sleep with black girls. Now I'm all kinds of confused. Do I have to read the second half again?!

Comment by Karlheinz Arschbomber

Karlheinz Arschbomber — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:42:27 -0800

I grew up in Philadelphia during this era. I know all about this form of language. Fuck this shit.

Comment by safsad

safsad — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:08:07 -0800

I liked the story about his friend whom they called "activator".

Comment by Jason E

Jason E — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:08:21 -0800

I didn't think the second half of "Fortress of Solitude" was so terrible. And I don't think the moral was about who he gets to sleep with. To me, it was sort of a Proustian meditation on memory and transformation through time. Plus that business with the neighborhood asshole plummeting to his death while trying to escape prison was a nice twist. Maybe I'm missing something...

Comment by Keith

Keith — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:49:44 -0800

Wish I could have been there. I'm currently passing the slow work days listening to him read from "The Colussus of New York City: A City in Thirteen Parts" over and over again.