Books Two Things You Should Read
posted by on March 3 at 11:14 AM
Over at the New York Review of Books, the ever-delightful (except for that one book) Nicholson Baker goes on at length about Wikipedia:
The Pop-Tarts page is often aflutter. Pop-Tarts, it says as of today (February 8, 2008), were discontinued in Australia in 2005. Maybe that’s true. Before that it said that Pop-Tarts were discontinued in Korea. Before that Australia. Several days ago it said: “Pop-Tarts is german for Little Iced Pastry O’ Germany.” Other things I learned from earlier versions: More than two trillion Pop-Tarts are sold each year. George Washington invented them. They were developed in the early 1960s in China. Popular flavors are “frosted strawberry, frosted brown sugar cinnamon, and semen.” Pop-Tarts are a “flat Cookie.” No: “Pop-Tarts are a flat Pastry, KEVIN MCCORMICK is a FRIGGIN LOSER notto mention a queer inch.” No: “A Pop-Tart is a flat condom.” Once last fall the whole page was replaced with “NIPPLES AND BROCCOLI!!!!!”
And then, at the New York Times Book Review, Colson Whitehead, who I adore, is talking about the problems with being a writer from Brooklyn when everybody who lives in Brooklyn is a writer:
In fact, the physical act of moving your possessions from Manhattan to Brooklyn is now the equivalent of a two-year M.F.A. program. When you get to the other side, they hand you three Moleskine notebooks and a copy of Blogging for Dummies. You’re good to go.
A lot of this article was previously read at Whitehead’s Seattle Arts and Lectures talk, but his writing is always worth a look, especially when he goes on about that old film, The Warriors.
Just wanted to say keep up the good work paul. your posts lately have been great and informative. hope you guys don't keep score based on comments generated, because your stuff has been a revelation on slog.
I like Colson Whitehead too, although the only book of his that's stuck in my head is The Intuitionist (the elevator one).
Baker's criticism of Wikipedia is years out of date. The problem with it now is not meaningless junk-culture articles full of protean junk, but serious articles drowning under their own weight. Too many articles have been attacked by "experts" who cannot write for a general audience, and who feel that microscopic technical detail more appropriate for a medical textbook or a PhD dissertation no one will ever read is more important than clarity.
In addition, the franchise of administrators has been extended well into the kook community, leading to articles where the actual information is buried beneath mountains of trivia. The article on "Super Tuesday" will inform you immediately that James Carville thinks it should be called "Tsunami Tuesday" long before you get to any real description of it, or the electoral results.
When I worked for [corporate overlord bookstore], I kept recommending The Fermata, but my manager never put it out on the shelf. Hmm...
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