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News & ArtsWednesday, April 15, 2009
Books Wag Swagger
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 3:45 PM
The Rumpus points to Wag's Revue, a new online literary magazine. I can hear you yawning in the back. Well, stop it. I especially like this bit, from the manifesto:
This issue includes interviews with Dave Eggers, n+1 founder Mark Greif, an essay about whether you are "a hipster or a douchebag," and a story by Brian Evenson, the author of the creepy-great Last Days.
2
Fail. The website layout tries so hard to look like a paper magazine, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to read online. Print media has not failed at moving online because they've not yet been able to tame the internet's freedom. They've failed at moving online because they keep applying print-isms to a web world. Once they realize that, they might find themselves relevant again.
3
2 hit the nail on the head. The vast majority of literary people (or humanities people in general) are not good at computers and this is a classic example.
No amount of literary brilliance will be successful on the internet if they simply look at the web as digital pieces of paper.
No amount of literary brilliance will be successful on the internet if they simply look at the web as digital pieces of paper.
4
Paul, there is no difference between a hipster and a douchebag, and I defy you to provide any evidence to the contrary.
And by the way, that was my yawn you heard.
And by the way, that was my yawn you heard.
5
Actually, The hipster douche essay was pretty solid. Fun to read, well-thought out etc. Even if the ultimate conceit was: hipster=obscurity, douche=normalcy. The author was better at describing the nuances of douches over hipsters. He failed to connect the dots on how a hipster's aversion to sentimentality and cliche can lead to what I call a sort of hipster autism where infantilism meets an everything sucks nihilism meets pretending that you're on whip-its. This is how a hipster I once knew got arrested for shop-lifting fake blood.
6
They claim that "no journal has yet succeeded in marrying the editorial rigors of print to the freedoms of the internet", but as far as I can tell, that's just a highfalutin way of saying "we're better/prettier/smarter than all those other online-only journals". And I'm not particularly swayed by that, as an argument. Ok, so, it's a manifesto--that sort of crap is to be expected. Still, weak. Kanye West may have said it best: I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM.
We at WAG'S REVUE are intent on revolutionizing online literature. We wish to create something entirely of the internet, never printed and never meant to be printed, but with all the editorial and aesthetic controls that entice people to read and trust the finest printed media.For something "entirely of the internet", it sure does look like what you'd get if you scanned every page of a print magazine: not searchable, not indexable by search engines, inaccessible to people with visual impairment. The javascript cut-up "Blue Hyacinth" is neat, and something you couldn't easily do in a print journal, but I'm not seeing the revolution here.
They claim that "no journal has yet succeeded in marrying the editorial rigors of print to the freedoms of the internet", but as far as I can tell, that's just a highfalutin way of saying "we're better/prettier/smarter than all those other online-only journals". And I'm not particularly swayed by that, as an argument. Ok, so, it's a manifesto--that sort of crap is to be expected. Still, weak. Kanye West may have said it best: I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM.
8
I got to page 7 of the On Douchebags article before I agreed with the first impression of the author (a douchebag) and quit to read more Slog.
9
I was all set to give this E-gonquin Round Table a whirl, but onFirstClick() I'm confronted by a page that is 100 percent flash.
Bzzzzt.
Look, the web is about text, script and mostly text.
I think having an editor to distill the mix is great.
But at the same time, getting away from the highbrows is what this scene is all about.
Bzzzzt.
Look, the web is about text, script and mostly text.
I think having an editor to distill the mix is great.
But at the same time, getting away from the highbrows is what this scene is all about.
11
These elaborate, nuanced definitions of hipster and douchebag are useless. In actual usage both words are generic insults to describe anybody you don't like, for almost any reason. I'm thinking of collecting a very long list of quotes to prove that these words are applied in response to virtually the full range of attitudes and behavior, and thus no longer describe anything coherent.
But I'm too busy making a list of popular votes to grant fundamental rights to a minority, just to prove another point.
OK. Since you asked. One is the Australian referendum of 1967: Aboriginal rights.
But I'm too busy making a list of popular votes to grant fundamental rights to a minority, just to prove another point.
OK. Since you asked. One is the Australian referendum of 1967: Aboriginal rights.
13
@9, it's worse than that. It's not even Flash, it's text rendered as images. And the text isn't even rendered sharply. At least if it were Flash the text would be readable and page loads would be faster.
@10, if the goal is to make sure nobody wants to (or can) read your content, it would absolutely work for smaller newspapers online.
@10, if the goal is to make sure nobody wants to (or can) read your content, it would absolutely work for smaller newspapers online.
15
The internet is considered low class writing is because readers are not paying professional writers to express their opinions and thoughts in print. For professional high class newspaper reading I suggest The Wall Street Journal instead. (said paper is also on line I believe).<>
16
It's an engaging and thoughtful essay, though name-dropping the monastery where the author stayed and studied smells a little douchey. Or is that hipsterish? I'm still confused.
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