Interview with Chrissie, thanks to Muscaro, etc.

[Jules Siegel]

ckaratnytsky at nypl.org wrote:
> 
>      Dear Guilty in DC,
> 
>      Just wanted to let you know that I was glad to read your recent
>      comments re the online interview with Chrissie.  I share your
>      feelings.  I have been concerned that I have been giving in to
>      my baser instincts by reading the interview -- and I disagree,
>      btw, with Jules that this is like feeling guilty about jerking off.
>      For me, it's a matter of not liking the fact that I've done something
>      that I know is unkind or unpleasant or distasteful to someone who has
>      made their feelings/wishes about it clear.
> 
>      Not feelin' holier than thou here, just a bit regretful...
> 
>      Guilty in NY,
> 
>      Chris
> 

Dear Chris (and all),

I haven't looked at my mail yet this morning, so I don't know what the
reaction was to Humbert & Lolita, but one reason Chrissie was so mad is
that she feels that Tom exploited her and ridiculed her in Gravity's
Rainbow. She had no idea he was going to write about her (and me, I
guess, although I never looked for myself) in this way (and others that
I haven't bothered to look into). She never got anything for it. Neither
did I, and he had the nerve even to use my name in one of his stories. I
was wondering if this insight causes you to change your opinion in any
way about this issue. "Do unto others...." So he's a great artist and
that gives him certain prerogatives. Some people (Chrissie among them)
feel I'm a great artist too. What gives here?

More importantly, Faera is going to be in New York next week. We really
are desperate for books, so if your offer to help out on this is still
open, can she look you up when she gets there? Any special place or
time? I don't know if you were on the Pynchon article posting list, so
I'm repeating below the advice about this I had there.

Maybe others who have books they'd like to contribute can coordinate
with you, as the mails to Cancun are really slow.

I am under strict instructions from the $uperego $quad here to get back
to work and stop fooling around on-line. If you really need to hear from
me, please put "Jules, reply" in the subject line, as I am going to try
not even to look into my mail for a few days. I'm sure that there's a
more elegant way to do this, but I don't know what it is.

Meanwhile, my heartfelt thanks to all of you (especially to John
Muscaro, who provoked what I felt was the high point of our exchange
here, "A Midnight Visit With the Werewolf") for allowing me to be a
guest and for your always thought-provoking reactions to my comments. I
am going to see if I can get Chrissie to tell us more via Robert's offer
to put her on-line, but I'm sure that you can all understand that this
was a highly emotionally-charged experience for her and she needs some
time to absorb it all. I think she'll be much more generous to Tom if
she gets some supportive feedback, which I will transmit to her via
Robert until he gets her set up on-line. She's not much of a nerd, but
she wants to learn.

As always,


Jules

---------------------------------Book
Call------------------------------------------

If you enjoy this article and wish to show me your appreciation, you can
send any book of your choice, used or new, to APDO 1764, CANCUN, Q. ROO
77501. See instructions below. I will reply personally to any letter I
receive, but I will appreciate your telling me a little about yourself
and what you do professionally, as it will help me understand you
better.

In addition to our omnivorous reading tastes, Anita and I enjoy decent
heterosexual erotica, but please don't send us anything with offensive
hard-core illustrations, as it might be confiscated at customs and cause
us problems. Eli, 15, is a super science nerd and has a reading level of
a high school senior or better, loves science fiction. Jesse, 12, is an
artist who wants to be an architect. He reads about a year or two above
his age. He needs Walter Foster drawing books and any other books on
technique (me too). Your old humanities and English literature text
books will be thrilling for Eli and Jesse. They both read Spanish
fluently, too. Faera, 25, is studying psychoanalysis. I would especially
appreciate copies of Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland. Any books that are
duplicates or that we don't want to keep will be donated to the library
of the Casa de la Cultura de Cancún.

Anyone who sends us a book will receive on of my famous Awards of Merit
for Service to Humanity, endorsed with his/her/its name in type, highly
suitable for framing and displaying to thwart accusations of social
uselessness. Be sure to include the full name in clear upper and lower
case, preferably neatly typed. Send us an e-mail, too, so we can be on
the look-out for your mail and let you know if it doesn't arrive within
two months. 

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not under any circumstances put anything illegal in
anything you send us, no matter how well you think it is concealed. We
don't need anything like that and we definitely do not need the very
serious grief that will result if something illegal is found at customs.
All packages are opened and inspected by hand, as well as by sniffer
dogs, not just spot-checked. Cancun is a super high security zone and
resembles Singapore in many ways more than Mexico. They are mostly
looking for weapons and bombs, but if they find dope they can get quite
nasty.

The quickest way to send things from the United States is by the United
States Postal Service Express Mail--about $10.50 for up to 500 grams, I
think. Gets here in 3-5 days. You can also use the book rate, which will
get here in three to six weeks. A really great trick is to attach a
registered air mail letter to the package. You then pay the registered
air mail rate for the letter and the book rate for the book, but it goes
air mail. If someone tells you that registered mail doesn't go to Mexico
(this happened to Anita's mother), ask to speak to a supervisor.

-- 
Jules Siegel http://www.caribe.net.mx/siegel/jsiegel.htm
Mail: Apdo. 1764 Cancun QR 77501 Mexico
Street: Green 16 Paseo Pok-Ta-Pok Zona Hotelera Cancun QR 77500 Mexico
Tel: 011-52-98 87-49-18 Fax 87-49-13 E-mail: jsiegel at mail.caribe.net.mx