The List

[still lookin 4 the face i had b4 the world was made]

On Wed, 7 May 1997 MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu wrote:
> venture only to note that it's an illusion to think TRP's seclusion makes
> him *purely a writer*.  This is the postmodern world, Max, as you
> obviously well know from the drift of your thought.  TRP's seclusion makes
> him *the secluded* writer.  Not at all the *pure* writer.  Try as he and
> we might, TRP's *absence* is its own presence.  We--factor in--this
> knowledge when we read him; it affects how we read him, and what we read
> about him.

Well...yes...but to my way of thinking that's not that different from what
I said.  I'm not sure what you thought I meant by calling him "purely a
writer," or what I meant for that matter.  In any case, his absence (or
presence-as-absence, if you prefer) as a conventional media celebrity is
to me heartening.  One could speculate that he is just making himself all
the more famous by his seclusion.  I prefer to speculate (and as I noted
orginally, it is only speculation) that his Motive, if we dare speak of
such an essential force, is to be understood purely through his writing.

What I guess you are saying is that his non-"celebrity" is another factor
in our understanding of him.  Okay, sure.  His writings + his "seclusion" =
six of one, half a dozen of the other.  Any Way You Slice It,-- &c.  :)

Max

P.S.  I try to stay afloat in morass of postmodernism(s), but I don't
really feel in my element.  

M a x i m u s  D a v i d  C l a r k e | Some ideas are so stupid
         http://www.afn.org/~traveler | that only intellectuals
                "Surrealist-At-Large" | could believe them.
                     traveler at afn.org | --Michael Levine