Aye, Dickey Mo!

[ckaratnytsky]

     No quarrel with The Quail's balanced and generous take on Laurie 
     Anderson.  (Said without irony.)  A few points:
     
     >I was also uncomfortable with some of her monologues -- I normally 
     >like Laurie's stories, but some of these seemed labored, hurried, and 
     >lacking in any real depth.  (There were a few good ones, though -- I 
     >especially liked the piece about "caught fish" vs. "free fish.")
     
     An endorsement of the first sentiment, from the (yes) *expanded* version 
     of my Moby Dick review:
     
     Other times, she sat in a big white chair and held her red-shod feet 
     out to us as if she were Lily Tomlin's Edith Ann about to puff her 
     chest and splurt "ahnd that's the trufth" after telling how the sperm 
     whale got its name.  Or, she sat in a small white chair and shared her 
     small impressions, holding her tattered copy of Moby Dick as proof 
     she'd read it.  See?  Except she looked and sounded as if Moby Dick 
     were as vexingly inexplicable as advice from a caterpillar and 
     Melville--the devil!--were Lewis Carroll, trying put one over on 
     Alice.  My advice?  It's a book.  Read the words.  And that's the 
     truth.
     
     (I'm harsh and mean and I don't care.  Tee-hee!)
     
     Now, Quaily, as far as the "fast fish/loose fish" speech:  this was a 
     complete and utter hash of Melville's gorgeous work on that subject.  
     It pained me to hear it.
     
     About Ahab:  I regret (sort of) having so much fun with that 
     characterization.  (But I like to have fun!  Fun is good!)  I pretty 
     much agree with your assessment.  In fact, me and Ruthie thought the 
     "Mechanical Man" song quite Pynchonian, don't you?
     
     >I think her Ginsberg snippet, used on the Talking Stick, was one of 
     >the better moments. Now, how it related to Moby Dick, I am not so 
     >sure. . . .
     
     Exactly why I found it gratiutous self-puffery.  It pissed me off, 
     really.  A-and:  Stick schmick.
     
     >And second of all, Laurie is a genuine Pynchon fan, 
     
     Gawd, with any luck, less than she is a Melville fan.
     
     Given that she'd begun the program notes recounting how her Moby Dick 
     adaptation had been commissioned as a project for high school 
     students, after 90 minutes of listening to it, you had to reckon those 
     kids were lucky the project fell through.  In the Pynchon household, 
     where young Jackson is no doubt lobbying The Silent One on a daily 
     basis to get hip with a screenplay or cd-Rom Project or SUMFIN, Dad, I 
     mean, rilly, I envision much rejoicing, at least by one member of the 
     family.  Right again!
     
     Kiss kiss, me matey!  I luvs ya!
     
     Chris
     
     P.S.
     
     >No, Laurie Anderson gives "Performance Art" a good name. What's the 
     >alternative? Karen Finley or Lydia Lunch?
     
     Eeeeeeeeeek.  John Strausbaugh's hard-hitting piece on Finley in last 
     week's NY Press says it ALL.