NP Ebonics (was It ain't only Rock & Roll, it's Jazz too)

[Richard Ryan]

VLADIMIR:
Listen!
(They listen, grotesquely rigid.)
ESTRAGON:
I hear nothing.
VLADIMIR:
Hsst! (They listen. Estragon loses his balance, almost falls. He clutches
the arm of Vladimir, who totters. They listen, huddled together.) Nor I.
(Sighs of relief. They relax and separate.)
ESTRAGON:
You gave me a fright.
VLADIMIR:
I thought it was he.
ESTRAGON:
Who?
VLADIMIR:
Terrance.
ESTRAGON:
Pah! The wind in the reeds.
VLADIMIR:
I could have sworn I heard shouts.
ESTRAGON:
And why would he shout?
VLADIMIR:
About ebonics.
(Silence.)
ESTRAGON:
(violently) I'm bored!
VLADIMIR:
Do you want to talk about Pynchon?
ESTRAGON:
Is that all there is to talk about?
VLADIMIR:
We might be able to talk about David Foster Wallace.
ESTRAGON:
Read some Pynchon to me. (Vladimir rummages in his pockets, takes out a
dog-eared copy of The Recognitions and starts to read it to Estragon, who
shouts angrily:)
That's Gaddis!
VLADIMIR:
Oh pardon! I could have sworn it was Pynchon......


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org]On
> Behalf Of Paul Mackin
> Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 9:36 AM
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: NP Ebonics (was It ain't only Rock & Roll, it's Jazz too)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, 2003-03-15 at 23:48, David Morris wrote:
> > >
> > > In a message dated 3/15/03 12:50:23 AM, vze422fs at verizon.net writes:
> > >
> > >
> > > > Believe it or not, I think Terrance is owed an apology here.
> >
> > T E R R A N C E
> >
> > What ARE you?
> >
> > Are
> > You
> > ?
> >
> > Hmmmmmmmmmm...
> >
> > EYE Pall low juice Ice
> >
> > ://webhosting.yahoo.com
>
> What DID we take Terrance for?  Well, I instantly pictured  him as  a
> heavy  imbiber or former imbiber of the magical elixir that springs from
> the ground of that small island on the edge of Europe, the self same
> drinking water that nourished Swift, Wilde, Joyce and multitudinous
> other great writers--this all notwithstanding the fact that Terrance
> almost never tried to write either clearly or well.He could do both when
> he wanted to. But the key word here is when. Above all, at times
> something incredibly strange could be turned lose. Which with a little
> bit a editing might have been, well, who knows . . . .
>
> That was the beginning.  Now I know Terrance is even more complex than
> I'd thought.More complex than I know or imagined.
>
> P.
>
>