ATDTDA (5): The American Corporation

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

ok, so I finally picked up a copy of Harrington's the
Other America (which Dave has so kindly cited,
oh, once or twice) and there's a remarkable passage
in there to the effect that (sorry, I'm not holding
the book - I have a remarkably disorganized house,
for so small a place - no doubt reflects my mind -
I read somewhere Pynchon was surprised and abhorred
how untidy people's cars were - I think Fiedler
has a passage on that on an ancient p-list posting,
plus there is a passage in Lot 49 about all the
old junk Mucho Maas found in people's cars and
how sad it was - I recently cleaned out my car
which is like a piece of performance art and was
glad Pynchon was not there, as it would have made
him very sad - if he ever comes over to my house
I will have to clean up - maybe I should start now,
against that day...) 'these people's story deserves
a great novelist, but I [Michael Harrington] am not
that novelist' and I was thinking what if that
stirred Pynchon...

socially conscious naturalism like Zola and Sinclair
Lewis might have been what Harrington had in mind,
but perhaps the call to action acted on Pynchon...

because he obviously has the understanding to 
appreciate the "good" side of corporations, how
they allow great projects to be undertaken and
how they are a superior form of enterprise...how
stock markets allow many to participate...

but in focusing on the untold story of the preterite, 
yet writing in a style aimed at the elect, has he
chosen a strategy that might be a reminder of
the improvements that need to be made before
capitalism can be truly proud of itself?  because
come on, it's a darn sight better than the feudal
system or the Roman Empire, isn't it?