omnium gatherum, n. : a collection of many different, often unsorted, ideas or items.

Falling in love with the Paris Review DNA project...


"INTERVIEWER

Do you feel you're in command when you're writing?

GINSBERG

Sometimes I feel in command when I'm writing. When I'm in the heat of some truthful tears, yes. Then, complete command. Other times—most of the time not. Just diddling away, woodcarving, getting a pretty shape; like most of my poetry. There's only a few times when I reach a state of complete command. Probably a piece of Howl, a piece of Kaddish, and a piece of The Change. And one or two moments of other poems.

INTERVIEWER

By command do you mean a sense of the whole poem as it's going, rather than parts?

GINSBERG

No—a sense of being self-prophetic master of the universe. "


Game, set, match. Brilliant, Allen, hysterically, characteristically you, and simply brilliant.

Also, this interview with Saul Bellow is amazing. I wish I could excerpt from it.

Link here.

Posted: Sunday - May 07, 2006 at 01:07 AM       |


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