“Intellectual man had become an explaining creature. Fathers to children, wives to husbands, lecturers to listeners, colleagues to colleagues, man to his own soul, explained. The roots of this, the causes of the other, the source of events, the history, the structure, the reasons why. For the most part, in one ear and out the other. The soul wanted what it wanted. It had its own natural knowledge. It sat unhappily on superstructures of explanation, poor bird, not knowing which way to fly.” —Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet Continue reading "You Owe Me an Explanation"…
Posts Tagged ‘Saul Bellow’
Twenty Minutes with Martin Amis
An interview with Martin Amis, by Ronald K. Fried
I was granted a twenty-minute phone interview with Martin Amis, enough time—I’m told—for phone sex, but perhaps not enough for an in-depth literary conversation. Amis, though, was impeccably gracious and obliging, not the intimidating figure sometimes depicted in the press. Conversation centered inevitably on his latest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England. Amis always fires up the critics, and one sometimes wants to ask: Now that you’ve reviewed the book’s publicity and the author’s life, would you care to comment on the new novel? Continue reading "Twenty Minutes with Martin Amis"…
