"From Hell's heart I stab at thee......"

I told Alan Cheuse, and now I'm telling you. Thomas Pynchon's lit'ry destiny is to become the Herman Melville of the 20th century. Melville was never a best seller, though he attracted attention with his "wicked book", Moby Dick. His publisher did not sell all 3,000 copies of the first printing. All of his work was out of print by 1876; Melville died in 1891.

Biographies of this obscure author began to appear in the 1920's. The "Melville Revival" was on. Even Lewis Mumford, an American historian of technology, penned a decent bio. Moby Dick contains a great deal of technical detail on whales, the hunting of them, and all aspects of whaler life, so I can see Mumford's attraction. I enjoy them as well.

This level of detail makesMoby Dick an 'encyclopedic' novel, just like Gravity's Rainbow, The Recognitions, Cryptonomicon (A 3-page essay on the proper way to eat Cap'n Crunch cereal,gotta love it!), and Soul Mountain. This style of novel is tricky to pull off, as too many tangents will lose the novel's forward motion. The success(or not)of the novel depends on the reader; if they throw it against the wall at p.26, it may be deemed a failure. Encyclopedic novels generally are not experimental; they just have a great deal of interesting (or not) information in them.

I have recently seen T Pynchon's latest novel, Against the Day, on the bargain/remainder pile at the local big box bookstore. It is the start of Pynchon's fade. Don't worry: his rep will enjoy a resurgence in the 2020's. You heard it here first.

"The Americans are your Italians": DAK officer to Desert Rat captor

Some odds and ends from the last few weeks:
A professional conference just before Halloween where I received my annual scare. The geeks are in charge of the original "long tail" organization, and their big machines and tiny brains have created a new clothes that will not stand up.Libraries ain't what they used to be: "It's all online now, Scott". O yeah, mis-spelled and incorrect.

Halloween, an absurd derivative day (ain't they all).

The first of November, to Italy, on a belated wedding anniversary trip. Flew the 747 chicken-bus, DC to Frankfurt, got to wait 4 hours before the flight to Venice. I exchanged courtesies with the Authorities, then I explored, as is my wont. Never did find the museum in the basement I had read about.

Then the whirlwind. Venice, Pisa, Florence (Machiavelli's home town, my fav-o-rite, even after 35 years), Sorrento, a sidetrip to Pompeii, then to Rome just in time for Veteran's day. I saw an Ariete tank and a Pegasus 8-wheeled vehicle with a 105mm gun, parked for display near Circus Maximus. "Just enough firepower to get into trouble" as recon officers quip.Leaving Rome, a quick Airbus with legroom (o frabjous day!); another 4 hours in Frankfurt but I had paperwork to complete before leaving Euro space. VAT. Try to get that done at 0730, even in Germany. I did, eventually.

Random images: The fourth version of Monte Cassino, I can see why it was such a thumb in the eye to the allies. Sorrento lemons, the size of a basketball.The Pope, a bowshot away, delivering his Sunday greeting to the Missus and I and 10-15k of our closest friends. The Italian Navy band, forming up and marching from mid-terrace on the Spanish Steps, dressed in uniforms reminiscent of Adm. Dewey's navy. A huge Buddha on a railroad overpass, advertising an exhibit. The older gentleman stopping me on the street to congratulate "Ameriga" on the election of Obama. A quick transit strike on Monday, hey it's a hobby.Many more moments, tedious to you but memories for me. And the food, o the food....

A good dish.

We're getting the first nip in the air in the evenings. Time to break out the chicken chasseur recipe.

I collect chasseur/cacciatore/hunter style recipes.I use Jacques Pepin's recipe (or "receipt",archaically,locally). His recipe is a good baseline to start with. I admire Pepin. He knows the value of work. I bumped into his work early on, before I could do more than boil water; he was head chef of recipe development for Howard Johnson restaurants. They held sole restaurant rights on the Pennsylvania Turnpike many years ago, a true cash cow. I digress, back to chasseur chicken; see the whole point is, what is to hand. A handful of gathered mushrooms (know your ingredients,ahem, very important);some wild onion;a bit of tomato,not a lot; a tot of wine or vermouth; and at the end, tarragon.Sufficient festering time yields a warming comfort food. Pepin's recipe, strangely and presumably to add an acid (why not a vinegar), uses a tablespoon of soy sauce.

Greater minds must help on this question; in the meanwhile I will delve into my latest treasure: a copy of LaRousse Gastronomique,co-translated by Patience Gray. I heartily recommend her flinty prose in Honey From a Weed. My Yankee bargain-hunter side is pleased to have bought LRG for $2.00. Works out to about .20/lb.

"After victory, tighten your helmet cords": Why I like to be a librarian, #1.

Torn from an e-mail:

Also, Project Vote Smart’s purple bus (purple being a blend of blue and red, i.e., bipartisan) will be at the Headquarters library on October 13, from 5-7 p.m. Stop by and pick up information about voting, candidates, issues, and more.

The rush is being at the synaptical point connecting people and information.A safe but ohso satisfying jolt. From a story hour to the proper tax form ("but nevernever advice"), we are there in easy times and hard times.

Our whack is coming, omysistersandbrothers; recession in American means "gut them libraries, people don't read anymore". I remember a recession in a different grid co-ordinate from where I currently serve. There was a great weeping and gnashing of teeth at the cutbacks, closings, and dismissals. Gird up, the boulder is on the way down the hill.

What can we do? Our job, well:focus on basics, emphasize the value of libraries in your communities, and talk up your library when opportunities arise.Keep your heads down and move quickly.

An article I read is informative. The author argues the true model for our current financial shitstorm is not the Depression of 1929, but the Panic of 1873 .

Welcome to the Banana Republic.

The Plan did not pass. The Media are running around waving their arms, doing their job: scaring the American people. They join their Siamese twin, the executive branch, in fear mongering. "Iraq has WMD's": a lie. "Mission accomplished": a lie. "Waterboarding is not torture": a lie. The lies are endless. Congrats, W: you and your cohorts in the "ahl bidness" and associated industries have turned America into a dirty banana republic, like Florida, Louisiana, or Texas.

When people wanted to protest at the Republican convention in 2004, they were herded into "free speech zones" blocks and blocks away. The America I grew up in was a free speech zone: no more. I was in the sixth grade when JFK was shot, and it has been steadily downhill since then. Soldiers in Vietnam who tortured prisoners, if discovered, were court-martialed (well,anyone at or below the rank of Captain:that is another rant) and put away. Now torture is just another tool. An American mother will regret that decision someday. Our beloved leaders tell us it is not torture. If waterboarding is not torture, W., put your vice pres. on national tv for a demonstration.

If you think I am picking on the Republicans, fear not: The Democrats are just as bad. Like Ralph Nader said: There is not a dime's difference between either party nowadays. They are all swine. Bill Clinton, to look like a badass who was tough on crime, suspended his first presidential campaign just to go back to his home state to oversee the execution of a retarded prisoner. It's all spin and no substance now.

My suggestion: Khmer Rouge DC and Wall Street, drive the brutes away from the troughs, out into the countryside. The fresh air will do them good, and they can raise pigs, since they are such experts on pork.