John Williams’ novel Stoner tells, in minimalist fashion, the story of William Stoner, a farm boy who becomes an professor of literature specializing in the classics and grammar and then spends his entire career—his entire life—at a small southern university, trapped by the politics of academia and his failed marriage. But somehow it’s a gripping work; I found myself waking at 2a to spend a few hours more reading.

WORK

Still smiling and ironically malevolent, he turned to Stoner. “Nor do you escape, my friend. No indeed. Who are you? A simple son of the soil, as you pretend to yourself? Oh, no. You, too, are among the infirm—you are the dreamer, the madman in a madder world, our own midwestern Don Quixote without his Sancho, gamboling under the blue sky. You’re bright enough—brighter anyhow than our mutual friend. But you have the taint, the old infirmity. You think there’s something here, something to find. Well, in the world you’d learn soon enough. You, too, are cut out for failure; not that you’d fight the world. You’d let it chew you up and spit you out, and you’d lie there wondering what was wrong. Because you’d always expect the world to be something it wasn’t, something it had no wish to be. The weevil in the cotton, the worm in the beanstalk, the borer in the corn. You couldn’t face them, and you couldn’t fight them; because you’re too weak, and you’re too strong. And you have no place to go in the world.”

—John WIlliams
—from Stoner

WORD(S)

quoz. noun or interjection. A ridiculous person or thing; people or things that are absurd. Or, an interjection expressing incredulity. Quoz!, it’s not an official Scrabble word.

“When a man was asked a favour which he did not choose to grant, he marked his sense of the suitor’s unparalleled presumption by exclaiming Quoz! When a mischievous urchin wished to annoy a passenger, and create mirth for his chums, he looked him in the face, and cried out Quoz! When a disputant was desirous of throwing a doubt upon the veracity of his opponent, and getting summarily rid of an argument which he could not overturn, he uttered the word Quoz, with a contemptuous curl of his lip and an impatient shrug of his shoulders. The universal monosyllable conveyed all his meaning…” (Charles Mackay)

“The old quoz is generous, however, I hear, says another, pray do you find him so?” (Fanny Burney)

“So that brings us to quoz: a noun, both singular and plural, referring to anything strange, incongruous, or peculiar; at its heart is the unknown, the mysterious.” (William Least Heat-Moon)

WEB

1. Randy Asplund makes Medieval-style books with great attention to using the exact techniques and materials they used, right down to mixing and creating his own inks, coloring and adhesives using Medieval recipes. And the results, like this 14th century psalter, are rare and beautiful.

2. “I make it a habit to eat whatever’s in the books I’m reading. […] Right now I’m reading the new Murakami, which means I eat pasta while listening to classical music and thinking about cats and wondering what it would be like to live down in a well.” Read more in Patricia Lockwood’s unconventional, occasionally profane, food diary.

3. The Studs Terkel Radio Archive features hundreds of interviews (that will eventually become thousands), with a wide variety of people such Eugene Ionesco, Janis Joplin, Diane Arbus, Marcel Marceau, George Solti, Lillian Gish, Shel Silverstein and Oliver Sacks.

4. I’m a sucker for strange signs in the wilderness, and now the Toynbee Tiles are back…this time in New York City.

5. Today in 1901, self-proclaimed anarchist Leon Czolgosz fatally shot U. S. President William McKinley. Czolgosz plays an important role in Stephen Sondheim’s musical The Assassins, a musical revue about presidential assassins, successful and not. In the Broadway debut, the part of Czolgosz was played by James Barbour, who also played President Jefferson in the American Experience documentary of the same name. Listen to “The Ballad of Czolgosz” as performed by Neil Patrick Harris.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader G. wonders: “Who is Tim Minchin?” — An actor, composer and comedian…often all three at the same time. Try “Inflatable You” or “Prejudice”. Most people love him or hate him.

• Reader M. inquires: “Was the ‘Hold On Higgins’ subject line a few days ago a Magnum PI reference?” — Indeed it was. I’ve only recently given up hope for a reunion television movie…

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