Read Online Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker by Henry Finder, David Remnick - Free Book Online
Authors: Henry Finder, David Remnick
Ads: Link
taught to him by André Gide himself.”
When Gisèle and the Basque came out on the roof, Yvonne and the Cuban were already on the court. They were dressed in identical silk kimonos, but the Cuban was also remarkable for his completely shaven head, which glistened in the Parisian sun. The Basque felt a sensual tremor of fear, a primitive dark anxiety. Quickly he said, “
Alors,
shall we warm up?”
They began rallying, and in the frenzy of their exertions the Basque soon forgot himself. His eyes grew brilliant, and his paddle threw off sparks whenever it nicked the wire. He lunged back and forth, attacking and retrieving, and even the caressing wind seemed to burn the heated flesh of his bare torso. He moved to the net, he moved to the baseline, and now he was climbing to the very top of the back fence to pick off a tricky lob. His fall, when it came, was greater than any he had ever known, because he had ventured so far into the game and had abandoned himself to it. He lay on the court for a moment, spent and shuddering, and then, half sobbing, half laughing, he called out to the Cuban, “All right—serve it up!”
Gisèle and the Basque won the first three sets, 6–2, 6–4, 6–3. Then they changed partners.
1978
ROY BLOUNT, JR.
NOTES FROM THE EDGE CONFERENCE
L E F EBVRE, opening remarks:
Don’t know all there is to know about edge. Do know: Misconceptions abound. Fixed? No. Plottable? No. Like line on map, where important things lie on either side? No.
“Sometimes my edge is a round edge.” Now tongue, now groove.
Edge, as in: Lip. Verge. Pungency. To sidle. Advantage. “Near bound of nerves’ end, inside of out.”
(Mutterings.)
Registration packets: Should have been plenty. Ppl. who took more than one should return same.
.
Armentout, “Edges and Hedges: Things That Get in the Way”:
Ppl. say, “I want to live out there close to the edge. But I don’t want to look funny.”
Cf. Gary Busey. Look at him first time: “Damn, no
way
that man can be a star.” But: “Sure, the man looks funny at first—anybody they thought of to play Buddy Holly had to look a little funny right off. But next thing you know, hey, he’s
out
there.”
Beyond
a star. Where it is. Raising hell in the social notes. “Jumping into people’s sets, man.”
.
Hully, Perl, Tibbett Panel, “Getting Words in Edgewise”:
“Outfit” self for E.? (Figurative goose down, asbestos.) Whole industry growing up. But is to gear for it to be not out close to it? Or to . . . temper it? Perhaps.
Out on E. for its own sake, or should we wait until propelled there by just cause? Hard question. Finally unanswerable.
Diff. ppl. higher/lower threshold of E.?
“I mean, I’ll start a sentence sometimes and halfway have to stop
—skreek!—
not on the edge anymore. But the first half . . .”
“Would you be interested in approaching the edge again, possibly in a more definitive manner?”
“Well . . .”
“Or a less definitive one?”
“Ah!”
Diff. cultures, diff. E.s. Navaho: Whole notion of edge as maze. (Maize?)
.
Out on E., as compared to “hip”:
Rohle: “Yeah, but whoever heard of ‘The Razor’s Hip’?”
Many ppl. hip. Well, to be fair, not
many—
not untold numbers. More aren’t.
Basic point of hip: Certain people know you know what. “You know, it’s a
social
thing.”
Hip: Pick up on yet unassimilated Black English. “Come on over to the crib and we’ll . . .” “This johnson.” Call everything a “johnson.”
For some ppl., hip not enough.
.
Van Roud II, on Loss of E.:
“Suddenly this sinking sensation. Put a foot out one way, and . . . solid ground.
“Put it out the other way, and . . . solid ground.
“I was in some kind of Kansas of the mind—Sunday afternoon of the soul. I said, ‘Whoa, get back.’ I was
upset.
”
.
Stapenink, “Lines: Toward a Definition”:
Where does closeness to E. begin? Is there fine line separating area within which one may be said to be out
When Gisèle and the Basque came out on the roof, Yvonne and the Cuban were already on the court. They were dressed in identical silk kimonos, but the Cuban was also remarkable for his completely shaven head, which glistened in the Parisian sun. The Basque felt a sensual tremor of fear, a primitive dark anxiety. Quickly he said, “
Alors,
shall we warm up?”
They began rallying, and in the frenzy of their exertions the Basque soon forgot himself. His eyes grew brilliant, and his paddle threw off sparks whenever it nicked the wire. He lunged back and forth, attacking and retrieving, and even the caressing wind seemed to burn the heated flesh of his bare torso. He moved to the net, he moved to the baseline, and now he was climbing to the very top of the back fence to pick off a tricky lob. His fall, when it came, was greater than any he had ever known, because he had ventured so far into the game and had abandoned himself to it. He lay on the court for a moment, spent and shuddering, and then, half sobbing, half laughing, he called out to the Cuban, “All right—serve it up!”
Gisèle and the Basque won the first three sets, 6–2, 6–4, 6–3. Then they changed partners.
1978
ROY BLOUNT, JR.
NOTES FROM THE EDGE CONFERENCE
L E F EBVRE, opening remarks:
Don’t know all there is to know about edge. Do know: Misconceptions abound. Fixed? No. Plottable? No. Like line on map, where important things lie on either side? No.
“Sometimes my edge is a round edge.” Now tongue, now groove.
Edge, as in: Lip. Verge. Pungency. To sidle. Advantage. “Near bound of nerves’ end, inside of out.”
(Mutterings.)
Registration packets: Should have been plenty. Ppl. who took more than one should return same.
.
Armentout, “Edges and Hedges: Things That Get in the Way”:
Ppl. say, “I want to live out there close to the edge. But I don’t want to look funny.”
Cf. Gary Busey. Look at him first time: “Damn, no
way
that man can be a star.” But: “Sure, the man looks funny at first—anybody they thought of to play Buddy Holly had to look a little funny right off. But next thing you know, hey, he’s
out
there.”
Beyond
a star. Where it is. Raising hell in the social notes. “Jumping into people’s sets, man.”
.
Hully, Perl, Tibbett Panel, “Getting Words in Edgewise”:
“Outfit” self for E.? (Figurative goose down, asbestos.) Whole industry growing up. But is to gear for it to be not out close to it? Or to . . . temper it? Perhaps.
Out on E. for its own sake, or should we wait until propelled there by just cause? Hard question. Finally unanswerable.
Diff. ppl. higher/lower threshold of E.?
“I mean, I’ll start a sentence sometimes and halfway have to stop
—skreek!—
not on the edge anymore. But the first half . . .”
“Would you be interested in approaching the edge again, possibly in a more definitive manner?”
“Well . . .”
“Or a less definitive one?”
“Ah!”
Diff. cultures, diff. E.s. Navaho: Whole notion of edge as maze. (Maize?)
.
Out on E., as compared to “hip”:
Rohle: “Yeah, but whoever heard of ‘The Razor’s Hip’?”
Many ppl. hip. Well, to be fair, not
many—
not untold numbers. More aren’t.
Basic point of hip: Certain people know you know what. “You know, it’s a
social
thing.”
Hip: Pick up on yet unassimilated Black English. “Come on over to the crib and we’ll . . .” “This johnson.” Call everything a “johnson.”
For some ppl., hip not enough.
.
Van Roud II, on Loss of E.:
“Suddenly this sinking sensation. Put a foot out one way, and . . . solid ground.
“Put it out the other way, and . . . solid ground.
“I was in some kind of Kansas of the mind—Sunday afternoon of the soul. I said, ‘Whoa, get back.’ I was
upset.
”
.
Stapenink, “Lines: Toward a Definition”:
Where does closeness to E. begin? Is there fine line separating area within which one may be said to be out
Similar Books
