Jusky's New Books

When in doubt, read the last paragraph of A Moveable Feast: There is never any ending to Paris and...

jusky — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:06:10 -0400

When in doubt, read the last paragraph of A Moveable Feast:

There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.

“Without the presence of black people in America, European-Americans would not be “white”— they...

jusky — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:14:00 -0400

“Without the presence of black people in America, European-Americans would not be “white”— they would be Irish, Italians, Poles, Welsh, and others engaged in class, ethnic, and gender struggles over resources and identity.”

― Cornel West, Race Matters

Sarah Robertson: At the time, it didn't seem like there was much of a choice.

jusky — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:45:36 -0400

Sarah Robertson: At the time, it didn't seem like there was much of a choice.

Eric Dale: It never does.

“A deepity (a term coined by the daughter of my late friend, computer scientist Joseph...

jusky — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:34:00 -0400

“A deepity (a term coined by the daughter of my late friend, computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum) is a proposition that seems both important and true – and profound – but that achieves this effect by being ambiguous. On one reading, it is manifestly false, but it would be earth-shaking if it were true; on the other reading, it is true but trivial. The unwary listener picks up the glimmer of truth from the second reading, and the devastating importance from the first reading, and thinks, Wow! That’s a deepity.

Here is an example (better sit down: this is heavy stuff): Love is just a word.”

—Daniel Dennett, Daniel Dennett’s seven tools for thinking

“How to compose a successful critical commentary: 1. Attempt to re-express your...

jusky — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:22:16 -0400

“How to compose a successful critical commentary:

1. Attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”

2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).

3. Mention anything you have learned from your target.

4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.”

—Daniel Dennett, Daniel Dennett’s seven tools for thinking

"As we saw in “The Da Vinci Code,” there is no thriller-plot convention, however well worn, that..."

jusky — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:45:24 -0400

“As we saw in “The Da Vinci Code,” there is no thriller-plot convention, however well worn, that Brown doesn’t like. The hero has amnesia. He is up against a mad scientist with Nietzschean goals. He’s also up against a deadline: in less than twenty-four hours, he has been told, the madman’s black arts will be forcibly practiced upon the world.”

- Joan Acocella, Dante in Translation and in Dan Brown’s “Inferno”

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."

jusky — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:54:48 -0400

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

- Thoreau.

Adam’s fears include rats and going to the grave with the song still in him.

Somewhere Dan Harmon says that one of his goals for Community was to make people add a drawer to...

jusky — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:06:00 -0400

Somewhere Dan Harmon says that one of his goals for Community was to make people add a drawer to their filing cabinet.

He wanted to make it impossible for anyone to mentally file the show under a category that already exists.

I love that goal so much.

Make people add a drawer to their filing cabinet.

"I moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I..."

jusky — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:27:22 -0400

“I moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I try to apply still today. Listen, say yes, live in the moment, make sure you play with people who have your back, make big choices early and often. Don’t start a scene where two people are talking about jumping out of a plane. Start the scene having already jumped. If you are scared, look into your partner’s eyes. You will feel better.”

- Amy Poehler

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack..."

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:47:00 -0400

“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.”

- Nabakov.

(Man, that is a fucking interesting way to use the phrase “common sense”)

I suspected a lot of you would disagree with me on the highlighting thing and that’s part of...

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:25:30 -0400

I suspected a lot of you would disagree with me on the highlighting thing and that’s part of the beauty of books as objects. They tell the story of how we like to read them. They’re highlighted or not, underlined or not, have notes in them or not, are in pristine condition or not. They have stories associated with them. Where we bought them, when we read them, how we read them—all that stuff. Obviously the right answer about highlighting in books has to do with what you want your books to be for you.

Photo

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:20:44 -0400

"They should make a highlighter that fades after a period of time, like maybe one or two years."

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:09:00 -0400

“They should make a highlighter that fades after a period of time, like maybe one or two years.”

- do-over.

(I think this is a fantastic idea.)

It really yanks my crank when someone goes through a book and highlights passages they relate to. I understand wanting to go back and reread things, but that shit is in there forever. It skeeves me out. What are your thoughts on this?

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:05:21 -0400

I agree. I don’t like it. In college I highlighted in some of my really nice copies of philosophy books and I deeply deeply regret it. By far my most dangerous experimenting and biggest mistake in college. Those books are all fucked now. Make notes in pencil if you have to. If it’s a text book or whatever, fine. But don’t highlight a novel, you savages! There are a lot of good people who are on the other side of this issue and they highlight all the time and it helps them. They encourage their students to highlight too. Anything to get people engaged with the text is the idea. Fine, I reluctantly support that. I just think ideally you could engage with a text without permanently altering the book. Unless you’re into that kind of thing. I don’t mind the occasional old note in a book but I think of highlighting as a particularly aggressive form of book alteration and I just dont think I can get myself wholly comfortable with it like ever.

Do not put newspaper clippings in your books! This shit gets me heated. You’re ruining the...

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:41:59 -0400

Do not put newspaper clippings in your books! This shit gets me heated. You’re ruining the binding of the book and you don’t need that stupid clipping. The book has all the stuff you need for the book right inside it. The author put it there.

"We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our..."

jusky — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:38:17 -0400

“We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.”

- Milan Kundera

This is like my favorite thing ever on the internet. It’s...

jusky — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:39:45 -0400

This is like my favorite thing ever on the internet. It’s lovely.

Remember, music sounds better in the summer.

jusky — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:01:02 -0400

Remember, music sounds better in the summer.

It’s easy to imagine a homicide detective who is always pulling people aside to ask them a few...

jusky — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:59:00 -0400

It’s easy to imagine a homicide detective who is always pulling people aside to ask them a few questions and then after he pulls them aside he just does a loud fart and walks away chuckling.

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."

jusky — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:55:26 -0400

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

- Mike Tyson