Peter Straub was an American novelist best known for horror and supernatural fiction novels such Julia (1975), Ghost Story (1979) and The Talisman (1984), which he co-wrote with Stephen King.
Tag Archives: literature
RIP George Lamming (1927 – 2022)
George Lamming was a Barbadian novelist known for such novels as In the Castle of My Skin (1953).
1953 also saw the appearance of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Junkie by William Burroughs, Watt by Samuel Beckett, The Portrait of an Englishman in His Chateau by André Pieyre de Mandiargues and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.
RIP Russ Kick (1969 – 2021)
This happened in 2021, but I only found out today.
Russ Kick (1969 – 2021) was an American writer and publisher, founder of The Disinformation Company and editor of such books as You Are Being Lied To (2001) and Everything You Know Is Wrong (2002).
RIP Walter Abish (1931 – 2022)
Walter Abish was an Austrian-born American writer known for such novels as Alphabetical Africa (1974) and How German Is It (1980).
RIP Jeroen Brouwers (1940 – 2022)
Jeroen Brouwers was a Dutch writer known for such novels as Sunken Red (1981).
Sunken Red (1981) is the story of the author locked up with his mother in a Japanese concentration camp.
Published after the death of his mother, it is a reflection of the coping process of his years in these Japanese internment camps.
Guy Cassiers directed a play based on the English translation of the book. It starred Dirk Roofthooft.
RIP Jack Higgins (1929 – 2022)
Jack Higgins was a best-selling author of thrillers and espionage novels. His novel The Eagle Has Landed (1975) was adapted into the 1976 movie of the same title.
RIP P. J. O’Rourke (1947 – 2022)
P. J. O’Rourke was an American libertarian political satirist and journalist.
He wrote books such as Holidays in Hell (1988).
RIP Alan Sheridan (1934 – 2015)
This happened at least five years ago but it escaped my attention.
Alan Sheridan was an English author and translator. He translated Gilles and Jeanne (1983) by Michel Tournier.
The death of Sheridan came to my attention while documenting Pornographic Archaeology which I read thoroughly vertically last week.
RIP Steven Marcus (1928 – 2018)
Steven Marcus is best-known for The Other Victorians (1964) [below], a study of Victorian pornography in which he coined the term pornotopia.
The Other Victorians cover
The Other Victorians back cover
The book is a classic in the academic study of pornography.
I’ve never been able to find out the identity of the author of the illustration on the cover. It’s in the skinny style of Raphael Kirchner (1867– 1917) and Léo Fontan (1884 – 1965) which was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That’s all I know. Anyone?
“I would prefer not to”
“Bartleby the Scrivener” (1853) is a short story by Herman Melville famous for its dictum “I would prefer not to,” uttered by the reluctant clerk Bartleby.
Many existentialists and absurdists have regarded the story as a prescient exploration and embodiment of their concerns.
French philosopher Gilles Deleuze wrote an essay on the text titled “Bartleby, or, the Formula” (1989).
Above is the Encyclopædia Britannica film adaptation of 1969.