My friend and fellow Virginia alum Tim Fox (who, for the love of God, needs to start his own weblog), emailed a link to the “harshest author interview ever”, of possibly the worst novel ever published:

I am on the phone with Robert Burrows, author of the recently published political novel Great American Parade. This book has sold only 400 copies nationwide, and Burrows seems flabbergasted to be hearing from me. The most prestigious newspaper to have shown any interest so far is the Daily Student at Indiana University.

I tell Burrows that if he is willing to submit to an interview, I am willing to review his book at length in The Washington Post. The only catch, I said, is that I am going to say that it is, in my professional judgment, the worst novel ever published in the English language.

Silence.

“My review will reach 2 million people,” I said.

“Okay,” he said.

Update: Metafilter already caught it. Hysterical commentary, though not as funny as the original review.

Two quick updates:

1. Tara reminded me that Folk Implosion are playing the Crocodile on Sunday night. Go forth and lo-fi. I’d go but I have a feeling I’ll be too tired from:
2. The Cascadian Chorale’s War and Peace concert, at St. Thomas Episcopal in Medina. Tickets here or at the door. Program will include classical and contemporary reflections on war, including:
   • Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War
   • An excerpt from Tippett’s “A Child of Our Time”
   • Howells’ “O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem”

Go forth and enjoy.

As I always suspected, blogs look like they will provide a wealth of fodder for grad studies—mostly, in my opinion, because we talk so much about ourselves and our processes. My decision to license my blog under Creative Commons appears to have set in motion a paper proposal in a grad intellectual property class. I’ve let CyborgWoman know she can ping me for material as she needs it. I wonder who else is out there doing this other than Greg and Doc.

Confession: I’ve been diving into Buffy this week, particularly the second season. Hey, it was on sale at Costco. And while I’m saddened by the revelation that Ms. Gellar will be leaving the show, it’s still a tremendous body of work.

Talking with Greg the other night, he confessed to never having been much of a fan—never having watched it at all, in fact. I would suggest that it has to be taken in the right spirit—as a potent allegory of the struggle to grow up, to gain power over one’s fears, to face one’s demons. And once you can watch it on that level and still appreciate the camp and the humor, you’ll be hooked.

The Tin Man has been watching it much more closely, and he’s annotated most of season 7. He’s been looking at some of the other big themes: redemption, sexuality, power and powerlessness. And of course kicking ass.

Other Buffy fans out there: Julie Powell, who appears to be more than ready for the series to end in spite of being hooked on it. And Esta, who has the right perspective.

Brilliant post, brilliant series of questions. I think it deserves an answer:

• I work to understand who the visitors are of one of the biggest websites in the world. Besides this one.
• I’m rediscovering them every day.
• Every day. And that’s girl singular.
• The first two months of this year have been a hell of a lot better than the last five months of last year.
• Learning who I am.
• Not whole CDs, but there’s some great MP3s at KEXP if you pledge.
• When I remember to have hope.
• Q: How many tenors does it take to change a light bulb? A: Four; one to do it and three to stand around and bitch that they could have done it just as well if they had the high notes.
• I’m not sure but I think that’s a personal question.
• No, but I’ve got a close eye on some folks who are trying to destroy our American way of life.
• You tell me. I’ve at least started talking.
• Not nearly often enough.
• Not nearly often enough.
• Not nearly often enough.
• Yes. And yes.
• As big as a move, as small as a post.
• Not nearly often enough.
• Yes. Downhill on and off my feet.
• Not nearly…oh, stop it. Yes, at Trogdor.
• Not yet, but we have crocuses.
• At Christmas time. I’m off pie.
• Not so much.
• Not physically.
• We covered that.
• Not on the blog.
• I think it was the cheese that did me in, actually.
• When Lisa gets back in town.
• Every day.