The Plan by Jack Handey(newyorker.com)
newyorker.com
The Plan by Jack Handey
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/11/24/081124sh_shouts_handey
17 comments
Jack Handey is a brilliant prosist. It's close between him and Dave Barry for my overall favorite: Barry's more prolific, Handey is much less hit-and-miss.
Dave Barry?!? What is this 1997?
He was very active up to a few years ago. He still keeps a blog. He's a fan of Achewood, which is how I came across his name again.
And he's a master of his sort of humor. No doubt about it.
And he's a master of his sort of humor. No doubt about it.
I can't believe only the New Yorker publishes poetry anymore.
Slate.com, The Atlantic, and The New Republic all publish poetry and poetry criticism. Also Asimov's, but I'm not sure the sci-fi stuff counts :)
Science fiction is the cutting edge of literature. A sci-fi writer won the Nobel Prize in 2007; Philip Dick and Frank Herbert were the foremost writers of the 50s and 60s, in terms of pushing the envelope, along with only Beckett on the proper literature side.
Well, sure, and I wouldn't be reading SF periodicals if I didn't agree. However, in terms of poetry, it's not really cutting edge at all. In fact, most of it is miserable. Exhibit A: Bruce Boston.
Wait, is there really sci-fi poetry? The only stuff of that sort I liked was Asimov's, and it was fun, but not particularly good.
To be fair, have you read the poetry in it? Most of it is on the better side of mediocre, which isn't saying much.
There aren't many good poets anymore. Of contemporary poets, I love Richard Siken and like a few other ones, but a few isn't enough to sustain anything like a dedicated effort. Meanwhile, we have quite a few very good short fiction writers: that's where the focus is moving.
It's sad, and I continue writing poetry in an attempt to become one of the great ones, but the trend right now is that most people who want to write poetry write lyrics instead. There are several brilliant lyricists out there - Tom Waits and Stephin Merritt come quickly to mind.
There aren't many good poets anymore. Of contemporary poets, I love Richard Siken and like a few other ones, but a few isn't enough to sustain anything like a dedicated effort. Meanwhile, we have quite a few very good short fiction writers: that's where the focus is moving.
It's sad, and I continue writing poetry in an attempt to become one of the great ones, but the trend right now is that most people who want to write poetry write lyrics instead. There are several brilliant lyricists out there - Tom Waits and Stephin Merritt come quickly to mind.
Monkeys are much more predictable, you see.