Monday, January 29, 2007

Found while reading, pt. 1

Two years ago, George published Ann's poems. It was a birthday present. The book was reviewed in Sumac, a literary magazine which had assumed the subscription list of a former publication, Diesel, a jounal of lesbian apologetics.

—Thomas McGuane. The Bushwhacked Piano. New York, Simon and Schuster: 1971. p. 144.

The joke, of course, is that Sumac was a real literary magazine edited by McGuane's friend and fellow MSU alum Jim Harrison (and Dan Gerber) between 1968 and 1971. (It seems to me that I've written about Harrison lately.) I don't know if the part about picking up Diesel's subscription list is true or not, but it's a hoot either way.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Tom McGuane actually "guest edited" at least one volume of Sumac. I have it around here...somewhere. Another fun fact about McGuane is that he started college at Albion (my alma mater), but was...uhm, disinvited after his first year.

Radical poet and White Panther Party leader John Sinclair also had a similar experience at Albion.

Of course, John Scieszka, the guy who wrote the children's book "The Stinky Cheese Man" did manage to graduate from Albion, joining the short story writer and novelist David Long.

They are our sole claim to literary greatness.

Ah, fair Albion!

Greg Rappleye