Comments on: Vitriol in the Arts

By: K. Silem Mohammad

K. Silem Mohammad — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:40:01 +0000

That is so a picture of Shatner!

By: bill knott

bill knott — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:54:25 +0000

*
i wouldn’t crawl or kneel or
pray or moan or squeal or
break a sacred seal or
stop dating Jessica Biehl or
beg counterfeit or steal or
bribe a double deal or
storm the Bastille or
swim the Monongahela
but i gosh wish Garrison Keillor
‘d put me on his show
my poem on radio
you’ll frown how middlebrow
but twere paradise enow
back on Writers Almanack
where i weren’t in the first place
yes it’s in the worst taste
(like Thom Gunn’s Jeffrey Dahmer
psalms or Michael Palmer
stuffing perfluous spaces
between his meta-stasis phrases
ain’t)
and sort of stupid-quaint
when Garry’s baritone
buries your verse in Minnepone
sincerities but it gets the stuff
out to the public trough
so two or three can swill
your overquill
of poesie pure or im
thanks to him

By: nick

nick — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:57:21 +0000

why do people think the association between Garrison Keilor and regular real plain folks has any merit whatsoever?
Garrison Keilor is entertainment for when you’re starting to get sleepy and the copy of the _New Yorker_ begins to slip from your fingers.
please.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:13:43 +0000

The Hold Steady are almost as boring and overrated as Band of Horses and Vampire Weekend.
Meanwhile, poetry is for losers. That’s why I like it.

By: elle

elle — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:59:48 +0000

I don’t think Keillor should be applauded or thanked for his interest in poetry.
His interest speaks for itself. But I do think the “bullies” of poetry should quit
tripping him to the ground and pinning “kick me” signs to his back, just
because it feels like a fun thing to do.

By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:39:58 +0000

I’ve never understood why we should applaud if someone pays attention to poetry, using some media platform to bring it to the unwashed masses — except in Keillor’s case, it’s the liberal middlebrow NPR set he’s bringing it to. Why does an interest in poetry (a love for poetry, a passion for poetry) entail an interest in attracting a wide audience for it? This isn’t a question about “dumbing it down” by the way. I think Garrison Keillor is an idiot, but I’d have the same question if we were talking about Noam Chomsky.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that Henry’s not a Hold Steady fan.

By: Doodle

Doodle — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:21:33 +0000

Neko Case, Henry Rollins, Ray Manzarek, Nick Cave and, um, Meryl Streep?

By: Rich Villar

Rich Villar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:16:29 +0000

Viggo Mortensen, founder of Perceval Press, and motherf’n ARAGORN!
http://www.percevalpress.com

By: bill knott

bill knott — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:08:22 +0000

Henry Gould’s right about “snotty poets” . . .
poets should be thanking Keillor for his efforts
to bring attention to contemporary verse,
not insulting him . . .
i’d rather be in Keillor’s anthology than Shepherd’s . . .

By: Henry Gould

Henry Gould — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:26:08 +0000

Name a pop star or media figure (aside from hip-hop, which has its own poetry thing going), other than Garrison Keillor, who takes a steady interest in poetry & showcases it.
Maybe they avoid it because they know they’ll get dumped on by snotty poets.