An Aesthetic Underground: A Literary Memoir PDF
Preview An Aesthetic Underground: A Literary Memoir
J o h n M e t c a l f By turns humorous and iconoclastic, brimming with intelligence and brio, An Aesthetic Underground provides a “He was bracing and encouraging and much-needed perspective on the cur- not always uncritical. i was learning rent state of Canadian literary publish- that remarkable respect for his opinion ing. Join John metcalf as he descends that many of his writer friends have. into the underground he laboured i’ve never lost it. Praise from him, you so tirelessly to establish—and whose feel, is real gold.” inhabitants, from Alice munro to — alice munro Annabel Lyon to Kathleen Winter, have often emerged as the most important “His talent is generous, hectoring, writers of their time. huge and remarkable.” — washington post “An Aesthetic Underground is obliga- tory reading for anyone who cares “As an editor, teacher, author, critic, about aesthetic vitality, the state of the and pioneering anthologist of Cana- nation’s literature and the essential dian fiction, metcalf was in the front importance of very good sentences. it ranks of writers and intellectuals who is also a moving record of time past, a transformed the term Canadian writer shimmering and often comic account from oxymoron to viable reality.” of recent travels, and—metcalf being — quill & quire metcalf—a sometimes prickly if not intemperate j’accuse.” — the globe & mail 19.95 CAD / 17.95 USD memoir www.biblioasis.com Cover design: Gordon robertson AestheticUndergroundCover.indd 1 14-11-04 4:21 PM reset books Cape Breton is Moody Food the Thought-Control ray robertson Centre of Canada Alphabet ray smith kathy page A Night at the Opera An Aesthetic Underground ray smith john metcalf Going Down Slow Lunar Attractions john metcalf clark blaise Century Lord Nelson Tavern ray smith ray smith Quickening Heroes terry griggs ray robertson Aesthetic.Text.indd 1 14-11-13 10:22 PM Aesthetic.Text.indd 2 14-11-13 10:22 PM a n a e st h e t i c u n d e r g r o u n d Aesthetic.Text.indd 3 14-11-13 10:22 PM Aesthetic.Text.indd 4 14-11-13 10:22 PM a literary memoir j o h n m e tc al f biblioasis Aesthetic.Text.indd 5 14-11-13 10:22 PM Copyright © John Metcalf, 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Metcalf, John, 1938–, author An aesthetic underground / John Metcalf. Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-1-927428-95-5 (pbk.). — isbn 978-1-927428-96-2 (epub) 1. Metcalf, John, 1938–. 2. Canadian literature (English)—Publishing— Ontario—Erin. 3. Canadian literature (English)—20th century—History and criticism. 4. Porcupine’s Quill, Inc. 5. Editors—Canada—Biography. 6. Authors, Canadian (English)—20th century—Biography. I. Title. z483.m48a3 2014 070.5092 c2014-904560-3 c2014-904561-1 Edited by Dan Wells Copy-edited by Jennifer Franssen Cover and text design by Gordon Robertson Biblioasis acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Canada Book Fund; and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Arts Council. printed and bound in canada Aesthetic.Text.indd 6 14-11-13 10:22 PM This book is for Ron and Kate Elizabeth and Ethan Dan and Chantal Aesthetic.Text.indd 7 14-11-13 10:22 PM Aesthetic.Text.indd 8 14-11-13 10:22 PM Every teaching institution will have its department of cultural studies, an ox not to be gored, and an aesthetic underground will flourish, restoring something of the romance of reading. — harold bloom, The Western Canon It seemed unto [Don Quixote] very requisite and behooveful . . . that he himself should become a knight-errant, and go through- out the world, with his horse and armour, to seek adventures, and practise in person all that he had read was used by knights of yore; revenging of all kinds of injuries, and offering himself to occasions and dangers, which, being once happily achieved, might gain him eternal renown. — cervantes, Don Quixote (Shelton’s translation, 1612) Did I not tell your worship they were windmills? and who could have thought otherwise, except such as had windmills in their head? — sancho panza to don quixote Aesthetic.Text.indd 9 14-11-13 10:22 PM
The list of books you might like
