Foto de l'autor

Howard Moss (1922–1987)

Autor/a de Instant Lives

33+ obres 490 Membres 5 Ressenyes

Sobre l'autor

Howard Moss (1922-87) was poetry editor at the New Yorker for almost forty years. He also wrote more than a dozen books of poetry, plays, and criticism, and a book of arch parody-microbiographies of cultural figures, Instant Lives, illustrated by Edward Gorey. Damson Searls is the author of What We mostra'n més Were Doing and Where We Were Going (stories) and has written for Harper's, Bookforum, n+1 and The Believer. As a translator-of authors including Marcel Proust (On Readings-he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2012. mostra'n menys

Obres de Howard Moss

Instant Lives (1974) 121 exemplars
Instant Lives And More (1985) 79 exemplars
New York: Poems (1980) 33 exemplars
New Selected Poems (1985) 24 exemplars
The poet's story (1973) 24 exemplars
Using Italian Synonyms (2000) 20 exemplars
Selected poems (1973) 11 exemplars
Buried City (1975) 8 exemplars
Second Nature: Poems (1968) 7 exemplars
Rules of sleep : poems (1984) 7 exemplars
Notes from the Castle: Poems (1979) 6 exemplars
Whatever is moving (1981) 6 exemplars

Obres associades

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Col·laborador, algunes edicions915 exemplars
The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (1990) — Col·laborador — 749 exemplars
Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker (2001) — Col·laborador — 706 exemplars
Edward Lear's Nonsense Books (1960) — Pròleg, algunes edicions93 exemplars
Keats - The Laurel Poetry Series (1959) — Editor, algunes edicions56 exemplars
Lament for the Makers: A Memorial Anthology (1996) — Col·laborador — 49 exemplars
60 Years of American Poetry (1996) — Col·laborador — 28 exemplars
A Good Man: Fathers and Sons in Poetry and Prose (1993) — Col·laborador — 20 exemplars
New World Writing: First Mentor Selection (1952) — Col·laborador — 11 exemplars

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Ressenyes

[Instant Lives] is an entertainment. It's short, just 84 pages, embellished with 25 pen-and-ink drawings by Edward Gorey. Howard Moss, poetry editor for The New Yorker for nearly forty years, authored these short pieces satirizing famous artistic persons of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many mimic the unmistakable voice of the subject, for example, Henry James:

He took a dim view, if, indeed, a view, in all consciousness, could be considered one, when the very act of its perception was, by definition, barely discernible, of biography, that addiction to "truth-seeking" that so often cloaked, when it did not, more accurately, mask, a predilection for poking into corners best left un-poked, for lifting up stones heavy enough, one would have thought, to crush existence itself out of the low and wriggling forms of life that secreted themselves, ever so hopefully, ever so persistently, in pursuit of a safety indubitably not to be vouchsafed, beneath the mossy sides of their seemingly permanent shelters…That he, the author of What Maisie Knew, should be asked to offer sacrifices at the altar of a God he did not worship, neither as communicant nor convert, to act, doubly the slave, as the servitor of Mammon, a "deal"—as the American traders, ever hot in the pursuit of profit, might say—seemed to him not only to rub salt into an old wound but to be a special form of affront, as insulting as if, laid hands on by the misinformed, a first edition were to be used merely for the swatting of flies. He would not, no…


Or James Joyce:

Being a broth of a poi, cod-lei but Chile, to whom Doubloom seized to half charm, eggs isle seemed puf-ferable. He Christ the Iris zei, he crossed the Ingres flannel and maid his weigh a broad. Zoo rich! Elps! EEEEEEEEEEk! Them Swiss miss misses me. Watch out, Montaignes, and them Edel (Weiss) Leon? Ted? Price? Ah, my Tyne is come, said the looney.

Here is Mary Shelley:

…There was a pounding at the door. My God! Could it be Percy Bysshe? If he found out she'd been "experimenting" again, it would kill him.
"Just one moment, please," she said, trying to shove the monster back into the darkness of the attic.
"Get back into a recess . . . back! . . . back!" Mary whispered hoarsely.
The monster looked at her. "That's easier Sade than Donne . . ."
Even in this intolerable moment of panic, Mary could not resist a tiny rush of pride. Whatever she had created, it was far more literate than she had guessed . . .
… (més)
 
Marcat
weird_O | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Mar 27, 2022 |
The Gorey illustrations are, of course, fabulous. The depiction of Proust was exceptionally entertaining. The prose was a bit dodgy in places; the brief bios of Emily Dickinson, Debussy, and the Brontë sisters were great, but some of the others were rather impenetrable.
 
Marcat
Krumbs | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Mar 31, 2013 |
Incredibly wordy, often inscrutable, always hilarious satirical sketches about famous artists. A personal favourite.
 
Marcat
miss_w | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | May 28, 2010 |
Thirty-one brief biographies of famous people. Tho brief, readers will learn new information missed by other authors. The illustrations are intrinsic to each essay.
 
Marcat
Esta1923 | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Feb 10, 2009 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
33
També de
14
Membres
490
Popularitat
#50,416
Valoració
3.8
Ressenyes
5
ISBN
36

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