The Little Door Slides Back by Jeff Clark
Most people probably know of Jeff Clark from his popular book designs, but I'm reading his book The Little Door Slides Back (Sun & Moon, 1997), and it's pretty great and startling in its oddness.
Much of it reads as outtakes or half-plagiarized passages from Poe or late 19th century French novels. There's also a great rewrite of Michaux's "Some Information About 59 Years of Existence," as "Some Information About 23 Years of Existence," the second part (1971) which lends the book its title:
Terror in the birthing room: the little door slides back -
First mews were of pissulence, not want.
In the depot Deliriope.
Throughout the book there are wonderful little nuisance words like "pissulence" that sound archaic or "translatese." I recommend this book. Two thumbs up.
Has anybody written anything insightful about this book? I'd like to read what others have proclaimed about it.
Much of it reads as outtakes or half-plagiarized passages from Poe or late 19th century French novels. There's also a great rewrite of Michaux's "Some Information About 59 Years of Existence," as "Some Information About 23 Years of Existence," the second part (1971) which lends the book its title:
Terror in the birthing room: the little door slides back -
First mews were of pissulence, not want.
In the depot Deliriope.
Throughout the book there are wonderful little nuisance words like "pissulence" that sound archaic or "translatese." I recommend this book. Two thumbs up.
Has anybody written anything insightful about this book? I'd like to read what others have proclaimed about it.
posted by Johannes at 10:10 AM
4 Comments:
I really liked that book too, though I read it some years ago. Thanks for reminding me of it---think I will actually get a copy.
Jeff's magazine Faucheuse is worth seeking out too.
I had the idea Cal Bedient reviewed TLDSB but all I can find now are his remarks on Music and Suicide.
PDF of Faucheuse 3:
http://www.quemadura.net/p63.html
garrett caples wrote a great thing on it in an old issue of Lingo
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