Wilfrid

Thank you.

Did not know there was a Beat specialist out there.

My fault, oblivious.

Braised goat (pictured), then because I was still working through a vast serving of pernil (pictured) the next supper was pernil shredded into the leftover goat broth (forgot to picture).

28. Jones, Mosquito 29. Joyce, Ulysses 30. Kazantzakis, Zorba 31. Kerouac, On the Road (done) Jumped ahead a bit. Ulysses next and I find it intimidating because I know my first reading of it was perfunctory. I came to it too young. I think I'll take Mosquito on an upcoming trip.

On a positive note, I was just reflecting on what a gateway it was to other writers and very memorable experiences. I bought the beaten up book below when I was 20. It contained an excerpt from Junkie and "Howl," probably my first experiences with Burroughs and Ginsberg. Of course, one of the characters in "Howl" ("who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened...") was Tuli Kupferberg, later of The Fugs. About 20 years after I bought the book, I was reporting on Tuli's posthumous 87th birthday party at The Living Theater, where Ed Sanders shared memories with me. Long before that, in my first year of college, I saw Slim Gaillard play and was able to meet him after his set. I think he's the only character in On the Road who appears under his real name.

On April 9 and too young, 68. I did not see any news coverage.

This kind of crap just ruins stories for me: "...had vampires been part of British popular culture." Where was Bram Stoker from and where was Dracula written and was it somewhat popular? The writer, Rebecca Mead, is British. Which makes it worse.

Well, On the Road hasn't aged well. No surprise I guess. I did remember Dean being somewhat annoying, but his behavior now seems far from cool or hip, not least his misogyny. Something I am sure I missed years ago: random characters are referred to as "fairy," "fag" or "effeminate." But not the characters based on Ginsberg or Burroughs and you'd never guess the original of Sal Paradise was bisexual.

St Louis trip is on. Booked Olive + Oak, Robin, Brasserie by Niche and Planter's House. Plus my airbnb is about a five minute walk from Pappy's Smokehouse.

Euphoria season 3. Just watched the first episode. It's crazy and silly and I would have many reservations about it. But Zendaya will win another Emmy. Nobody else is working at her ridiculous level.

Thank you!

In member previews, open to the public Sunday. This is a vast exhibit, heavily reliant on the Duchamp collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. One thing you still need to visit Philly to see is "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even" as it would presumably be unwise to chuck a huge glass scupture in the back of a truck and tour it around. But there is a full-size replica here by Richard Hamilton. Otherwise, there's all the Duchamp you could possibly want. The early and relatively conventional paintings are better than I had remembered, and I had not known he was also a very funny cartoonist for the French press. Then you get the Cubist-ish turn putting "Nude Descending a Staircase" into context. Then the readymades. Apparently, Duchamp retreated from his original position that the readymades were unique objects and permitted reproductions. Which means you get to see more urinals than you expected and rather too many reproductions of the Mona Lisa with a little graffiti mustache. The late stages of this show are repetitive. Finally, the boxes, containing yet more (miniature) reproductions of his work. It would be fun to sit down with a box and unpack it, but I never thought they worked so well laid out in vitrines. If you want to look at these works carefully, allow a lot of time.

I know almost nothing about Soggy Kookie.

Switching from James to Kerouac is like switching from Morton Feldman to The Ramones.