Alex Kudera's Blog, page 66

Hunger 2020

"City Harvest, a nonprofit that distributes food donated by restaurants and other retail outlets to nearly 250 food pantries and soup kitchens citywide, says it delivered 6.6 million pounds of food between March 9 and April 12, or almost 5 million pounds more than the year-earlier period, according to Racine Lee Droz, City Harvest’s director of food sourcing. . ."Food Bank for New York City — the biggest anti-hunger organization in the city — says the number of users could double or even triple from the pre-coronavirus level of 2.5 million. . ."As of last week, 791,000 New Yorkers had applied for unemployment benefits, according to the Department of Labor. A New School study found that the state has lost 1.2 million jobs so far, and estimates that one-third of the city could soon be out of work."On Wednesday, Mayor de Blasio announced a plan to spend $170 million on food for the hungry. . ."Now, Rethink Food, a local nonprofit, has launched a pop-up soup kitchen outside the church and is doing 600 to 1,000 meals a day, five days a week. “We could easily do 5,000 meals a day,” Rethink founder Matt Jozwiak said — and lines would be even longer if it weren’t for fear of infection."~~ from The New York Post, April 19, 2020

Goldenberg's Peanut Chews

The day I stumbled upon a stack of his family's peanut chews in the Hyundai Supermarket / Department Store in central Seoul is one I will never forget. #Philadelphia #peanut #chews #chocolate #candy https://t.co/4AxDqv3fiz— Alex Kudera (@kudera) May 6, 2020

Jericho Brown, M.I.A.

John sent me. . .

"John sent me," Akira said, "Told me to Ask the Dust."

~~ from Chinese Gucci by Hosho McCreesh

a correct sum

"This time the advance he sent Archimboldi was bigger than any previous advance, in fact so large that Martha, the secretary, before mailing the check to Cologne, brought it into Mr. Bubis's office and asked (not once but twice) whether the sum was correct, to which Mr. Bubis answered yes, it was, or it wasn't, what did it matter, a sum, he thought when he was alone again, is always approximate, there is no such thing as a correct sum, only the Nazis and teachers of elementary mathematics believed in correct sums, only sectarians, madmen, tax collectors (God rot them), numerologists who read one's fortune for next to nothing believed in correct sums. Scientists, meanwhile, knew that all numbers were only approximate. Great physicists, great mathematicians, great chemists, and publishers knew that one was always feeling one's way in the dark."

~~ from 2666 by Roberto Bolano

old review of washed-up writer by aging sex symbol

Michael James Rizza made the complete text of his review of Fight for Your Long Day available at Goodreads.

Fear of being no good.

"Ivanov's fear was of a literary nature. That is, it was the fear the afflicts most citizens who, one fine (or dark) day, choose to make the practice of writing, and especially the practice of fiction writing, an integral part of their lives. Fear of being no good. Also fear of being overlooked. But above all, fear of being no good. Fear that one's efforts and striving will come to nothing. Fear of the step that leaves no trace. Fear of the forces and chance of nature that wipe away shallow prints. Fear of dining alone and unnoticed. Fear of going unrecognized. Fear of failure and making a spectacle of oneself. But above all fear of being no good. Fear of forever dwelling in the hell of bad writers."

~~ from 2666 by Roberto Bolano

bright lights, five stars

At Goodreads, author Nathan Holic added a five-star review for Auggie's Revenge. His Bright Lights, Medium-Sized City arrived last December from Orlando's Burrow Press. 2019 was a different world entirely.

his books

"Why won't you believe it? she asked. Because I've been to his house, said the boy. So have I, and I didn't see anything to make me think he'd been taken by force. He left because he wanted to. No, she heard the boy say. If he'd left of his own accord, he would have brought his books. Books are heavy, said Mary-Sue, and besides you can always buy new ones. . . . No, I'm not talking about those books, I'm talking about his books, said the boy. What do you mean his books? said Mary-Sue. The ones he wrote and published. He wouldn't have left those behind even if the world was coming to an end."

~~ from 2666 by Roberto Bolano

a president for writers

Becky Tuch wrote, "Bernie Sanders Would be a Great President for Writers," and although the candidate is one no longer, it seems important to recognize how such a presidency, and the expressed policies of the candidate, would positively impact the lives of a large group of writers who survive through adjunct classes, freelance work, and other gig employment.