Hal Johnson's Blog, page 23

A garland of quotations LIX

I am once again appealing to you

to buy one of these books

So clamorous was their applause—
“His mind” (said they) “is free of flaws:
The Veil of God is thin as gauze!”—

That almost they had dulled or drowned
The laughter (in its belly bound)
Of that dread Beast he had not found.
•Aleister Crowley, The High History of Good Sir Palamedes the Saracen Knight and of his Following of the Questing Beast (1912).

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedWhile some discuss if near t...

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I write, for a living, books

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The King, baby! (w/Giacoia!)

A garland of quotations LVIII

You can still preorder this keen book!

Who may disporte them diversly,
Finde never tedious day,
And ease may have varietie,
As well as action may.
•Samuel Daniel “Ulysses and the Siren” (1605).

On the 8th a large house-fly was seen. This interesting event spread cheerfulness through our residence and formed a topic of conversation for the rest of the day. •John Franklin, Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819–20–21–22 (1824).

He was like someone in love for the first t...

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I write, for a living, books

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Ogden Whitney!

A garland of quotations LVII

Perhaps you like books?

Then Lé fri flaith, son of Conaire, died under Mac cecht’s armpit, for the warrior’s heat and sweat had dissolved him.
•The Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel (c. 1100).

Only one giant had sprung out of ice, he has to beget children on himself, an office performed by his hands and feet together.
•Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (1835).

That little dog, it licks your mouth and lips.
I’m not surprised, for dogs love eating poop.
•Martial, Epigrams I (86).

They have the gentle voice o...

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I write, for a living, books

Thanks for reading Hal Johnson Books! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The King, baby!

Weird Books part 1

•The First Little Pet Book with Ten Short Stories in Words of Three and Four Letters by Aunt Fanny (1867).

Long before the dawn of Oulipo, well-established children’s author Aunt Fanny (not her real name) contrived a challenge for herself: to write a book entirely made up a words with four or fewer letters. In fact, about half the book is in words of three or fewer letters, with the occasional cheat (“mam-ma”). In true Oulipian style, Fanny describes writing this way as engendering is her “the pl...

A garland of quotations LVI

Perhaps you like books?

For instance, if you feel like a train is running through your head, it is. And if you feel like putting eggs inside your bottom, you should.…There’s so much freedom in the world that you can pick anything you want and put it in your butt.
•Björk, interview with Chris Heath (1994).

This is another reason why I didn’t go into theater, because when you take the philosophy of somebody like Artaud, and then build a theater or ideas around it, you're approximating what he was doi...

Truly Wordless Comic Panels

I write, for a living, books

Thanks for reading Hal Johnson Books! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

PMS/Wiacek!

A garland of quotations LV

Consult your local library

Leviathan heard that you were famous for being exceedingly wise, and said, “Let me slit his belly and eat his heart so that I will become wise.”
•The Alphabet of Ben Sira (C9?).

There are plenty of teachers of wisdom in this city, but where is wisdom? Why do so few tread in my footsteps?
•Ibsen, The Emperor Julian (1873).

I remember how he would often tell us that in his early youth he was often tempted to drink deeper of philosophy than was allowable for a Roman and a futu...