GIANT-SQUID VULGARITY (TO BE FORGOTTEN AS soon as it’s read), by Ern Maunder, writer for the Atlantic Guardian in 1952:
As you might imagine, I indulged this notion much further in an earlier draft. In fact, in a previous draft, this section had embedded within it a 14-page meditation on puppets. Yes. Taking inspiration from the poet/playwright/puppeteer Dennis Silk’s excellent essay, “The Marionette Theater,” (which, in part, examines the “meaning” and functioning of the marionette—and our perception thereof—by breaking the puppet down into its subsequent parts), I broke the squid down into its parts—tentacles, eyes, suction cups, beak, heart, etc.—and tried to find a larger meaning in its “whole” by adding up the micro-examinations of its minutiae. And, of course, as someone who adores puppetry, I wrote quite a bit about that as well. Can you imagine? Ice cream and puppets? Yikes.
