Matthew Royal > Recent Status Updates

Oooo this looks fun!

Philip K Dick carries a lot of the racial prejudices of his day into the narrative of this book: Stereotypes about Japanese people that are simply ridiculous: they all look the same, they use Taoist divination for all decisions, they can't understand American culture except in the most superficial way -- his writing of their dialogue is stilted and primitive, and it makes you long for his chapters about the Nazis.

"Wild parsnip is a surprisingly nasty plant. Its leaves contain chemicals called furocoumarins, which can be absorbed by human skin without causing symptoms . . . at first. However, when the skin is then exposed to sunlight (even days or weeks later), the furocoumarins cause a nasty chemical burn. This is called phytophotodermatitis."

Interesting account of MacArthur "winning" the medal of honor, by having foreign associates petition the president for it, saying that non-combatant Charles Lindbergh had been awarded it. MacArthur had a big ego that needed constant care and feeding, and my previous opinion of a fawning biographer is slowly shifting.

"But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."

Good recommendations for the "very male" authors: Bolaño, Roth, and David Foster Wallace.

"Gradually he realized that the Tube map was a handy fiction that made life easier, but bore no resemblance to the reality of the shape of the city above: like belonging to a political party, he thought."

"While the external adversaries with whom
One had been fueding either die or
Break bread with you
The internal adversaries multiply"