Eduardo is probably my alter ego, the narcissistic side of me. It was kind of a Jekyll and Hyde thing, though I was influenced by the character of Henry in John Berryman's poems. He was brilliant.
Bill: It will always be possible because the human condition itself is comic by nature. Sometimes I think a creator made us just so that creator could have a good laugh while sharing a six-pack with friends.
Peter: I am reminded of the Paris Review interview of James Tate interviewed
by Charles Simic:
Charles Simic
There is such a strong belief that tragedy is a higher form, that comedy is a low, temporary distraction, and that great literature must be solemn. What is the subversive quality in humor that everyone is worried about?
TATE
I don’t know. Most people don’t have a sense of humor in the first place. So if they find themselves laughing at the end of an experience, they are almost distrustful of themselves—like, what happened to me?
Really laughed at that bit finishing with a tiger sitting on a tiny pedestal and yawning. Just great, all of it. Humor/comedy I've heard is tragedy given a little time. However you try to define it, it remains firmly in the gut of the person laughing. I wonder if you'd laugh at a short poem of mine called Love and a Goat.
Eduardo is probably my alter ego, the narcissistic side of me. It was kind of a Jekyll and Hyde thing, though I was influenced by the character of Henry in John Berryman's poems. He was brilliant.
Bill: It will always be possible because the human condition itself is comic by nature. Sometimes I think a creator made us just so that creator could have a good laugh while sharing a six-pack with friends.
Excellent piece, especially in regards to the prose poem. But, as many have wondered, is humor possible anymore?
Was Eduardo your Kilgore Trout?
"willingly embraces opposites" /
that's diplomacy of the soul /
we all ought to strive to be
diplomats.
Peter: I am reminded of the Paris Review interview of James Tate interviewed
by Charles Simic:
Charles Simic
There is such a strong belief that tragedy is a higher form, that comedy is a low, temporary distraction, and that great literature must be solemn. What is the subversive quality in humor that everyone is worried about?
TATE
I don’t know. Most people don’t have a sense of humor in the first place. So if they find themselves laughing at the end of an experience, they are almost distrustful of themselves—like, what happened to me?
Care to comment?
Really laughed at that bit finishing with a tiger sitting on a tiny pedestal and yawning. Just great, all of it. Humor/comedy I've heard is tragedy given a little time. However you try to define it, it remains firmly in the gut of the person laughing. I wonder if you'd laugh at a short poem of mine called Love and a Goat.