Serious reappraisal …

… Reader's Almanac: An interview with Todd Tietchen: “It took a while for literary culture to catch up with what Kerouac had accomplished.” (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Kerouac focused much of his attention on the work of film technicians who are highly adept at producing a foggy moonlit night where none in fact exists. He also asks us to consider the distinctions between the “real” Joan Crawford stalking around the set and Crawford the film icon and actress. Again, what seems to be at stake here is the issue of mimesis (and its limitations): to what degree can an aesthetic gesture capture/evoke the real/lived experience?