Re: article on Gustave Le Gray shows, and other shows

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From: Shannon Stoney (shannonstoney@earthlink.net)
Date: 08/18/02-10:17:36 AM Z


Judy wrote:

>> Just out of curiosity: why do you not trust Jed Perl? I know you don't
>> like him, but I've been wondering why. Do you know him? Is he a jerk or
>> something? Or do you just usually disagree with what he writes?
>
>
> Good grief Shannon, did you forget the list "discussion" about Perl &
> Conrad Richter?

OH, that! I did sort of forget about it. But now that I think about it,
all I remember is that you thought he was wrong about Richter. He probably
was. But, in two recent posts you seemed to think he was wrong about
EVERYTHING. So I just wondered why you thought that. I thought you might
know him because I know you know a lot of critics in the NYC area.

Also I am puzzled because a lot of what he says seems to make sense to me.
Surely a person like that could not be wrong all the time? A lot of what he
said, for example, in the recent review of Le Gray, Weston, etc, seemed
thought-provoking anyway. I liked the idea that photography floats between
lyricism and empiricism, for example. I don't know how you judge whether a
critic is "right" or not. Maybe critics are more like poets than like
scientists.

> Since you seemed at the time to aim what you considered a flaming arrow at
> me (saying "if anyone is still interested in thinking about whether the
>> Emperor has no clothes or not, **she** [my emphasis] might like to
> peruse the most > recent issue of The New Republic)" I tried to be a
> sport & set the record straight. How demoralizing to find my efforts all
> in vain !

Ah, no, I always use the pronoun "she" to avoid always saying "he."
Sometimes I alternate between the two, in a longer essay. Maybe I should
say "it"? At the time that I wrote that, I didn't know you hated Jed Perl at
all. And I would never shoot a flaming arrow at you. It might kill you,
and I like debating with you too much to do that! It's an Xtreme sport,
like ladies' mud wrestling, which we used to have here at the Putnam County
Fair every August.

--shannon


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