Taking a deep breath

This article made me grit my teeth and (at least) inspired me to repost this Flannery O'Connor quotation (and make part of it bold while I'm at it):

There are those who maintain that you can't demand anything of the reader. They say the reader knows nothing about art, and that if you are going to reach him, you have to be humble enough to descend to his level. This supposes that the aim of art is to teach, which it is not, or that to create anything which is simply a good-in-itself is a waste of time. Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it. We hear a great deal about humility being required to lower oneself, but it requires an equal humility and a real love of the truth to raise oneself and by hard labor to acquire higher standards.

(via The Literary Saloon)

Ill

I think I'm going to be sick...

But wanting to thin out his collection, he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift shops, which said they were full. So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books protest what he sees as society's diminishing support for the printed word.

Which libraries did he go to? How many? Had he even heard of the various charities that donate books to inner-city schools, decimated school libraries in New Orleans, or even the camel bookmobile in Kenya? (There's even a certain little school on Colombia's northern coast that is pretty desperate for books as well.)

I'm really sorry, but I just have to say it: ¡Qué gringo tan tonto!

(via Maud)

UPDATE: Tod Goldberg elaborates on the additional insult they've been heaping on this already grievous injury.

From one more girl who loves Pynchon

What she said.

This is ridiculous. (And what's even more heinous is the fact that--at this posting--42% agree with him...)