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Marianne Faithfull’s chant of resistance

January 2, 2015 by William Eaton

Sixties icon Marianne Faithfull, who now lives in Paris, did a great concert in Rouen a few weeks ago. I was intrigued by ‘Mother Wolf’, one of the songs she sang from her new album, Give My Love to London. Mother Wolf, a character taken from Kipling’s Jungle Book, is of harboring a cub that isn’t hers. She defies her accusers, replying that he is hers now and that she’ll fight to the death anyone who says he isn’t. She […]

Categories: Catherine Vigier, ZiR • Tags: politics, women

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The Gifts of Travel – II of II

January 1, 2015 by William Eaton

Selected authors’ observations on the “gifts of travel” Part I – Dec 25, 2014 Part II – Jan 01, 2015 On this season’s Christmas and New Year’s Day, from a few of the “classic” travel books that I reviewed in 2014, I am asking, what do some of the best travel writers, past and present, have to say about the gifts of travel? One of travel’s most valuable presents is “getting away from it all.” Observes acclaimed author Pico Iyer […]

Categories: Tucker Cox, ZiR • Tags: phil caputo, pico ayer, travel

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No One Wants Jane Austen

December 30, 2014 by Ana Maria Caballero

Every time I come across a remarkable literary journal, I get surprised. Another one? There are already so many good ones, it seems. Could the rumor that no one reads poetry anymore be just that, a rumor? Let’s hope so. In the meantime, I leave you with a poem by Joanna Schroeder, which appeared in issue #60 of the remarkable “Pudding Magazine.” Splitting Up the Books When the marriage is over, no one wants Jane Austen. Happy endings taped […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: books, lit, literature, poetry, reading, writing

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The Gifts of Travel – I of II

December 25, 2014 by William Eaton

Selected authors’ observations on the “gifts of travel” Part I – Dec 25, 2014 Part II – Jan 01, 2015 On this season’s Christmas and New Year’s Day, I have selected from a few of the twenty-five “classic” travel books that I reviewed this year. I am asking, what do some of the best travel writers, past and present, have to say about the gifts of travel? Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad is one of the highest-selling travelogues of all time. […]

Categories: Tucker Cox, ZiR • Tags: Goethe, Mark Twain, travel

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Mars and Venus and Prose

December 23, 2014 by Ana Maria Caballero

Prose poetry is in style these days. It’s true. The cutting-edge journals are publishing it, the traditional journals are publishing it, and even the boring ones are publishing it. So, it’s no wonder that a good many poets are writing it. But, not every poet is doing it well. In fact, I rarely come across a prose poem I like. The lack of form seems lazy and bulky to me, and I miss the premeditation implied by well-placed line breaks. […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: art, books, lit, literature, poetry, reading, writing

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Spiritual rats, money spells, and short boys

December 21, 2014 by William Eaton

[print_link] [email_link] “I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.” — Sydney Greenstreet’s memorable line in The Maltese Falcon, made in 1941. Seventy years later, in our electronic age, we might rephrase this “I like following websites that websites like to follow.” The lines came to my mind in the wake of WordPress, magnanimously, honoring my blog—Montaigbakhtinian.com—with one of its special “Freshly Pressed” labels. This has led to an ever-growing wave of followers, with perhaps 5-10 new […]

Categories: William Eaton, ZiR • Tags: blogging, faith healing, money, Montaigbakhtinian, Syndey Greenstreet, WordPress

“I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus,” and Other Classics

December 20, 2014 by William Eaton

[print_link] [email_link] For a little seasonal fun this week, I offer you 7 Classic Christmas Songs Greatly Improved by Reversing the Gender Roles from Stylite.com. I appreciate the choice of words for the title, as they are indeed “greatly improved,” but admittedly still playing heavily into gender stereotypes. Don’t bypass the commentary above each video, as that may be the best part. 4. “I Saw Daddy kissing Santa Claus” by The Anti-Queens While I don’t think it […]

Categories: Caterina Gironda, ZiR • Tags: art, gender

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Augie March’s Christmas

December 19, 2014 by William Eaton

[print_link][email_link] For an unsentimental take on Christmas, and a view of not-so-loving, cat-and-mouse relationships between adults and children, I went back to Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March. In this scene the young Augie is in the Chicago department store where he has been hired as one of Santa’s helpers for the Christmas season: Painted and rouged with theater greasepaint and dusted with mica snow, Jimmy and I marched around the store with tambourines and curl-tongued noisemakers, turning […]

Categories: Catherine Vigier, ZiR • Tags: capitalism, children, literature, reading

The Janus Culture

December 18, 2014 by William Eaton

“I reflected on why, over the years, I’d come to think of France as imbued with a ‘Janus culture,’ a nation whose world-view, like the ancient god of thresholds, managed at the same time to look back and ahead,” observes David Downie in Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James. Janus lived simultaneously in the past and present. This struck me as absolutely appropriate… Janus was contemporary France. Mr. Downie and his wife walk the […]

Categories: Tucker Cox, ZiR • Tags: travel

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ZETEO

Zeteo (ζητέω): to challenge, question, dispute, explore the forgotten and ignored

Category Archives: ZiR

Marianne Faithfull’s chant of resistance

The Gifts of Travel – II of II

No One Wants Jane Austen

The Gifts of Travel – I of II

Mars and Venus and Prose

Spiritual rats, money spells, and short boys

“I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus,” and Other Classics

Augie March’s Christmas

The Janus Culture