A very good friend gifted me this afternoon with a little something to read while I recover from knee surgery this weekend. Because it’s likely I’ll be ridiculous from pain meds, I’ve already peeked a bit inside The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriters by Darren Wershler-Henry.
I promised myself I’d only read the first chapter or so and save the rest for later, but so much for that. How could I help it? The intro is a haunted machine and hashish-motivated writing jag. Chapter 1 is the infamous Royal Road Test. I finally put the thing down after Chapter 2’s nostalgia as religion – pages dedicated to those crazy folks who haunt Ebay (can you imagine?) to snag a bit of mechanical history.
I’m stopping right here. I swear. Not another page until after Friday’s surgery.
Thanks, Steph!
No Telling 
I will be curious to see what you think of this- I read it last year. In short, I thought its style was overly academic and it read like a padded dissertation. You have a more educated perspective on that theory, so I look forward to your review.
I will be curious to see what you think of this- I read it last year. In short, I thought its style was overly academic and it read like a padded dissertation. You have a more educated perspective on that theory, so I look forward to your review.
There\’s no doubt this is a padded dis, but I\’ve read so much composition and feminist theory in the last month that it seems like a breath of fresh air.Don\’t get me started on the inaccessibility of academic language. I\’ll bore you to tears. Typewriters aside, if you want to see how it *should* be done (writing and feminist theory in tandem) read Ursula Le Guin\’s pieces from the mid-eighties. I suggest her Bryn Mawr commencement address.Enough of that. Back to typewriters.
There\’s no doubt this is a padded dis, but I\’ve read so much composition and feminist theory in the last month that it seems like a breath of fresh air.Don\’t get me started on the inaccessibility of academic language. I\’ll bore you to tears. Typewriters aside, if you want to see how it *should* be done (writing and feminist theory in tandem) read Ursula Le Guin\’s pieces from the mid-eighties. I suggest her Bryn Mawr commencement address.Enough of that. Back to typewriters.
This book has been parked on my Amazon wish list for ages. Probably about time I got around to it, eh? (Oops, there\’s my proximity to the Canadian border slipping through.)Good luck on your knee surgery. We expect lots of Oxycontin-induced rambling blog posts in the days following.
This book has been parked on my Amazon wish list for ages. Probably about time I got around to it, eh? (Oops, there\’s my proximity to the Canadian border slipping through.)Good luck on your knee surgery. We expect lots of Oxycontin-induced rambling blog posts in the days following.
Oh, Olivander. you can SO count on rambling blog posts here. I plan to write nothing but pain-med-induced prose poetry.
Oh, Olivander. you can SO count on rambling blog posts here. I plan to write nothing but pain-med-induced prose poetry.
Olivander, I would happily send you my copy. Would you like it?
Olivander, I would happily send you my copy. Would you like it?
Here\’s wishing you as pleasant a recovery as possible. That\’s the spirit- time to read.Nice new look to your blog! Way to go!PS- remember, writing in pencil works fine in all reclined postures of repose!
Here\’s wishing you as pleasant a recovery as possible. That\’s the spirit- time to read.Nice new look to your blog! Way to go!PS- remember, writing in pencil works fine in all reclined postures of repose!