Well lettered
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By
Michael Bronski
1984
Samuel R. Delaney
Voyant Publishing
How to order
Samuel R. Delany is so prolific that you wonder if he's writing in some altered time zone that allows him to publish work from the future. Two new
volumes-- Shorter Views, a collection of essays, and
1984 (Voyant Publishing, 384 pages, paper,
$17.95), a collection of letters-- have appeared in the past six months, and both show off Delany's brilliant, eclectic, completely original mind.
1984 is a collection of Delany's personal and business correspondence from that fateful Orwellian year. Delany's novels, such as
The Madman and Dhalgren, are colloquial in tone and plot and packed tight with observations, alternate soliloquies, and riffs. This
is what make them unique, as well as great literature. The 56 letters here-- written primarily in 1984-- have the same grand sweep of that have made his novels famous. Delany's collected epistles have an 18th-century feel:
partly this reflects their range of topics: Wagner's Ring cycle, SM, the politics of book-club publishing, Adorno's place in American music, and AIDS. But the letters' sweep follows also from their author's engagement with
the world, and his use of letter-writing as a chance to quote poems, other people's letters and essays, and the author's own journals.
The missives are diverse: a letter of recommendation for the daughter of close friends to go to a private school; a grueling letter to a friend detailing his problems with the IRS; business correspondence with
his publisher; painful discussions of difficult points in a close friendship; an explicit descriptions of his sexual activity, both at home and in public places. This is a window onto a private-- well, somewhat private-- life and it's
a revelation. 1984 is a wonderful complement to Delany's autobiographical writings, such as
Heavenly Breakfast and The Motion of Light in
Water, and in the end, these letters are as much literature as any of his fiction.
It's impossible not to be moved by Delany's intelligence, kindness, empathy, eroticism, and critical involvement in the world around him.
| Author Profile: Michael Bronski |
|
Michael Bronski is the author of
Culture Clash: The Making of Gay
Sensibility and The Pleasure
Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the
Struggle for Gay Freedom. He writes
frequently on sex, books, movies, and
culture, and lives in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. |
| Email: |
mabronski@aol.com |
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