Day: September 7, 2023

Do Nothing and Let Them Laugh — James Ensor

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Do Nothing and Let Them Laugh, 1939 by James Ensor (1860-1949)

Correspondence – Erik Thor Sandberg

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Correspondence, 2021 by Erik Thor Sandberg (b. 1975)

Steven Moore on the wild talents of Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis, and the occultist Charles Fort

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At Socrates on the Beach, there’s a nice long essay by critic Steven Moore that traces the occult influence of Charles Fort on Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis.

From “Wild Talents: Pynchon, Gaddis, and Charles Fort“:

Pynchon and Gaddis are “wild talents” not in Fort’s original sense, but in their daring willingness to incorporate such exotic material into their novels, which previously had been confined to science fiction, fantasy, and occult novels. At any rate, it is an extraordinary coincidence that two of the greatest American novels of the 20th century evoke Charles Fort, of all people, despite what he thought of coincidences.