Sinister: And This Long Narrow Land Is Full Of Possibility

[P F]

Peter Miller did not not reply to the questions
because he was being evasive. He did not reply because
he was not yet ready to Report Back. I think that this
has to be cleared up before any more damage is done to
his name. I mean, 'Miller' - that's bad enough.

Alice Virginia (what a name!) said that she was living
in the wrong place and Long Island was dull. (I don't
know what 'lipliner' is. I am translating Roughley, I
mean, roughly). I think she should stop worrying about
that. Where I come from we think Long Island is the
height of glamour. It has its own sound, too, I mean,
Sound. Glasgow had to work for years to get the
Glasgow Sound, but Long Island produced the Long
Island Sound immediately.

Her other name is the Merry Prankster, which as Ciaran
Carson might say reminds me of Joan Didion, whose
White Album I was reading yesterday, which reminds me
of Lloyd Cole (of course) and - Peter Miller. It all
works out. Didion talks about 'jaycees' and I had to
wonder if these were named after the editor in The
Bell Jar, who turns up, by the way, in diluted and
diminished form, on the last song of I Think You
Dropped A Moonbeam, whose last song is named after
something that Esther Greenwood says to her.

Speaking of that, I have finally found that Irving
Berlin record I have been looking for. Whoever can
tell me what the best 5 Irving Berlin songs are wins a
prize from the Irving Berlin foundation; at least,
that's what they tell me.

I cannot yet work out whether Berlin was a) a subtle,
classy and moving songwriter or b) a sort of
high-kicking sloganeer. I am beginning to think that
the critics' easy coupling of him and Porter is a bit
of an error.

A record which is quite good is Bruce Springsteen's
TUNNEL OF LOVE, which features tons of pleasures. A
band who like Bruce Springsteen are Deacon Blue. The
good news for pop fans is that they are back, I mean,
de retour. Like B&S they are making great play with
their Glasgwegian origins in between-song banter.
Their set is roughly as follows:

YOUR TOWN
RAINTOWN
TWIST AND SHOUT
LOADED
REAL GONE KID
WAGES DAY
[two or three new songs]
WHEN WILL YOU MAKE MY TELEPHONE RING?
FERGUS SINGS THE BLUES
DIGNITY
HOMESICK
encore:
CHOCOLATE GIRL
I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
QUEEN OF THE NEW YEAR

I cannot imagine why anyone would give away their copy
of the Raintown LP. It is - I now realize - a pretty
high quality debut. Whether it is as good a debut as
Tigermilk, I am not sure.

A critic who is quite good is F.R. Leavis? Or is he? I
have been rereading him and am still not really
convinced. I have also been rereading Lionel Trilling,
but I don't intend to start that one up again.

Kermode update: as far as we know, Professor Sir
Frank, whose imprimature still appears on the back of
The Crying of Lot 49, is still alive.


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