What a surprise.
Mr. Wenclas, in yet another weeks-long complain-a-thon (rhyme unintentional), has denounced yet another writer/magazine/critic/group/movement as counter-revolutionary. Why? It's the same old story. Sure, he dresses it up in his usual rhetoric and so-called ideology. But ultimately, his issue with n+1 is that they don't think he's as important as he thinks he is.
They didn't publish Karl Wenclas's "brilliant" letter to the editor (I read it on his website: uh, no comment). Because of this personal insult--not worshipping at the throne of Wenclas--they get tossed on the pile with Gawker, New Criterion, McSweeney's, Paris Review, Media Bistro, and every other publication or person who once made passing reference to the ULA and then, obviously, stop. Conversely, any outlet that would pay His Highness what he deemed an appropriate level of attention is legitimized. That's really all it comes down to, as Karl believes in nothing other than his own ego, and his right to be famously important. Anyone remember his very brief love affair with the New Criterion, those uber-elitist conservatives, because they shared his dislike of McSweeney's and others? It probably would have continued too, if they hadn't brushed him off.
A personal disclaimer here: Do I think n+1 is an "important" publication (whatever that means)? No. Do I think they're pompous elitists, in an Ivy-League-mess-hall-style quarrel with slightly ideologically different pompous elitists? Yeah, it looks like it. Do I think pompous elitists with literature PhDs should go ahead and publish a magazine for the 2,000 people in the world just like them who want to read it? Definitely. Personally, I'll pass, but's it's not really a big deal.
If you don't like it, do something else yourself. Create an alternative (you've still never done it, never even really tried it, because it's too difficult for simpletons like you to figure out). But you can't do that. Some Ivy Leaguer creates a limited-run magazine that is carried in one or two bookstores in 6 or 7 "cultural" American cities, and your response is "I want your pages! I want your pages!"
The undergrounder obsessed with the mainstream of literature. It's no wonder so many other zeensters and underground writers shrugged you off as a joke when the ULA was founded (that info was in an article about you from a few years ago, Karl, in case you were wondering). He doesn't want to be an alternative to it, he wants to take "it" over. And it'll never happen, so he just gets more upset and more isolated.
Creating an alternative that's popular with those dissatisfied with what major publishing houses publish? There are those out there making an effort, and it's certainly possible if you put in the work and have the talent (meaning, sadly, someone other than the ULA will have to do it). But displacing or taking over the mainstream? Get real, Karl. Independent music is viable because it doesn't waste time obsessing over what Mariah Carey is doing or how her record company gets her albums exposure by cross-promoting with Pepsi. Because unlike you, almost all innovative independent music doesn't want to sell Pepsi, and they know how to get to their audience. But Suicide didn't displace KC & The Sunshine Band. It doesn't work that way. A lot of people really, really, really want KC & The Sunshine Band. If they get Suicide instead, they'll be unhappy and confused. And a lot of people really, really, really want Jon Franzen. The journals and professors and writers you try/fail to push around don't want you, their audiences don't want you, so what is the point of this?
Your audience is elswhere, fellas, if they exist at all. They weren't in the Miller Theatre, therefore, you accomplished nothing. If I hadn't read Karl's blog, I would never have heard a peep about it just like nearly everyone else on the planet, because nobody gives a shit about what professors, poets, cultural critics and intellectual socialites do with their weekend afternoons unless they're into the same things to begin with. You think Maximum Rock 'n Roll had a correspondent there or something? Nobody cares about this shit. Deal with it already.
By the way, I didn't mean to suggest that the ULA is as good as Suicide. Just sayin'.
Mr. Wenclas, in yet another weeks-long complain-a-thon (rhyme unintentional), has denounced yet another writer/magazine/critic/group/movement as counter-revolutionary. Why? It's the same old story. Sure, he dresses it up in his usual rhetoric and so-called ideology. But ultimately, his issue with n+1 is that they don't think he's as important as he thinks he is.
They didn't publish Karl Wenclas's "brilliant" letter to the editor (I read it on his website: uh, no comment). Because of this personal insult--not worshipping at the throne of Wenclas--they get tossed on the pile with Gawker, New Criterion, McSweeney's, Paris Review, Media Bistro, and every other publication or person who once made passing reference to the ULA and then, obviously, stop. Conversely, any outlet that would pay His Highness what he deemed an appropriate level of attention is legitimized. That's really all it comes down to, as Karl believes in nothing other than his own ego, and his right to be famously important. Anyone remember his very brief love affair with the New Criterion, those uber-elitist conservatives, because they shared his dislike of McSweeney's and others? It probably would have continued too, if they hadn't brushed him off.
A personal disclaimer here: Do I think n+1 is an "important" publication (whatever that means)? No. Do I think they're pompous elitists, in an Ivy-League-mess-hall-style quarrel with slightly ideologically different pompous elitists? Yeah, it looks like it. Do I think pompous elitists with literature PhDs should go ahead and publish a magazine for the 2,000 people in the world just like them who want to read it? Definitely. Personally, I'll pass, but's it's not really a big deal.
If you don't like it, do something else yourself. Create an alternative (you've still never done it, never even really tried it, because it's too difficult for simpletons like you to figure out). But you can't do that. Some Ivy Leaguer creates a limited-run magazine that is carried in one or two bookstores in 6 or 7 "cultural" American cities, and your response is "I want your pages! I want your pages!"
The undergrounder obsessed with the mainstream of literature. It's no wonder so many other zeensters and underground writers shrugged you off as a joke when the ULA was founded (that info was in an article about you from a few years ago, Karl, in case you were wondering). He doesn't want to be an alternative to it, he wants to take "it" over. And it'll never happen, so he just gets more upset and more isolated.
Creating an alternative that's popular with those dissatisfied with what major publishing houses publish? There are those out there making an effort, and it's certainly possible if you put in the work and have the talent (meaning, sadly, someone other than the ULA will have to do it). But displacing or taking over the mainstream? Get real, Karl. Independent music is viable because it doesn't waste time obsessing over what Mariah Carey is doing or how her record company gets her albums exposure by cross-promoting with Pepsi. Because unlike you, almost all innovative independent music doesn't want to sell Pepsi, and they know how to get to their audience. But Suicide didn't displace KC & The Sunshine Band. It doesn't work that way. A lot of people really, really, really want KC & The Sunshine Band. If they get Suicide instead, they'll be unhappy and confused. And a lot of people really, really, really want Jon Franzen. The journals and professors and writers you try/fail to push around don't want you, their audiences don't want you, so what is the point of this?
Your audience is elswhere, fellas, if they exist at all. They weren't in the Miller Theatre, therefore, you accomplished nothing. If I hadn't read Karl's blog, I would never have heard a peep about it just like nearly everyone else on the planet, because nobody gives a shit about what professors, poets, cultural critics and intellectual socialites do with their weekend afternoons unless they're into the same things to begin with. You think Maximum Rock 'n Roll had a correspondent there or something? Nobody cares about this shit. Deal with it already.
By the way, I didn't mean to suggest that the ULA is as good as Suicide. Just sayin'.
posted by Bryan Guski at Wednesday, June 21, 2006
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