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from Mary in response to the request for readings 
01.03.2007, 5:18 PM
if i was being expansive i'd say aristotle's poetics, sidney's defense of poetry, possibly derrida's white mythology, and a book called 'allegory and violence' by gordon teskey (ithaca press) which is one of the best books on the evolution of attitudes to story i've ever read. it's not everyone's cup of tea though.
there's a handful of essays on the decline of rhetoric which are worth a look too, but i'll have to wait till i'm back from seclusion chez mother before i can dig them out. something on the eighteenth-century boom in printing (grub street, in pope's words) might be nice context too. will see if i can find a title.
for some local uk colour, you might be interested in the successes and not so successes of the university of openess (sic), which is here:
the back-end of this collaborative newsletter i used to edit might also start some interesting discussions about mass authorship, though that might work better in person than distributing usernames to the ether. but that depends on what you're planning.
oh, and i have some questions for everyone too. i've been trying to work out how to co-write fiction for years and a few successes and failures around that. is that within if:book's remit?
etc, etc
yours, in dopey post-holiday mode,
sM
Posted by bob stein at January 3, 2007 5:18 PM