there  could  be  snakes  in  here

We people of the books agree on nothing - but all disagree with the pyre and the gag. All good books are holy - but criticism more.

Charlotte Salomon (1942), '#4835', detail from the incredible 'Life? or Theatre? ' A classic is a book that someone very powerful once said was good. ************************************************************************************** LOL. This is from a speech by the old pope, against gay marriage and queerdom and other good things: People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but something that they make for themselves . Thing is, stripped of sarcasm (and the assumption of an essentialist audience), this is actually an objective statement of pomo people's outlook! You could attribute this exact statement to a Stonewall spokesperson or Judith Butler without raising comment. This is funny. ******************************************************************

" I'D OUTLAW ' REMEMBER '!" - Bennett's Dottie Stacpoole You go to a Bennett play, you expect  the inherent tragedy of progress, that's the deal. Before I saw People , I gave the following slightly cynical prediction of its plot: "Rich people larking about, paradoxically raging against the system, poignant ending regarding the inevitable decay of grandeur." This is not exactly right. The play is  his usual warm, satirical tragicomedy, but it's not nostalgic, instead looking like nihilism. (The humour left me a bit cold, too. It's panto calibre: bishop on a porn set, cackling old lady, slack-jawed tourists.) If anything, it's touting the inherent tragedy of conservation. So: A grand decaying house is to be sold - or given to the National Trust. But the public-minded people are more awful than the oily City shark. Everyone   hates 'people': "People spoil things." The haughty, reclusive, indecisive lead,