EDWARD GAUVIN

• “Heavenly Father, be not with our sins against us, but with us against our sins. And when Your thoughts rise in our soul, let it be each time to show us not the extent of our errors, but that of Your pardon, nor how we go astray, but how You shall save us.” Can any Kierkegaard readers identify the source and perhaps standard English translation of this quote (which I have rendered from the French)? It is one of the most beautiful things I have recently read.
• The Southern Review rejects a Châteaureynaud short story with the longest and second nicest editor letter this translator has ever received, in what is unarguably the most perfect penmanship. They will be getting another submission, those lucky folks!
• Last year’s translation masterpiece by yours truly, Dr. Frédéric Saldmann’s Wash Your Hands!, has been available online and in stores for a month now. I’m sure it topped your holiday list.

by Dr. Frédéric Saldmann

I’ve always liked the Terry Southern piece “Dear Ms.,” which can be found in the collection Now Dig This: The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern (2001, Grove Press), edited by his son Nile and Josh Alan Friedman. I’m hoping to circumvent any laws prohibiting its posting by not sharing it in its entirety, but the excerpt is enough for anyone to get the picture. I made my brother read this once, and he said, “I don’t see what the point of this is except to piss women off.” Personally, I like the precise italics.

The Magic Christian is one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read, sly yet infantile; there’s something in Southern’s deadpan I’d never try to duplicate. Is it as funny to be a smart man playing the philistine now that the philistines are winning? Or are they always?

Anyway, enjoy! » Read the rest of this entry «