“Having a Coke With You”

Over at Lemonhound, Heather Cromarty reviews two theories of literary femininity, Tiqqun’s Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl and Kate Zambreno’s Heroines. Also, some love poems from Lynn Crosbie.

Congratulations are in order for Lisa Moore; her novel February just won Canada Reads, and she has a new book coming out later this spring.

Since we’re on the subject of poems: two of my most watched YouTube videos are the one where Frank O’Hara reads “Having a Coke With You” and the one where Matthew Zapruder reads “Tonight You’ll Be Able”—which contains a few quickening phrases that delights me in both the literary and literal senses, including these three words: “be a sleuth.” In yesterday’s LARB the former poem is given a close reading by the latter poet, though Zapruder doesn’t seem to feel quite the way I do about O’Hara’s mention of the listener’s love of yoghurt. In fact, we might not agree on how to read the poem, though we both seem to like it, which won’t go wasted on either of us, that’s why we’re telling you about it.

To split infinitives or not: on some of the language’s phoniest rules.

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Screen-grab of Frank O'Hara reading “Having a Coke With You” from YouTube