17 books
—
79 voters
“These dreams
These empty dreams
from the make-believe bedrooms
their parents left them
are the after-effects
of television programs
about the ideal
white american family
with black maids
and latino janitors
who are well train
to make everyone
and their bill collectors
laugh at them
and the people they represent”
―
These empty dreams
from the make-believe bedrooms
their parents left them
are the after-effects
of television programs
about the ideal
white american family
with black maids
and latino janitors
who are well train
to make everyone
and their bill collectors
laugh at them
and the people they represent”
―
“As soon as they prove to you, for instance, that you are descended from a monkey, then it is no use scowling, accept it for a fact. When they prove to you that in reality one drop of your own fat must be dearer to you than a hundred thousand of your fellow creatures, and that this conclusion is the final solution of all so-called virtues and duties and all such prejudices and fancies, then you have just to accept it, there is no help for it, for twice two is a law of mathematics. Just try refuting it.”
― Notes from Underground
― Notes from Underground
“May Hegel's philosophy of absolute nonsense - three-fourths cash and one-fourth crazy fancies - continue to pass for unfathomable wisdom without anyone suggesting as an appropriate motto for his writings Shakespeare's words: "Such stuff as madmen tongue and brain not," or, as an emblematical vignette, the cuttle-fish with its ink-bag, creating a cloud of darkness around it to prevent people from seeing what it is, with the device: mea caligine tutus. - May each day bring us, as hitherto, new systems adapted for University purposes, entirely made up of words and phrases and in a learned jargon besides, which allows people to talk whole days without saying anything; and may these delights never be disturbed by the Arabian proverb: "I hear the clappering of the mill, but I see no flour." - For all this is in accordance with the age and must have its course.”
― Essays of Schopenhauer
― Essays of Schopenhauer
“(the pharmakon is neither remedy now poison, neither good nor evil, neither the inside nor the outside, neither speech nor writing; the supplement is neither a plus nor a minus, neither an outside nor the complement of an inside, neither accident nor essence, etc.; the hymen is neither confusion nor distinction, neither identity nor difference, neither consummation nor virginity, neither the veil nor unveiling, neither the inside nor the outside, etc.; the gram is neither a signifier nor a signified, neither a sign nor a thing, neither a presence nor an absence, neither a position nor a negation, etc.; spacing is neither space nor time; the incision is neither the incised integrity of a beginning, or of a simple cutting into, nor simple secondarity. Neither/nor, that is, simultaneously either or; the mark is also the marginal limit, the march, etc.)”
― Positions
― Positions
“In Spanish there is a word for which I can't find a counter word in English. It is the verb vascular, present participle vacilando. I does not mean vacillating at all. If one is vacilando, he is going somewhere but doesn't greatly care whether or not her gets there, although he has direction. . . We could choose some article almost certain not to exist there and then diligently try to find it.”
― Travels with Charley: In Search of America
― Travels with Charley: In Search of America
Beatdom
— 555 members
— last activity Mar 16, 2025 05:45PM
Beatdom is the world's most popular Beat-themed literary journal. Now we have a Goodreads group, where you - the reader, contributor or passer-by - ca ...more
Alt-Lit
— 44 members
— last activity May 28, 2016 04:06AM
Lovers and writers of alternative literature, experimental literature, flash-fiction, weird forms. No poetry, no short stories, just worded, narrative ...more
Literary Fiction by People of Color
— 13323 members
— last activity 16 hours, 29 min ago
This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more
Underground Knowledge — A discussion group
— 25308 members
— last activity 1 hour, 54 min ago
This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underreported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring ...more
21st Century Literature
— 3629 members
— last activity 40 minutes ago
We read literary fiction from 2000 to present, with the intent of finding those literary gems of timeless and enduring quality. We're less focused o ...more
Townsend’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Townsend’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Adult Fiction, Art, Biography, Book Club, Children's, Comics, Contemporary, Crime, Ebooks, Erotica, Gay and Lesbian, Graphic novels, Historical fiction, History, Horror, Humor and Comedy, Literary Fiction, Manga, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Romance, Science fiction, Suspense, Spirituality, Thriller, and Young-adult
Polls voted on by Townsend
Lists liked by Townsend




























































