“Country music was the most segregated kind of music in America, where even whites played jazz and even blacks sang in the opera. Something like country music was what lynch mobs must have enjoyed while stringing up their black victims. Country music was not necessarily lynching music, but no other music could be imagined as lynching’s accompaniment. Beethoven’s Ninth was the opus for Nazis, concentration camp commanders, and possibly President Truman as he contemplated atomizing Hiroshima, classical music the refined score for the high-minded extermination of brutish hordes. Country music was set to the more humble beat of the red-blooded, bloodthirsty American heartland. It was for fear of being beaten to this beat that black soldiers avoided the Saigon bars where their white comrades kept the jukeboxes humming with Hank Williams and his kind, sonic signposts that said, in essence, No Niggers.”
― The Sympathizer
― The Sympathizer
“Lots of people do things lots better than lots of others; but, today, so many people do so many things very well, and so many people are seriously interested in so many different things people do for their own different reasons, you can’t call any thing the best for every person, or even every serious person. So you just pay real attention to the real things that affect you; and don’t waste your time knocking the rest.”
― Dhalgren
― Dhalgren
The World's Literature in Europe
— 873 members
— last activity Nov 10, 2025 09:17PM
Literature from the many languages of Europe: Finland -Joseph Alanen, artist 1880-1920, "Kalevala rya": a woolen rug depicting the scene in the Finn ...more
Science Fiction Aficionados
— 2557 members
— last activity Nov 18, 2025 06:23PM
Welcome to Sci Fi Aficionados. We love all things science fiction, with an emphasis on the classics of the genre. Members are welcome to discuss all t ...more
Chip’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Chip’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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