Jacob Lawrence, "Magic Man," 1958
Jacob Lawrence, Magic Man (1958)
Can a Game Be Literature?

Mark's Pages

April 22, 2008:

He tried to mock me, once, many years ago, for refusing to listen to music on the radio.

"How will you know what's popular?" he said, laughing his sarcastic little laugh.

Not without a certain venom I responded, "Odds are strong that if it's on the radio, it sucks rotten eggs."

He did not seem to understand my point.

Two observations. First, his peculiar need to enforce conformity, in this instance, conformity to the opinions of abstract and anonymous multitudes he'll never meet. Second, his puzzlement at finding his view challenged.

I believe this was one of our final conversations.