Regroove

Stephen Burt’s recent article on Philip K. Dick was quoted with approval by Jenny Davidson, but I wasn’t impressed. For one thing, Jack Isidore regrooves tires, he doesn’t retread them. Also, I don’t think Burt did a good job at addressing how funny Dick’s books are–even Scanner, which is so serious, is also hilarious. Finally, I don’t get the bit at the end of Burt’s essay where he speculates on other science fiction writers whose work could be collected in the Library of America. Maybe Dick would be better characterized with authors such as James Jones who create recognizable worlds using whatever literary tools they happen to have at hand.

P.S. Link above fixed.

2 thoughts on “Regroove

  1. Both of your links go to the same place. You should fix the first link. It's confusing otherwise.

  2. Thanx for this post, which points me to some articles that I haven't seen before. Yes, it is important that Jack Isidore regrooves tires, which is much worse than retreading them. In fact, he produces a useless and dangerous product that is sold to unsuspecting customers, a common device in Phil's writing. Did you know that the name was inspired by Isidore of Seville, who wrote the first encyclopedia?

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