Back! With a Close Reading of DeLillo's White Noise

Hello! Sorry about being away, getting back to school has been...much more difficult than originally intended. Anyhow, I am actively working on the thesis, and am posting my first (admittedly far out) close reading of Don DeLillo's White Noise. I have also read Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and will be posting an analysis of it tomorrow.

Anyway, click the jump for some White Noise close reading!

Catching Up: The Academic Direction of this Blog

Hello! I am still out of town, but I definitely wanted to update tonight to keep people up to date and to keep me on schedule.

This morning, I woke up to a friend's message that indicated his interest in discussion in these topics, but did not see their connection to Reagan as a person or the events as directly caused by his administration's policies. This is totally valid and understandable, so I would like to clear up the direction this blog is headed in academically.

A Night Away from Reagan

hello! do not have access to a computer tonight so I cannot fully update. apologies! my girlfriend has me out seeing Atrocious. double post tomorrow!

Also, if you're shopping on Amazon, click on our ads and help support us! thanks to everyone for reading! please like us over on facebook or subscribe here for additional commentary and special posts!

EDIT: It is today. I am still out of town but have a computer so I will try to update / double update tonight! Thanks again for your support!

Folk Music: Taking the National as Personal

On March 30th, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assasinate Ronald Reagan in public, outside of the Hilton Hotel in DC. Hinckley committed this act in order to win the love of Jodie Foster, who he had developed an obsession with after experiencing the film Taxi Driver, which was actually shown in full during the Hinckley's trial.

There has been a lot written about Hinckley, mostly bad, accusing him of being a psychotic who had a repeated history of stalking and possible conspiracy to murder. This is not far off the truth, in the real world. However, taken into the world of folk tales, Hinckley becomes something more: a hero in love, willing to kill to earn his dream girl. Pretty screwed up, right?

Chris Clavin wrote a whole song thinking otherwise. Within is a bevy of folk tall tale and romantic love, combined with economic dreams of status through possession and action. So let's look at Chris Clavin's "John and Jody." If you have a heart, consider buying the album. It's only $5 and helps an artist get out of debt. But examination begin!

Warren Buffet on "Coddling the Super-Rich"

My girlfriend, a devoted liberal, posted this link to facebook: Stop Coddling The Super-Rich. Buffett, as always, contributes an informed opinion to a reputable magazine in contrast to his own personal wealth. Buffett quickly separates himself as a usurer compared to "[earning] money from a job," in an effort to identify himself as a member of the super-rich and therefore qualified to speak for them. Being the third richest man in the world, this distinction should be obvious to any reader of a Buffett piece. What I would like to do here is provide a close reading of this article, examining word choice and positioning as to why Buffett would submit this besides gains in public respect such as he earned from my girlfriend.

OFFTOPIC: An Examination of Libya Pre-Crisis

This is a paper I wrote for Yahya Madra concerning the oil economy of Libya before the Qadhafi crisis. I realize it is off topic for this blog, but thought it would be an interesting read that relates somewhat to current events. Expect a double post tomorrow as I finish note taking on the suggested subjects.

So:

Rothbard's Autopsy: A Libertarian Exercise

On the advice of "Ubermensch" from Left Libertarian, I read over Murray Rothbard's 1989 Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy. Rothbard writes not as a "left" libertarian, but rather as tradionalist, seemingly more in line with Ayn Rand's Objectivism than ensuring the public's freedom from government intervention.