THREE WOGS by Alexander Theroux

A look at Alexander Theroux's 1972 debut novel, Three Wogs.
George Salis's masterful review of Darconville's Cat:
thecollidescop...

[@PaperBird]

Very well described! Brought back memories of reading the Cat, which you are torturing yourself by savoring till the end!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! Loved your video on DC, by the way. Self-torture, masochism-delayed gratification-nonetheless I’ve an iron resolve!

[@Telly234]

(Another cat!) From his Wiki page: “If I’d want revenge: against lazy readers, against unengaged critics, against risk-averse publishers. But maybe, given what they’re all missing out on, he’s already taking it.” I love this. Lol. I don’t read more long books because I feel that I don’t have much time. So I keep looking for a lot of information in a compact form. That’s why I appreciate people like you who are curating books and summarizing them. Some people are against reading/listening to summaries; I’m not. I read summaries of novels that sound interesting, and that I know I’ll never have the money or time to read. Interesting author. I had never heard of him before. Thank you for bringing these obscure writers into the light. I don’t know enough of him to tell if he could be called “esoteric,” but I’m really into that.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks for affirming one of my main missions: to bring deserving authors to more readers’ attention. Theroux is not to be missed. You will love his stuff, guaranteed. If you can, get ahold of his essay Theroux Metaphrastes (or wait for my upcoming video) and you will see just what a force he is.

[@Telly234]

Thank you! I did a quick research. Amazon has a used copy for around $80, but I found a dubious website that sells if for $22. It was a quick search like I mentioned, so perhaps I’ll be lucky eventually and find a pdf version. Theroux made me think of one of Nietzsche’s rhetorical devices-the use of irony to curate his audience. Also, the use of italics, quotations marks, exclamations (!), and misdirection. He wanted to dis-abuse the conditioned minds of “some” of his readers from the restrictions of current morality; to wake up the geniuses within “some” of them. I’m curious about this idea--learned wit. I want to learn how to be witty!

[@Telly234]

A POEM IN WHICH IS A CELEBRATION BY NEGATION or, a repartee on jeopardy. If on a friend’s bookshelf You cannot find Joyce or Sterne Cervantes, Rabelais, or Burton, You are in danger, face the fact, So kick him first or punch him hard And from him hide behind a curtain. ― Alexander Theroux* How could I have missed Stern?! Have you read him?

[@blurredlenzpictures3251]

I agree 100 percent. Part of the life birth of the art or of writing and releasing it is the forms it may take in terms of reception and discussion. It's actually very interesting when you find out a piece of art you enjoy or maybe have even incorporated into your own work was, in fact, based partially or inspired by a previous work that you can discover.

[@marinamaccagni5253]

This is awesome! I finished reading this book two weeks ago! Now I'm reading Laura warhohlic. Sadly I can't find darconville's cat and all his other books. Maybe living in usa helps you a lot in terms of finding these rare pearls. I consider myself lucky enough to have found the 2 books I own. I fell in love with alexander theroux by listening to an interview on orpheus' channel (awesome as much as yours. Maybe the best 2 channels along with paperbird).

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Marina Maccagni Grazie! I’ve had to purchase almost every one of his books from second-hand sellers. I can imagine it’s rather difficult outside of the US. I saw that Orpheus had a video on Theroux. I really like Orpheus’s videos. I’ll head over and check it out soon!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Ah, I realize now that Orpheus just uploaded the Bookworm interview (I’m well acquainted with that). I was thinking Orpheus interviewed Theroux! Still-his is a solid channel.

[@marinamaccagni5253]

@@LeafbyLeaf , maybe it's my fault because I didn't express myself well. Paperbird is a great channel too

[@MarcNash]

As a Brit I'm really going to have to read this. I've only read his "Darconville's Cat" and what a most rare treat you will be in for, but yeah a feast of obscure words and neologisms await you there! Thanks for the heads up on this

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oh, you're going to have more of a bang with the satire than I! A "feast of obscure words and neologisms": Yes, it is going to take iron resolve for me to save this book like I intend.

[@MarcNash]

@@LeafbyLeaf :-) Have just broken my own embargo on ordering books to get this one sorted!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love hearing of such reckless behavior!

[@MarcNash]

@@LeafbyLeaf :-)

[@wesleyallen2593]

This one escaped my purview. At this point, I have only Darconville's Cat and Laura Warholic. Your Theroux collection is envy-inducing, my friend. What's next? On a side note, I truly enjoyed the lingual gymnastics you cover at the end--splitting the infinitive, the humorous bit re the conjunctive adverb, etc. English is a fertile and underutilized arena for this type of self-aware wordplay. Joyce would be proud.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I should mention that I’ve added 5 more of his books to my arsenal. I think I’ll cover his essay and the three illustrated fables next. Theroux is an author for people like you and me!

[@wesleyallen2593]

@@LeafbyLeaf I concur! I look forward to diving into his backlog soon. By the way, I wanted to ask if you were the one who recently bought Evening Edged in Gold for $99 off eBay. I almost bid on it, but decided to let it go. I wondered if the lucky purchaser might've been you...

[@simgingergirl]

I read Darconville's Cat third junior year of college. Our class loved it!... but thanks to work I didn't get all the way through it and had to return the book. I'll get back around to it eventually.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

That's encouraging to hear! I mean that your class loved it. not that work got int he way of reading, which it certainly tends to do. Pesky jobs and the need to make money!

[@menelvegor]

This all sounds really really interesting. I had never heard of Alexander Theroux before. Thanks for this! After this ongoing abomination ends, I will have so much new stuff to get to! Ah. These days I'm going through the entire Hitchhiker's Guide series (for the second time). You need your laughs and a sense of humourous wonderment. Take care!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Music to my ears that I could bring this author to someone’s awareness! If you revel in language, AT is the de facto and de jure author for you. You’ve a good point about this abomination and the need for comedic literature. (Video idea?) Take care!

[@menelvegor]

@@LeafbyLeaf Absolutely cannot wait for Theroux! I'd love it if you would make a video on comedy-literature! Would be, as usual, interesting to see your views about it and your favourites. So far, the only really ingeniously 'funny' books I've read are 'Three Men in a Boat', 'A Clockwork Orange', 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and The Hitchhiker's Guide series. I could use some recommendations! Clockwork has been like making its way to the narrow thirsty vestibules that which constitutes like my thoughts a lot lately. I, like miss Alex. Pity I gave it to a friend before this ultraviolence began.

[@TheCollidescopePodcast]

As expected, beautiful review. I love the addition of graphs and such. Neat! Looking forward to reading more and more Theroux of course. Warholic will be my next one, most likely.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, George! I used a lot more on-screen visuals (where else would they have been?) in my Mason & Dixon video. Still waiting to see if anyone finds some of the treasures in that one. Have fun with Laura Markley-I mean, Warholic! Next for me will be the early illustrated fables and then Lollipop Trollops.

[@TheCollidescopePodcast]

@@LeafbyLeaf I'm still looking forward to watching that video! In my skimming of Steve's book I did see that Laura is real. I need all the tea lol.

[@blurredlenzpictures3251]

Darconville's Cat is a bit tricky in its reading and presentation simply by the fact I can't find it.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahaha! It really stinks. Hopefully some kind soul out there will resurrect it.

[@jD-P8g3s]

Grear vid. I first heard about AT through Paperbird's review of DC - and what a find indeed (I deny myself the pleasure of the exclamation). I've ordered Estonia through A. at a real cool price - HB too, on the basis of those multiple, hilarious 1 star reviews. . I've seen a samizdat copy of DC, reading sparingly, which has served as a primer for now - Did your copy cost big bucks? . Again, love your vids. Long Live the Literati!!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I loved @paperbird’s video! My copy of DC cost $37 and I’d call the condition acceptable. I paid higher for some others that are on the way. Still, this is small potatoes compared to some serious coin I’ve dropped on Arno Schmidt! Yes-long live the literati!

[@marcsmirnoff936]

At the 3:58 mark: "I hope it goes without saying that I am not a racist in any measure." An intelligent, fair audience doesn't need help understanding that somebody calmly & intelligently reviewing a satire that condemns "reprehensible" racism is not going to be racist. That the speaker nonetheless feels the need to emphasize that he isn't racist says something unfortunate about our culture-or, to be fair, the speaker's perception of our culture.

[@rickharsch8797]

Thanks Dottore--I hope my copy doesn't shed on the way over here.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I keep watching for it. My neck is tiring.

[@rickharsch8797]

@@LeafbyLeaf Okay--make it easier, just watch for fallen pages...

[@rickharsch8797]

I just got a threat that Steven Moore's book is coming Friday along with LS Popvić's...and I am barely half done with Pynchon...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Take solace in the fact that Moore’s book is literally a collection of reviews and essays, so you can dip into it at will. LSP’s book is pretty slim and looks to be a quick read. Plus, well, you’re reading the great GR. Life is so good!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Take solace in the fact that Moore’s book is literally a collection of reviews and essays, so you can dip into it at will. LSP’s book is pretty slim and looks to be a quick read. Plus, well, you’re reading the great GR. Life is so good!