the glass mountain & brain damage

“writing is a process of dealing with not-knowing, a forcing of what and how…. the not-knowing is crucial to art, is what permits art to be made. without the scanning process engendered by not-knowing, without the possibility of having the mind move in unanticipated directions, there would be no invention…. the not-knowing is not simple, because it’s hedged about with prohibitions, roads that may not be taken.” -donald barthelme. here are two tiny excerpts, and two illustrations, from a 1970 printing of his short story collection city life for your afternoon delight.

the glass mountain

1. i was trying to climb the glass mountain.
2. the glass mountain stands at the corner of thirteenth street and eight avenue.
3. i had attained the lower slope.
4. people were looking up at me.
/ (skipping ahead)
33. i was new to the neighborhood yet i had accumulated acquaintances .
34. my acquaintances passed a brown bottle from hand to hand.
35. “better than a kick in the crotch.”
36. “better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.”
37. “better than a slap in the belly with a wet fish.”
38. “better than a thump on the back with a stone.”
39. “won’t he make a splash when he falls, now?”
40. “i hope to be here to see it. dip my handkerchief in the blood.”
41. “fart-faced fool.”
42. i unstuck my lefthand plumber’s friend leaving the right one in place.
43. and reached out.
44. to climb the glass mountain, one first requires a good reason.
45. no one ever climbed the mountain on behalf of science, or in search of celebrity, or because the mountain was a challenge.
46. those are not good reasons.
47. but good reasons exist.
48. at the top of the mountain there is a castle of pure gold, an din a room in the castle tower sits…
49. my acquaintances were shouting at me.
50. “ten bucks you bust your ass in the next four minutes!”
51. ...a beautiful enchanted symbol.




brain damage

...some people feel you should tell the truth, but those people are impious and wrong, and if you listen to what they say, you will be tragically unhappy all your life.

oh there’s brain damage in the east, and brain damage in the west, and upstairs there’s brain damage, and downstairs there’s brain damage, and in my lady’s parlor - brain damage. brain damage is widespread. apollinaire was a victim of brain damage - you remember the photograph, the bandage on his head, and the poems… bonnie and clyde suffered brain damage in the last four minutes of the picture. there’s brain damage on the horizon, a great big blubbery cloud of it coming this way-

and you can hide under the bed but brain damage is under the bed, and you can hide in th euniversities but they are the very seat and soul of brain damage - brain damage caused by bears who put your head in their foaming jaws while you are singing “masters of war”... brain damage caused by the sleeping revolution which no one can wake up… brain damage caused by art. i could describe it better if i weren’t afflicted with it…

this is the country of brain damage, this is the map of brain damage, and see, lighted-up places are the airports of brain damage, where damaged pilots land big, damaged ships.

the immaculate conception triggered a lot of brain damage at one time, but no longer does so. a team of lippizaners has just published an autobiography. is that any reason to accuse them of you-know-what? and i saw a girl walking down the street, she was singing “me and my winstons.” and i began singing it too, and that protected us, for a moment, from the terrible thing that might have happened…

and there is brain damage in arizona, and brain damage in maine, and little towns in idaho are in the grip of it, and my blue heaven is black with it, brain damage covering everything like an unbreakable lease-

skiing along the soft surface of brain damage, never to sink, because we don’t understand the danger-




more from/about donald bartheleme:
selections from his writings via coldbacon.
a list of his works.
full texts and further links.
and finally a short bio.

that’s all.