Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • 86

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY! 4H Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, May 29, 1988 'Rotten Reviews II' spotlights potholes in modern criticism Presented by TOM COLLINS Gold, Silver and Bronze r' il ITT' Sanctioned Dy IJocelyn Riley s- uireci jrom ine iuoo winter Jjr Olympics in Calgary and the World Championships in Budapest TUESDAY, JUNE 7TH AT 8:00 P.M. DANE CO. MEMORIAL COLISEUM MADISON, WISCONSIN place my mortal remains, alive or dead, in the hands of any American mortician than to set foot on the soil any communist nation." Henderson has unearthed some amazing nuggets of rotten reviews (no excerpts longer than a couple of sentences are included). "In her zeal to demonstrate that nothing lives except in the imagination, (novelist Marguerite) Young, with superb virtuosity, may have written a novel that in the profoundest sense does not exist." What the reviewers included in Henderson's book may lack in logic they more than make up for in malice and self-assurance. Lynne Sharon Schwartz's "Rough Strife" was called "almost wholly uninteresting." Her "Disturbances in the Field" was deemed "a fat, shapeless, talky, self-satisfied blob of a book." Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" was called "a curiously dead noveL" Perhaps the most spiteful review included, though, is the one-word excerpt from a review of J.D.

Salinger's novel "Franny and "cute." Henderson is clearly sympathetic to the effect all these barbs have on the authors of the books under consideration. He quotes critic and writer James Atlas at the end of this new collection of rotten reviews: "As a famous but often derided novelist once said to me: They think we can take it, but we can't." too ALL SEATS RESERVED $20( TAX INCL. Only a limited number of tickets remain! "Rotten Reviews II: A Literary Companion," edited by Bill Henderson (New Yprk: PushcartNorton, J12.95). "Americans love to trash the mighty," writes sometimes critic Anthony Brandt in the introduction to Reviews II." "And," he adds, "those who aspire to be mighty have to get used to it." Bad reviews might serve a useful purpose for a writer. Brandt quotes playwright Jean Cocteau on the subject of re-'.

views: "Listen carefully to first criti-, ci'sms of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like then cultivate it. That's the of your work that's individual worth keeping." One of the pleasures of the original I volume of "Rotten Reviews" was reviews of works we now consider classics but that were trashed by reviewers generations ago. Voltaire considered "Hamlet," for example, "a vulgar and barbarous drama, which would not be tolerated I by the vilest populace of France, or Italy one would imagine this piece to be the work of a drunken sav- age." Of course, Voltaire's native lan-; guage was French, which might have influenced his judgment of Shake- speare. But that explanation does not hold true for the "Saturday Review" critic who wrote in the mid-19th century that he did "not believe in the perma-; nence of (Charles Dickens') reputation our children will wonder I what their ancestors could have meant by putting Mr.

Dickens at the head of the novelists of his day." "Rotten Reviews II" concentrates on contemporary writers (the first volume ended with 1961). Bill Henderson, (who also edited the earlier volume of "Rotten Reviews," which came out two years ago), found a large and responsive audience of writers who loved the first book and were eager to contribute their worst reviews to the second. TICKETS ON SALE AT: Ticket Center, Prange's East Towne West Towne, Discount Records at 658 State Street, Capitol Centre Foods-Broom St. Info Booth at Janesville Mall. Order tickets at Bank of Hilldale Madison.

Service charge per ticket at outlets. CHARGE BY PHONE with your VISA or MASTERCARD number. Phone (608) 267-3999. 85 service charge per ticket (not refundable). When Mary McCarthy's novel "The Group" was published in 1963, a reviewer called it "a minor achievement and a major disappointment" A reviewer of a poetry book by Amy Clampitt advised that "it would be better for Amy Clampitt if, at least for a while, she tucked her notes from Poetry 101 away in a trunk." A book by poet Carolyn Kizer received this curt treatment: "Like most poets, she teaches, and like most teachers, she isn't very good." A reviewer wrote of "Mr.

Bridge," by Evan Connell, that "It is hard to imagine a creep like Bridge ever lived. If he did, so what? Connell fails to show that he has any relevance to what's happening in America, 1969." A more recent novel by Connell also received its share of rotten reviews, including: "This do-it-yourself kit will appeal to those who think confusion is a narrative strategy." Jessica Mitford garnered a truly malignant review of her book "The American Way of Death" from an unlikely source. A congressman read this statement into the "Congressional Record" in 1963: "While hiding behind the commercial aspects of the mortician and the cemeteries and mausoleums where our dear department friends and relatives are commemorated, she is really striking another blow at the Christian religion. Her tirade against morticians is simply the vehicle to carry her anti-Christ attack. I would rather TICKETS NOW ON SALE Sf 3s jc fl jc Sjc SC it.

PERFORMANCE SPONSORED BY: Book notes Novelist Patricia Murphy, author of "Searching for Spring" and "We Walk the Back of the Tiger" (both from Naiad Press), will sign copies of her books from 6:30 to 8 p.m. June 8 at A Room of One's Own Bookstore, 317 W. Johnson St. Banks' AND m) onannon sent into exile .2 Debi Thomas USA Brian Boitano USA WKOW-TV tor real dog high inks Hit i 1Tmi3 ir'r?" At-n Willie. "She is too happy being a real dog.

So, I will have to keep her in the yard." Shannon the Dog wagged her taiL "I know I shouldn't act like a dog," she said. "But, let's face it; I am a dog and it is fun." WILLIE presented by Wachsman and Waggoner USA Brian Orser Canada Elizabeth Manley Canada XMs. Minlruirie fGvicTlieatre ft 2 1 "J1 4 Jo 1 JUNE 10 Ml, 16, 17 18 IS A 'Come in a DRACULA COSTUME June 10 or June 17 and get a ticket 8:00 P.M. TICKETS $5.25 Seybold and Seybold USA By William R. Wlneke Wisconsin State Journal Do you remember Shannon the iDog? Last week, we told you about Shannon learned to be a "real" dog, how she learned to roll in 'cowpies and bark at passers-by and to make messes.

Well, Shannon the Dog was very, very happy being a "real" dog and she happily went about her business, rolling in cowpies, barking and making messes. But Weird Willie, who thought he Shannon's owner (actually, dogs are people and no one owns them), was not so happy with Shannon. "Shannon, what am I going to do you?" asked Weird Willie. "You are no longer nice. You are acting like a typical dog.

I shall have to train So, Weird Willie bought a book. iThe name was "How To Train a Dog nd Make it Behave Perfectly." "I am going to read this book and then I am going to train you," said Willie. What a nice book!" ex- Claimed Shannon the Dog. "I know juLst what to do with it." So, Shannon the Dog ate the cover off "How To Train a Dog and Make it Behave Perfectly." Weird Willie was shocked. i "I think that, perhaps, you flunked the first lesson," he said.

"You ate the of the book and you drooled on pages. Oh, Shannon, what am I going to do with you?" Shannon the Dog just shrugged. "The book didn't taste as good as I thought it would," said Shannon the Dog, as she put her paws the the counter and gobbled the pound of hamburger Weird Willie's mother had put there to thaw for dinner. "Hee, hee," said Shannon the Dog, wagging her taiL "I love being a dog." 1 Needless to say. Weird Willie's mother was not happy.

She was not h3ppy at all. i "That animal of yours is no longer an inside dog," said Weird Willie's mother. "It is an outside dog. Preferably, she will be as far outside as is possible. Do I make myself clear?" So, Shannon the Dog was banished ia a dog house in the back yard.

And she was attached to a long chain so she couldn't run to the country and chase chickens and roll in cowpies. "I guess I will not be able to train Shannon to behave," said Weird for half price. SUN PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM Information and Reservations Ticket booth opens 837-8217 at SENTRY May 30th Jill Trenary USA Caryn Kadavy USA I WL STARDATE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: BLOW UP YOUR VIDEO TOUR1988 I SCHOOL'S OUT Wynne and Druar USA I WMir-waAJl fciimnmmmnmii an wniinn nr. c'. Wilson and McCall Canada Semanick and Gregory USA YZ.

Paul Wylie USA 1 1 snow-- 1 nnM il A t1 5 It 1J0LTA Sunday Night is AMATEUR NIGHT VISIONS BURLESQUE Night Club. Paid auditions. Open 8 p.m. 244-9771 5 OS WITH VERY SPECIAL GUEST I 1 i I 1 Bestemianova and Bukin USSR Christopher Bowman USA Valova Vasiliev USSR Tickets now on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Center, Prange's West Towne and East Towns, Discount Records, 658 State The Info. Booth at Janesville Mall, Capitol Centre Foods, 111 N.

Broom St. CHARGE BY PHONE with your VISA or MASTER CARD number. Phone (608) 267-3999. B5' service charge per ticket (not refundable). The World's Top IceSkating Champions v.

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