On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren

Bellona may be a nightmare, but it is, to paraphrase Joyce, a nightmare of history.

Delany calls for response in chords because he writes in chords.

The ultimate test of great and lasting literature is its usefulness. I have said it and said it: the big ones, from Homer through Shakespeare to Nabokov and Delany, are fables, metaphors, parallels to your thought and actions and passions and mine. The usefulness of Dhalgren to you and to me is beyond question. Having experienced it, you will stand

A quote attributed to one Dr. Johnson: “He who makes a beast of himself rids himself of the pain of being a man.”