Arbitrary Friday of Return

Well, Pandagonians, it’s me, Michael Bérubé, professor of dangeral studies, and it's been a long time since I last posted something here. Too long, perhaps. In recent weeks, in fact, I’ve heard some nasty rumors as to what happened to me.

Some people say I was offended that in response to my last post, one or two readers disagreed slightly with my assertion that Julie Taymor has the best visual imagination evah, and that I stomped off in a huff – though not before sending Amanda a short but furious email, “delete my account!!1!1!” Others say that my departure was part of the breakup of the short-lived Pandagon Supergroup of 2007, during which I drove five or six fine bloggers from this site thanks to my insistence on playing twenty-minute drum solos on every song. (The truth about that, by the way, is that I joined the Supergroup in March 2007 primarily in order to meet the legendary jedmunds and learn more about his odd obsession with Oasis. Imagine my shock and disappointment when I was told that jedmunds no longer blogs here, and indeed is never spoken of! Oops. Sorry about the otnay-eakingspay-of-edmundsjay thing.) Still others claim that I was swept away by a giant nuclear fireball of some kind. As if.

The truth, folks, is that I have spent many months doing research. Yes, research! I have been developing a Theory that may explain a great deal about human cultures and societies, and I have spent many months painstaking accumulating empirical evidence for it. Long have I toiled in some of the most obscure recesses of the Intratubes, and when even the Intratubes were not enough, I turned on the television. I am now in the final stages of formulating my theory, during which I plan to read a "book."

I will be sure to share this Theory with you as soon as it is ready for public dissemination. In the meantime, however, I’d just like to say thanks to Amanda for keeping the door open for me even as Pandagon has moved to this new house, and to let you all know that I hope to stick around for a little while longer before returning to the groves of academe. And I’d like to point to two dead-tree items that might be of interest. The first is the latest issue of the American Book Review, which features a special section, "Women of Color Publishing." Its contents are not available online, though, so consider this a subtle invitation to subscribe. You’ll be glad you did! The second is a new book edited by Suzanne Kamata, Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs. (Suzanne’s blog is here, and her post on the book for Beacon Broadside is right over there.) Some of you may know that I myself happen to have a child with special needs, so if you do check out the book, you won’t be terribly surprised to see a couple of my favorite Jamie stories in it. But more important, you’ll also find some terrific writing by people like Vicki Forman, Jayne Anne Phillips, Clare Dunsford, Bret Lott, Penny Wolfson, and Jane Bernstein. Or, if you’d like to stick with the Intratubes for a bit longer, you can listen to this April 28 interview with me, Suzanne, and Vicki, conducted by Andrew Tonkovich for his KPFK-FM radio show, “Bibliocracy.” (You have to start the interview about one-quarter of the way in, though, because for some reason the podcast includes the last five or six minutes of a show on the music of Carole King. No, I have no idea why.)

I’ll be back before too long. In the meantime, wish me luck with my research!