Some good writing I fell prey to.

I am reading a book of essays called "Creators" by a scholar named Paul Johnson. It's brief accounts of creative courage--and how great creators, "From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney," got the stuff to do what it is they did--change the world. It's a book I can recommend--it's even marked down at the Strand from $25.95 to $9.95, so it's a bargain to boot.

Right now I am reading Johnson's essay on Shakespeare, perhaps the most profound creative force in the history of the world (though I always enjoyed Chaucer more.) So I just came upon some words from The Tempest, and at 8AM on the C-train, I laughed out loud. They conjured up real images of people and agencies I can't stand. It's a fairly high writing-bar, and if nothing else should stoke your ambition to come up with fresh words, images and ideas. Here goes:

"What have we here? a man or a fish? Dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell;..."

Of course, there's another line from The Tempest that also reminds me of agency
life: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." But that, I suppose, is besides the point.