Monday, April 19, 2010

Becoming a Literary Outlaw

The mythos of the outlaw in American culture and history is powerful. Todd Moore recognized this, and expressed it well in his "Dillinger" essays.

The stance has appeal even for those who live and work in established worlds opposite to that of the rebel outsider. They don't become the reality. They borrow the trappings.

A handful of genuine literary outlaws continue to exist in America. A mere handful. They live on the margins. Some have denounced mainstream corruption. They represent a sliver of dissent in American literature. A tiny, tiny sliver of literary dissent.

A QUESTION
Is this a valid viewpoint? Ask yourself why there's hostility to the expression of a mere viewpoint. Ask why the Overdogs of literature have worked hard to shut that viewpoint out.

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