Author: Threepenny Editor

"An ingenious floor, clamped and nailed in place: walking on it caused friction between the nails and their clamps, emitting the giveaway sounds. There was no way to move silently…

Early tribal cultures, while celebrating their rites of initiation or sacrifice, retained a very precise and subliminal awareness that the compulsive extremes to which they went...were in essence mere playacting,…

In the drawingof a cell straininglaterally to splitthere’s no sensethat it hurts, butwhy wouldn’t it.It must be ashard to doubleas half die. Inwhich eventan organism’sasked to reabsorba half gone black,back…

It’s what we can’tknow that interestsus—the pre-Greeksor Australopithicus—where there are moreabsences and breaksthan bits of boneor pot. It’s notnews, but itfascinates—ourlove of hints, ourmending minds thatlove to patch upother times…

It seemsimpossible—not just aship in abottle butwind and sea.The ship startsto struggle—anemergency of thetoo realized werealize. We canget it out butnot withoutspilling its world.A hammer tapand they’re free.Which deathwill it…

Kay Ryan

In practice, it took 45 minutes to get his stride.It was hard for Monk to play Monk.—National Public Radio It may be thatMonk is alwaysplaying Monk butdown the hall. There…

Even howthe crowwalks iscriss crossesas thougheach stepchecked thelast. No oneknows whyhe advancesas well as hedoes orcould expectthat laughablecroak to workin so manycircumstances. —Kay Ryan Kay Ryan’s most recent book is The…

Only the one ismusical, actually.The others areordinary, mostlyfrom the kitchen.Not a peep ofmusic out of themas they are takenfrom rotation. Mumchairs, tunelessracks, dumbsticks,next to theescalating operaticravishmentsof banishmentsung to the childrenby…

—Francisco de Zurbarán Like twogiant’s hands,shade andgravity colludeto squeeze awaythe light and leavethe clay, ruedZurbarán. Whichmeans he has tofind a counter wayto paint, unless hewants his orangestoo to stick, gluedinto…