to: ellipsis
from: jcj
3 July 1996
subject: letter three C
attachments: what is a story?
dear Tom and Jonathan
A real miracle!
After a long time on the toilet (like Martin
Luther in his moment of divine insight that led to
the Protestant Reformation - for there is no
fruit left in the house) I pick up two pieces of
writing that have been beside me for days, but
which I keep setting aside: 'What is a story?' and
'This is'.
This time I read them carefully, and with more and
more astonishment as I notice that they fit this
assemblage very well, both in content and in their
dates, but nevertheless I'd left them out, perhaps
because the way they relate to each other and to
the idea of internet is more as creative
disruptions than in any rational way that's easy
to comprehend ...
But looking over my long-considered series of
attachments I see no place where these two texts
can be put without disrupting continuity ...
So then, after some hours of uneasy deliberation,
I decide simply to interrupt and postpone this
discussion of skills and machines and automation
and to attach these short but disturbing pieces to
this letter and to the next.
After these signals of my excitement I leave you
with the words, which I hope you will like.
expectantly
jcj
ps And now I go to eat a banana!