We do not want to sound the alarm just yet, but our summer fundraising drive has been a bust. We have received only one contribution -- from Steven & Xuan Hohensee, whom we profusely thank for their generosity -- not one more. To date we have received $1,476, of which $525 were donated in December 2011 (we rolled this amount over to 2012 because we had reached our fundraising goal for the year) -- which means we have received less than $1,000 so far. We are very worried. We need to raise at least $2,500 by December to continue supporting the cost of publishing Swans. Please, good people, come to the fore. Donate now!
Swans indulged in a rare hiatus from publishing this August, taking a sojourn of sorts that is normally enjoyed by, well, all of Europe. There were many highs and lows during those two fortnights, from a memorable London Olympics with its myriad records and firsts, to the unfortunate penetration of "legitimate rape" into the American vernacular. Some notable passings occurred -- Peter Byrne provides a unique perspective on the life of cultural icon Gore Vidal, while Gilles d'Aymery takes indifferent exception to a popular muckraker and his true political leanings. As for the unfortunate vernacular, Karen Moller is one of many women who are livid over (mostly male) politicians legislating their bodies and dragging the country into Third-World fundamentalism. Equally troubling are so-called feminists such as Vandana Shiva who promote notions of "culturally-perceived" poverty as a means of defending capitalism and leaving the poor to their own devices -- Michael Barker explains with the help of Shiva critic Professor Regina Cochrane.
On the Arts & Culture front, Charles Marowitz reports on Jan Kott's poignant autobiographical essay -- one of those rare works that permeates his very being, while Paul Buhle wishes for a bit more from Michael Staudenmaier's Truth and Revolution: a History of the Sojourner Truth Organization, 1969-1986. In the world of music, Isidor Saslav visits the deep, dramatic, and beautiful compositions of Kurt Weill, and turning from metaphysical to corporeal trips, we accompany Raju Peddada and his sons on Part I of their summer car excursion through the Great Plains, while Harvey Whitney, Jr. shares his exploration of Salt Lake City and its striking contrasts to east coast cities. We close with John Marshall's poetic remembrance of Elizabeth Grey Fussell, Guido Monte and Silvia Dello Russo's multilingual mysteries, your letters on our Special Summer Issue, and an appeal for your generous help with our summer fundraising drive.
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Peter Byrne: Gore Vidal: A Niggling Hero For Lean Times
A unique perspective on the life of Gore Vidal, not found in the repetitive mainstream media obituaries. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: The Passing Of A Muckraker
A slightly different perspective on the late muckraker Alexander Cockburn -- progressive or paleoconservative? More...
Karen Moller: Is This America Or Some Third World Country?
America, with its increasing attacks on women and abortion, is being dragged into Third-World dogma of fundamentalist ignorance. More...
Michael Barker: Questioning Vandana Shiva
A summary of professor Regina Cochrane's critique of famed eco-activist Vandana Shiva. More...
Charles Marowitz: Jan Kott's Still Alive
Still Alive is a literary microcosm that contains the soul of Jan Kott, an intellectual and political activist who suffered through the terrors of the German and Soviet occupations of Poland. More...
Paul Buhle: Truth And Revolution
A review of Michael Staudenmaier's book on the life and demise of the Marxist group, the Sojourner Truth Organization. More...
Isidor Saslav: Kurt Weill's Last Opera
The deep, dramatic, and beautiful music of Kurt Weill. More...
Raju Peddada: The Three Thousand Mile Gallery Part I
Part I of a father and sons' car journey across the Great Plains. More...
Harvey E. Whitney, Jr.: Summer Travels
The author reports on his vacation to Salt Lake City, a far cry from east coast cities but a pleasant surprise. More...
John M. Marshall: The Maid Among The Heather
A poem in memory of Elizabeth Grey Fussell. More...
Guido Monte & Silvia Dello Russo: Hineinhorchen
Guido Monte and Silvia Dello Russo try to describe the mystery of the connection between different realities of the world. More...
Feedback on Swans Special Summer Issue, from England on Orson Welles -- an unbeknownst American, and from Israel on the lack of representation. More...
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