On: Thirteen Ways of Looking at Art

[shartshooter → AnimalMuppet]

I found the piece difficult to read as well. That said, the author wasn't writing it with you or me in mind.

To me, the author was writing in a way that made sense to them, with no regard to how it would be perceived. People will either get it, or they won't.

That's what makes it art(in my opinion)

[082349872349872 → AnimalMuppet]

He does manage (via a cornucopia of namechecks) to implicitly —in addition to the thirteen explicit ways— provide a fourteenth way: by comparing and contrasting each work to its memetic neighbours.

(somewhat like albums and radio DJs used to do, but they, unlike Deresiewicz, usually limit themselves to not only a single medium, but even a single genre)

[xbar → AnimalMuppet]

That style of writing requires a significant commitment for me to work through.

Seldom do I find it worth it.

This time, I definitely did.

[AnimalMuppet → xbar]

Well, I read it closely on your recommendation. It definitely had some worthwhile points. Still don't like the style very much. Still think he should learn to write, or at least learn how to write for regular people. (But maybe regular people weren't really his audience?)