{"id":3724,"date":"2012-08-10T13:13:39","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T17:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=3724"},"modified":"2013-12-18T17:20:30","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T21:20:30","slug":"hall-to-mcnair-june-11-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/hall-to-mcnair-june-11-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall to McNair, June 11, 1984"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

11 June 1984<\/p>\n

Wes McNair
\nBox 43
\nNorth Sutton, NH 03260<\/p>\n

Dear Wes,<\/p>\n

Good to talk with you. And I like \u201cSeeing Cooch.\u201d I have a
\ncouple of questions, about possible ambiguities. He will be out on
\nhis porch, \u201clifting\/ a tire or something\/ without a door.\u201d It seems
\nto say that he would be \u201clifting something without a door.\u201d What, which
\nlacks a door, would he be lifting? If I sound dumb, it is genuine. I
\nthink of \u201csomething without a door\u201d as if it were a car rotting in the
\nfront yard, a doorless car \u2013 but then he wouldn\u2019t be lifting that. And
\nI don\u2019t know what sort of object, lacking a door, that he would be lifting\u2026
\nBut I don\u2019t really understand what it is that he is doing. Then the next
\n\u201csentence\u201d isn\u2019t a sentence. And it seems to me not exactly connected.
\nOr it seems to me that the things beginning<\/del> \u201c or some night\/ in a room\/
\nbeyond his\/\u2026\u201d; that it<\/del> depends on \u201cyou see\u201d many many lines earlier.
\nHow does \u201cor\u201d follow \u201cwithout a door\u201d?<\/p>\n

Other little things. First I had trouble connecting \u201cit,\u201d and then
\nI decided that it was probably my fault. Then I wondered if you really
\nneeded \u201cnobody\/ wants.\u201d What sort of thing is a loaf of bread that nobody
\nwants? I love it described as a great loaf of bread\u2026but when you say that
\nthis is that kind of loaf of bread (the kind we all know) that nobody wants\u2026
\nmaybe you complicate it a little more than you need to? It remains visual,
\nif it is wrapped like a big loaf of bread\u2026but if it is wrapped like a
\nbig loaf of bread\u2026the kind that<\/span> nobody wants\u2026it goes beyond the visual
\nto something else that may confuse the visual.<\/p>\n

I love almost everything that is here \u2013 I guess except \u201cwithout a door\u201d\u2026
\nand I love the end of it. But maybe it is too elliptical right now?<\/p>\n

Another question. If you find it finished now, or if it is finished
\nin the next draft, do you want it to go out this summer? Or do you want
\nto wait to try The New Yorker in the fall? Poetry is shut down all summer
\nalso. At least it usually is, and I believe that it will be now also.<\/p>\n

Also, could you send me another copy of The Shooting? It is in
\nthe house some place, but I cannot find it. It came back from The New Yorker.<\/p>\n

P.S. The McNair who taught at Tilton School was called Luther, as I
\nunderstand. So I guess it is another one \u2013 but that is quite a coincidence,
\nanother Communist.<\/p>\n

Joey would be happy to send these two poems to Robert Wallace \u2013 though
\nJoey himself doesn\u2019t really think that they are light. But that is not up to
\nJoey, but to Robert Wallace. However, are you assured that \u201cWhen Paul Flew
\nAway\u201d will come out in Ironwood before the new Light Year will be
\npublished? Ironwood would not be amused, to have publication anticipated
\nby the anthology. Probably you have ascertained this \u2013 but reassure me,
\nplease.<\/p>\n

Love as ever,<\/p>\n

Don<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

A note from McNair about this letter:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>After Don’s critique of “Seeing Cooch,” responding to a draft that no longer exists, I revised my poem for the last time. The poem’s final version, below, bears hints of Don’s earlier suggestions.<\/p>\n

Read Seeing Cooch<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] 11 June 1984 Wes McNair Box 43 North Sutton, NH 03260 Dear Wes, Good to talk with you. And I like \u201cSeeing Cooch.\u201d I have a couple of questions, about possible ambiguities. He will be out on his porch, \u201clifting\/ a tire or something\/ without a door.\u201d It seems to say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60366,596,42965,35504,77589],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3724"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11210,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724\/revisions\/11210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}