Four Quarters Volume 209 Number 1 Four Quarters (Second Series): Spring Article 1 1995 Vol
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Four Quarters Volume 209 Number 1 Four Quarters (Second Series): Spring Article 1 1995 Vol. 9, No. 1 and 2 4-1995 Four Quarters (Second Series): Spring 1995 Vol. 9, No. 1 and 2 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/fourquarters Recommended Citation (1995) "Four Quarters (Second Series): Spring 1995 Vol. 9, No. 1 and 2," Four Quarters: Vol. 209 : No. 1 , Article 1. Available at: http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/fourquarters/vol209/iss1/1 This Complete Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at La Salle University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Four Quarters by an authorized editor of La Salle University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 9)\€)\C\0\ ^0tfr^ Quarter^ VOL. 9, NO'S. 1 & 2 Second Series SPRING, 1995 Four Dollars A Conversation with Madison Smartt Bell Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/fourquarters91unse ' 1 m€)\0\0\ ^Ollf^ Quarter^ VOLUME 9, NUMBERS 1 & 2, SECOND SERIES SPRING, 1995 Table of Contents QUARTER NOTES John Rooney , Sunday Driver on the Information Highway 3 William Van Wert, Emerson Park 6 INTERVIEW Justin Cronin, A Conversation with Madison Smartt Bell 13 POEMS Wendy Barker, "Ithaca—On the Landing" 1 E. B. DeVito, "Roses" 25 Pamela Steed Hill, "Why We Are Here" 26 Nancy Riggan, "Warning Ticket" 35 Richard Luftig, 'The Old Couple" 36 ." Ann Maureen Gallagher, IHM," One More Try. 38 JoAnne Growney, "Snowbound" 44 Peter Munro, "Open" 45 Kevin Prufer, "The Underground Tunnel" 46 Katharine Privett, 'Tumult" 53 Robert Parham, "Bent By Music" 54 Matthew J. Spireng, "Your Death" 55 Susan A. Manchester, "Eastern Standard" 56 Judith Werner, "Every Eskimo Is Sommeone's Aunt" 62 "Don't Worry, This Won't Be Graphic 63 Saron Kourous, "The Locked Door 64 BOOK MARKS Paula Jayne White, Review of Joseph Meredith, Hunter's Moon 57 John P. Rossi, Review of Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Bums, Baseball: An Rlustrated History 59 AN AFTERWORD John Keenan, Nothing Gold Can Stay 65 FICTION Joe Coogan, What's So Sacred About the Heart? 27 Terry Grant, Liver 39 Thomas E. Kennedy, Color ofDarkness, Color ofNight 47 CONTRIBUTORS 73 COVER: Madison Smartt Bell, painting by David McShain Editor: JOHN J. KEENAN Associate Editor: JOHN P. ROSSI Edtoriol Assistant; JOANNE CAWLEY Desktop Publishing Specialist: GERVASIO T. RAMIREZ Editoriai Assistants: Nora Arant, John S. Baky, Daniel Burke, FSC, James Butler, Justin Cronin, Toni Culjak, John Duffy, Gabriel Fagan FSC, Robert T. Fallon, David George, Richard Grande, Howard L. Hannum, Andrew Jaffe, John C. Kleis, Vincent Kling, Dolores Lehr, Rita Mall, Emery MoUenhauer, FSC, Glenn Morocco, Michelle Patterson, John J. Rooney, Frank Ryan, John J. Seydow, Richard Tiedeken, Judy Trachtenberg. FOUR QUARTERS (ISSN-0015-9 107) is published semiannujaRy in the Spring and FaR by thefaculty ofLa Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave.,Philadelphia, PA 19141. Four dollars per copy. Subscriptions: $8. 00for one year; $13. 00for two years. Copyright ©1995 La SaRe University. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accom- panied by a SASE. Available in Microformfrom Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI 481 06. Indexed in American Humanities Index and Index ofAmerican Periodical Verse. Distributed by B. DeBoerlnc, Nutley, NJ. i)€00 Quarter Notes JOHN ROONEY (ivithJughead). I could hear my Fa- ther's voice as he paused at an inter- section, "this road looks interesting, Sunday Driver on the let's see where it goes." I picked Surf the Net! and got nine Information Highway more choices in- cluding Master Gopher at the Univer- sity of Minnesota, Other Gophers, and Search of Gopherspace with Veroniccu I Well I did it. I made up my mind and remembered that Archie, Jughead, did it. The prospect of new roads to travel, exotic places to visit and inter- and Veronica were characters in a esting people to meet overcame my comic strip, and I knew that Minne- sota's fear of making a complete fool of my- mascot was the gopher. I picked Other Gophers. Now the screen pre- self. 1 started a journey on the elec- sented five choices: Asia Pacific, Euro- tronic network. And as 1 did it brought to mind an earlier time when an auto- pean, Middle East, North America, and mobile ride was a similar combination South AmericcL That seemed like of frustration and adventure. From enough "surfing the net" for my first our home in North Philadelphia, Dad trip through gopherspace. As I under- would take us for a drive in the coun- took more extensive journeys it re- of longer try, or through Fairmount Park, or minded me our family jaunts. maybe across the river to New Jersey. Here we relieved the monotony of the He rarely took the same route, but trip by harmonizing on some old favor- tried various side roads, and "short ites like Shine on Harvest Moon and Strutters or cuts" to satisfy his zest for seeing Darktown Ball by telling corny jokes. On the Internet I still something new. I find myself doing the can't pick up music, but exchanging same thing on the Internet. Crank it up and soon I'm buzzing along taking jokes is one of the more popular diver- in the sights. sions of Newsgroups. One currently making the rounds originated with a At first 1 was limited to simple rou- theology Newsgroup. Question: "What tines, and since I had never learned to does an agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac type, I moved at a crawl. Oh well, do?" when I first learned to drive, I drove Answer: "Stays all night around the block over and over again awake won- dering whether there is a dog." Of moving very slowly, exulting in my course, even with songs and jokes, our new skill. On the Internet I logged in, Sunday drives did not always go sent a brief e-mail to myself, saved it smoothly. There were detours and flat to a file, opened the file, read my let- tires and traffic jams and potholes; my ter, and logged out. As my confidence excursions on the Internet met similar grew I typed the command "gopher" hazards. Hitting the wrong key left me which I had been told could lead me in staring at "path not found," "bad com- many directions. In response I was mand," or "connection terminated by confi-onted with thirteen choices in- foreign host." Worst of all was simply cluding Surf the Net! (with Archie) , Dog- being stuck in the middle of nowhere. Eared Pages, and UNC Gopherspace €)|€|0|0 Quarter Notes hitting various keys in an attempt to would like to hear their opinion of the get moving or find a way of exiting. best route to take. This might elicit Even experts have trouble. A friend of something like : "Well, I'd go down Old mine who cut his teeth on computers Orchard Road here till you come to the sent along some newsletters that he Bottling Works, then turn left on wanted to share with me. Somehow he Church Road. Follow that about five must have given a wrong command. miles and you'll hit the Black Horse Soon 50 copies of every edition came Pike." Dad would usually agree that he streaming into my files in the equiva- was thinking of going that way himself lent of the worst rush hour traffic jam and drive off. 1 have ever seen. When 1 try this approach for my Dad had two ideas for avoiding rush computer journey, 1 don't get much hour traffic. One was getting up at help, I get other questions. "What do- 5:00 AM (which we seldom did!); the main are you in?" "What prompt did other was to venture off onto back you get?" "Are you using a C shell of a roads (which we often did!). "The long Korn shell?" If I knew the answers to way round is the shortest way home" those questions, I wouldn't be lost. Or he would say triumphantly when it feel so dumb. succeeded. In theory you can get help right from 1 experienced this same feeling after the computer itself just by typing the 1 found myself unable to get access to command for manual. Sure enough the Archie server at either Rutgers or you get all the information you would Maryland because of heavy traffic. I ever want, and more. Written by a com- typed in AU for Australia, where it was mittee of engineers, lawyers and com- 3:00 AM, and quickly followed a route puter scientists, the answers to back to the Harvard Library where 1 questions you haven't even thought of wanted to browse a bit. come flashing across your screen writ- ten in plain, ordinary everyday gibber- From my father I legirned that when you don't know what you're doing, you ish. The manual for telnet, a basic can usually claim that you're just "ex- service on the Internet, begins with ploring unknown territory"; but some- "telnet is used to connect to another times you have to admit you're just host using the TELNET protocol. If tel- plain lost. Even when Dad finally ac- net is invoked without arguments, it cepted my Mother's advice and asked enters command mode, indicated by for directions, he couldn't come right its prompt (telnet). In this mode, it ac- out and admit he was lost. He would cepts cind executes the commands drive up to a house where people were listed below.