open | situating Cool | pedagogical apparatus | coda
Coda: Nostalgia, and thoughts of an old thirty-something who had to get bifocals and fears he is going blind
Whatever else you could or would do or imagine, what is different, amazing, and ground breaking about Jeff Rice’s Writing About Cool is not only its pedagogy–and that too has its hard edge of innovation–but also its method of distribution. Rice has the engine of Pearson Longman behind him. This is not a bad gig. But it’s a bit like the Sex Pistols getting a major label deal (once they sign you) it's done and you're done. One of my least favorite poets (Amiri Baraka) once said, if you stand still long enough, they'll pin a medal on you. I hope Cool is neither a record nor a medal for Jeff Rice, but it is a damn good composition textbook.
