Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

["Rufus McCain" <korrektiv AT gmail.com>]

Dear Percy-L members:

The discussion of Lost in the Cosmos continues over at the Korrektiv blog:

Here's the latest entry:

How Queer Man Is

      Micheal Mikolajczak suggests that the three main sections of Lost in the Cosmos correspond to the three parts of the subtitle of 
The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do With the Other. Perhaps that can serve as a starting point for a discussion of the the first 12 multiple-choice questions.

Does this first section of Lost in the Cosmos
succeed in outlining how queer man is (or, to avoid any giggling over
the terms: how freakin' odd people are)? Do the mid-20th Century
pop-culture references date the book? Have circumstances improved or
worsened or changed since Percy wrote the book? How has the rise of the
Internet impacted the predicament outlined by Percy in the first part
of the book?

In the preliminary quiz, Percy compiles a list of
possible selves, or ways in which we try to fit ourselves into the
world. He exempts all but the "lost" self from continuing with the
book. Which of the selves in Percy's list are most popular these days?
Which ones do you identify with? Have new varieties of self-concept
arisen since Percy wrote? Are folks more or less likely to see
themselves as lost nowadays?


If any of you are reading along please drop in and leave some comments.  Or pick up the discussion here on the list.

Best regards,

Rufus McCain
Spokane WA