Excitement

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 104 of 182 · 20 per page

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  From now on Stephen entered a completely new world, that turned on an axis of Collins. A world full of constant exciting adventures; of elation, of joy, of incredible sadness, but withal a fine place to be dashing about in like a moth who is courting a candle. Up and down went the days; they resembled a swing that soared high above the tree-tops, then dropped to the depths, but seldom if ever hung midway. And with them went Stephen, clinging to the swing, waking up in the mornings with a thrill of vague excitement — the sort of excitement that belonged by tights to birthdays, and Christmas, and a visit to the pantomime at Malvern. She would open her eyes and jump out of bed quickly, still too sleepy to remember why she felt so elated; but then would come memory -she would know that this day THE WELL OF LONELINESS 13 e she was actually going to see Collins. The thought would set her splashing in her sitz-bath, and tearing the buttons off her clothes in her haste, and cleaning her nails with such ruthlessness and vigour that she made them quite sore in the process. She began to be very inattentive at her lessons, sucking her pencil, staring out of the window, or what was far worse, not listening at all, except for Collins’ footsteps. The nurse slapped her hands, and stood her in the corner, and deprived her of jam, but all to no purpose; for Stephen would smile, hugging closer her secret — it was worth being punished for Collins. She grew restless and could not be induced to sit still even when her nurse read aloud. At one time she had very much liked being read to, especially from books that were all about heroes; but now such stories so stirred her ambition, that she longed intensely to live them. She, Stephen, now longed to be William Tell, or Nelson, or the whole Charge of Balaclava; and this led to much foraging in the nursery rag-bag, much hunting up of garments once used for charades, much swagger and noise, much strutting and posing, and much staring into the mirror. There ensued a period of general confusion when the nursery looked as though smitten by an earthquake; when the chairs and the floor would be littered with oddments that Stephen. had dug out but discarded. Once dressed, however, she would walk away grandly, waving the nurse peremptorily aside, going, as always, in search of Collins, who might have to be stalked to the basement. Sometimes Collins would play up, especially to Nelson. ‘My, but you do look fine!’ she would exclaim. And then to the cook: ‘Do come here, Mrs. Wilson! Doesn’t Miss Stephen look exactly like a boy? I believe she must be a boy with them shoulders, and them funny gawky legs she’s got on her!’

• From Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication (2002)

  39 The best guess, then, is that even though Thomas preserves a number of important sayings of Jesus, the book itself, and some of its sayings, originated later, some time during the ¿ rst half of the second century. In the next lecture, we’ll consider further the character of these sayings and try to unpack some of the overarching emphases of this signi ¿ cant early gospel. Ŷ Ron Cameron, “Thomas, Gospel of,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. VI, pp. 535–540. John Dart, Ray Rigert, and John Dominic Crossan, Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus: The Discovery and Text of the Gospel of Thomas. Bart Ehrman, After the New Testament, reading 37. Risto Uro, ed., Thomas at the Crossroads: Essays on the Gospel of Thomas. Richard Valantasis, The Gospel of Thomas. 1. How do you suppose one could go about establishing that when Thomas and the New Testament gospels preserve a similar saying of Jesus, the form found in Thomas is more authentic? 2. Read through the Gospel of Thomas, and see if it is possible to interpret some of the non-New Testament sayings without appealing to the gnostic myth. What kind of interpretations would you come up with? Essential Reading Supplementary Reading Questions to Consider

• From Becoming Myself: A Psychiatrist's Memoir (2017)

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE ON IDEALIZATION E ver since my book The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy was adopted as a textbook forty-five years ago, I’ve had a loyal following among students and therapists. They are my primary audience and I never expected to have a wider readership. So I was both surprised and thrilled when my collection of therapeutic tales, Love’s Executioner , became a bestseller in America and was widely translated. It always gladdened my heart when friends wrote telling me they have seen it displayed at airports in Athens or Berlin or Buenos Aires. Later, when my novels reached foreign readers, I relished the copies of exotic editions: Serbian, Bulgarian, Russian, Polish, Catalan, Korean, Chinese versions arriving in the mail. Only gradually have I accepted (but never fully understood) that the great majority of my readers come from other countries and know my books in another language. Marilyn was dismayed for many years to note that the one major country that entirely ignored me was France. She had been a Francophile ever since she started French classes at the age of twelve, and especially after her junior year in France with the Sweetbriar College program. I tried repeatedly to improve my French with several different teachers, but was so inept that even my wife concluded it was simply not my sport. In 2000, however, a new French publishing company, Galaade, made an offer for the French translation rights to the seven books I had written up to that time. Galaade published one of my books each year thereafter, and I soon had a sizable French readership. In 2004, Galaade staged a public event at the Marigny Theatre in Paris on the Right Bank (now the Theatre at St. Claude). I was to be interviewed (via an interpreter, of course) by the publisher of Psychologies , a popular French magazine. The theater is a grand old structure with a large orchestra, two balconies, and a majestic stage once graced by the great French actor Jean-Louis Barrault. When I arrived for the event, I was amazed to discover that it was sold out, and I noted, in wonderment, the long line of folks waiting outside. As soon as I entered the theater, I spotted a huge red velvet throne in the center of the stage, where I was expected to sit and address the multitudes. That was too much! I insisted they switch the throne for something less exalted. When the crowd filed in, I recognized a large coterie of Marilyn’s French-speaking friends, who for years could neither converse with me nor read my books. The interviewer asked just the right questions, I told many of my best stories, the translator was miraculous, and the evening could not have gone better. I could almost hear Marilyn purring as her friends realized I wasn’t such an idiot after all. I n 2012, a Swiss filmmaker, Sabine Gisiger, approached me about making a documentary based on my life.

• From American Swing (2008)

  669 00:32:21,272 --> 00:32:23,316 IF SOMEBODY SAID NO, THAT WAS IT. 670 00:32:23,316 --> 00:32:25,526 BUT IF THEY ALLOWED IT, ANYTHING WENT. 671 00:32:25,526 --> 00:32:28,905 FEMALES FIRST. THEY SET THE RULE. 672 00:32:28,905 --> 00:32:31,407 IF THEY WANT TO BE TOUCHED, THAT'S FINE. 673 00:32:31,407 --> 00:32:34,035 THEY DON'T WANT TO BE TOUCHED, THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE TOUCHED. 674 00:32:34,035 --> 00:32:35,912 IF SHE WANTS TO WALK AROUND WITH HER TOP OFF... 675 00:32:38,539 --> 00:32:42,001 SHE WALKS AROUND WITH HER TOP OFF. THAT WAS IT. 676 00:32:42,001 --> 00:32:45,004 I THINK AT PLATO'S IT WAS KIND OF INTERESTING THAT WOMEN 677 00:32:45,004 --> 00:32:48,132 WERE REALLY IN A POSITION TO BE ASSERTIVE, 678 00:32:48,132 --> 00:32:50,969 TO APPROACH MEN FOR SEX, 679 00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:53,221 TO KIND OF TRY OUT A LOT OF THE THINGS 680 00:32:53,221 --> 00:32:56,099 THAT WE HAD BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF. 681 00:32:56,099 --> 00:32:59,477 IT WAS YUMMY. WHY LET THEM HAVE ALL THE PLEASURE? 682 00:32:59,477 --> 00:33:02,981 WHY EVEN PRETEND THAT YOU DIDN'T FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT 683 00:33:02,981 --> 00:33:05,858 AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD TIME WHEN YOU WERE SEXUALLY INVOLVED? 684 00:33:08,569 --> 00:33:10,738 Dodson: THE WHOLE THING WITH PLATO'S IS 685 00:33:10,738 --> 00:33:12,699 THAT YOU WOULD WALK INTO THIS SPACE, 686 00:33:12,699 --> 00:33:16,119 AND WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAD SEX WITH ANYONE WAS REALLY NOT THE POINT. 687 00:33:16,119 --> 00:33:18,579 THE POINT WAS IS THAT EVERYBODY THERE 688 00:33:18,579 --> 00:33:21,290 WAS WILLING TO BE NUDE, 689 00:33:21,290 --> 00:33:24,752 AVAILABLE MAYBE FOR SEX 690 00:33:24,752 --> 00:33:26,337 AND OPEN. 691 00:33:26,337 --> 00:33:29,507 SEX WITH ANOTHER MAN IS A FANTASY OF MINE. 692 00:33:29,507 --> 00:33:32,135 I'M SOMEONE ELSE. IT'S AN EGO TRIP. 693 00:33:32,135 --> 00:33:34,470 I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. IT'S AN EGO TRIP 694 00:33:34,470 --> 00:33:37,473 HAVING SOME OTHER MAN, OTHER THAN MY HUSBAND, TELLING ME "YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL. 695 00:33:37,473 --> 00:33:40,351 YOU'RE GOOD IN BED." ALL THIS, YOU KNOW? 696 00:33:40,351 --> 00:33:42,311 IT'S REALLY A FANTASY FOR ME. 697 00:33:42,311 --> 00:33:44,605 AND IT ALSO FELT LIKE YOU HAD A SECRET, 698 00:33:44,605 --> 00:33:46,482 THAT YOU HAD A SECRET WORLD 699 00:33:46,482 --> 00:33:48,985 THAT MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE EITHER GOING TO WORK 700 00:33:48,985 --> 00:33:51,237 OR JUST GOING ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS IN THE CITY 701 00:33:51,237 --> 00:33:53,573 THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU HAD EXPERIENCED. 702 00:33:53,573 --> 00:33:56,826 AGAIN, IT'S NOT JUST SEX. IT'S NOT GOING IN THERE 703 00:33:56,826 --> 00:33:59,620 AND SAY, "I'M GOING IN THERE 'CAUSE I JUST WANT TO GRAB SOMEBODY 704 00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:01,664 AND I WANNA..." 705 00:34:01,664 --> 00:34:03,541 CAN I SAY CERTAIN WORDS? OKAY. 706 00:34:03,541 --> 00:34:04,959 "...GET LAID." 707 00:34:04,959 --> 00:34:07,837 I WAS A SOCIAL WORKER IN 1978. 708 00:34:09,338 --> 00:34:12,842 BUT I HAD GOOD EVENINGS AFTER MY SOCIAL WORK. 709 00:34:14,552 --> 00:34:17,013 ♪ OH, HOW HAPPY ♪

• From American Swing (2008)

  538 00:26:11,111 --> 00:26:15,115 Betsy: AT FIRST WE TALKED TO EACH OTHER FOR A LITTLE BIT. 539 00:26:15,115 --> 00:26:17,492 AND, UM, YOU KNOW, 540 00:26:17,492 --> 00:26:20,036 HE WAS OBVIOUSLY MORE COMFORTABLE THERE THAN I WAS. 541 00:26:20,036 --> 00:26:22,372 WE GO RIGHT INTO A LITTLE PRIVATE ROOM. 542 00:26:22,372 --> 00:26:24,416 YOU'LL LOVE THAT. WE'RE IN PLATO'S RETREAT, 543 00:26:24,416 --> 00:26:26,668 WHERE EVERYONE'S HAVING SEX ALL OVER THE PLACE, 544 00:26:26,668 --> 00:26:29,337 THERE ARE LITTLE ROOMS CALLED "FOR THE INHIBITED." 545 00:26:29,337 --> 00:26:33,049 EVERYBODY WAS SO NICE TO ME. EVERYBODY MADE YOU FEEL AT HOME. 546 00:26:33,049 --> 00:26:35,719 I HAD A CHANCE TO... 547 00:26:35,719 --> 00:26:38,054 LOOK AROUND A LITTLE BIT. 548 00:26:38,054 --> 00:26:42,684 AND SOMEWHERE IN THERE HE DISAPPEARED. 549 00:26:45,270 --> 00:26:48,064 AND I FOUND MYSELF 550 00:26:48,064 --> 00:26:51,359 WITH A CONSTRUCTION WORKER FROM CONNECTICUT. 551 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:53,737 ♪ AT PLATO'S RETREAT ♪ 552 00:26:53,737 --> 00:26:56,573 ♪ YOU CAN MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE ♪ 553 00:26:56,573 --> 00:26:59,743 ♪ FULFILL YOUR WILDEST FANTASIES ♪ 554 00:26:59,743 --> 00:27:01,870 ♪ WE'VE GOT THEM ALL FOR YOU... ♪ 555 00:27:01,870 --> 00:27:03,913 SHE WAS NUTS, ABSOLUTELY WILD. 556 00:27:03,913 --> 00:27:06,750 SHE GOES, "OOOH, PUSSY LOVES COCK. PUSSY LOVES COCK." 557 00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:09,836 UNBELIEVABLE-- A MANIAC. I SAID, "THIS IS MY KIND OF PLACE." 558 00:27:09,836 --> 00:27:12,130 ♪ THE PLEASURE AND THE FUN ♪ 559 00:27:12,130 --> 00:27:14,758 ♪ WILL KEEP YOU FEELING YOUNG ♪ 560 00:27:14,758 --> 00:27:17,594 ♪ IT'S FOR YOU ♪ 561 00:27:17,594 --> 00:27:20,013 ♪ IT'S FOR YOU... ♪ 562 00:27:20,013 --> 00:27:22,015 I WAS A YOUNG GOOD-LOOKING KID, I GUESS, 563 00:27:22,015 --> 00:27:23,725 AND SEVERAL GIRLS CAME ON TO ME 564 00:27:23,725 --> 00:27:25,769 AND THEIR BOYFRIENDS WEREN'T THAT ATTRACTIVE. 565 00:27:25,769 --> 00:27:28,813 AND IF YOU HAD TO GO WITH ONE-- YOU HAD TO TRADE OFF. ( laughs ) 566 00:27:28,813 --> 00:27:31,691 AND SHE YELLED AT ME, SHE SCREAMED AT ME, 567 00:27:31,691 --> 00:27:34,110 AND I SAID, "JUST DO IT! JUST DO IT." 568 00:27:34,110 --> 00:27:36,279 YOU KNOW? AND... 569 00:27:36,279 --> 00:27:37,947 WE DIDN'T TALK MUCH AFTER THAT. 570 00:27:37,947 --> 00:27:39,658 ♪ THE PLEASURE AND THE FUN ♪ 571 00:27:39,658 --> 00:27:41,743 ♪ WILL KEEP YOU FEELING YOUNG ♪ 572 00:27:41,743 --> 00:27:43,536 ♪ IT'S FOR YOU ♪ 573 00:27:43,536 --> 00:27:44,954 ♪ IT'S FOR YOU... ♪ 574 00:27:44,954 --> 00:27:47,332 HE WAS A WONDERFUL LOVER. 575 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,796 AND I SAID TO MYSELF, "PEOPLE WHO COME TO PLATO'S RETREAT 576 00:27:52,796 --> 00:27:55,965 MUST BE PRETTY GOOD LOVERS," BECAUSE THIS MAN HAD BEEN. 577 00:27:55,965 --> 00:27:57,300 UM... 578 00:27:58,426 --> 00:28:01,471 ♪ IT'S FOR YOU! ♪ 579 00:28:01,471 --> 00:28:04,099 I WANTED TO TELL THE PEOPLE I GREW UP WITH, 580 00:28:04,099 --> 00:28:07,143 LIKE, NO, I CAME FROM A NEIGHBORHOOD IN QUEENS, NEW YORK. 581 00:28:07,143 --> 00:28:09,604 BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL-- YOU COULDN'T TALK ABOUT

• From American Swing (2008)

  289 00:14:02,883 --> 00:14:05,970 SEX WAS PART OF THE GAME, BUT IT WASN'T THE WHOLE GAME. 290 00:14:05,970 --> 00:14:08,180 NOBODY MADE FUN OF YOU. 291 00:14:08,180 --> 00:14:10,015 NOBODY SAID, "UGH!" YOU KNOW? 292 00:14:10,015 --> 00:14:13,561 HOW YOU LOOK, HOW YOU LOOK DISGUSTING OR WHATEVER-- 293 00:14:13,561 --> 00:14:16,272 ANY INHIBITIONS YOU HAD YOU GOT OVER. 294 00:14:17,648 --> 00:14:19,650 AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE THEM ANYMORE. 295 00:14:19,650 --> 00:14:23,153 ♪ I CAN SEE YOU COMING A MILE AWAY... ♪ 296 00:14:23,153 --> 00:14:25,030 AND YOU HAD A JACUZZI. 297 00:14:25,030 --> 00:14:27,199 Al Goldstein: ANYONE WHO WENT INTO THE JACUZZI WAS INSANE 298 00:14:27,199 --> 00:14:30,661 BECAUSE I THINK THERE WAS EVERY KIND OF BACTERIA. IT WAS CHEMICAL WARFARE. 299 00:14:30,661 --> 00:14:33,330 WE PLAYED PING-PONG. WE WENT SWIMMING. 300 00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:37,251 Abigail: PEOPLE HAVE A SENSE OF BEING CLEANSED IN A POOL. 301 00:14:37,251 --> 00:14:39,128 THIS WAS A NAUGHTY POOL. 302 00:14:39,128 --> 00:14:42,423 Jacqueline: GUYS WERE FLOATING ON THE TOP OF THE WATER 303 00:14:42,423 --> 00:14:45,801 AND THEIR PENISES WERE STICKING UP AND IT LOOKED LIKE PERISCOPES. 304 00:14:45,801 --> 00:14:46,969 ( laughs ) 305 00:14:48,429 --> 00:14:52,892 I HAD JUST COME FROM PARIS SO I WAS A YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER, 306 00:14:52,892 --> 00:14:55,686 AND KIND OF A SHY GIRL FROM OHIO. 307 00:14:55,686 --> 00:14:57,521 SO I-- I-- 308 00:14:57,521 --> 00:14:58,814 I DISROBED... 309 00:15:00,441 --> 00:15:02,192 AND I PLUNGE INTO THE POOL. 310 00:15:02,192 --> 00:15:03,861 AND I'M SWIMMING. I, LIKE, GO. 311 00:15:03,861 --> 00:15:07,031 I SORT OF UNDERWATERED THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE POOL. 312 00:15:07,031 --> 00:15:11,535 AND WHEN I COME UP, I SEE ALL THESE MEN STANDING AROUND THE POOL 313 00:15:11,535 --> 00:15:13,704 AND THEY'RE ALL JERKING OFF. 314 00:15:13,704 --> 00:15:16,665 AND THEIR COME IS, LIKE, COMING IN AN ARC 315 00:15:16,665 --> 00:15:19,126 ACROSS THE POOL OVER MY HEAD. 316 00:15:19,126 --> 00:15:21,128 IT WAS JUST AMAZING. 317 00:15:21,128 --> 00:15:23,297 THAT WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST REGRETS-- 318 00:15:23,297 --> 00:15:25,049 WAS THAT I DIDN'T GET THAT PICTURE. 319 00:15:25,049 --> 00:15:27,551 - YOU GO THERE, RIGHT? - DEFINITELY, YES. 320 00:15:27,551 --> 00:15:29,720 - THERE'S A MEMBERSHIP FEE? HOW MUCH IS IT? - RIGHT. 321 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,305 IT COST $25 PER COUPLE. 322 00:15:31,305 --> 00:15:34,475 NOW FOR THAT, YOU GET A MEAL THAT WAS FANTASTIC, 323 00:15:34,475 --> 00:15:37,061 LIKE YOU GET AT ANY BAR MITZVAH, A FULL SMORGASBORD. 324 00:15:37,061 --> 00:15:40,689 CHICKEN, RIBS, CHOW MEIN, 325 00:15:40,689 --> 00:15:43,651 LASAGNA, MEATBALLS. 326 00:15:43,651 --> 00:15:46,445 - SPAGHETTI. - NO, LASAGNA. 327 00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:48,906 - OH, OKAY. - POTATO SALAD, MACARONI. 328 00:15:48,906 --> 00:15:51,533 - COLD CUTS. - COLESLAW. 329 00:15:51,533 --> 00:15:53,243 - COLD CUTS. - COLD CUTS. 330 00:15:53,243 --> 00:15:55,579 - DID I SAY CHICKEN? - YEAH. 331 00:15:55,579 --> 00:15:59,583 WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE FOOD? 332 00:15:59,583 --> 00:16:04,254 JESUS. WHICH, BY THE WAY, LARRY THOUGHT WAS WONDERFUL.

• From Another Country (1962)

  2The sun struck, on steel, on bronze, on stone, on glass, on the gray water far beneath them, on the turret tops and the flashing windshields of crawling cars, on the incredible highways, stretching and snarling and turning for mile upon mile upon mile, on the houses, square and high, low and gabled, and on their howling antennae, on the sparse, weak trees, and on those towers, in the distance, of the city of New York. The plane tilted, dropped and rose, and the whole earth slanted, now leaning against the windows of the plane, now dropping out of sight. The sky was a hot, blank blue, and the static light invested everything with its own lack of motion. Only things could be seen from here, the work of people’s hands: but the people did not exist. The plane rose up, up, as though loath to descend from this high tranquility; tilted, and Yves looked down, hoping to see the Statue of Liberty, though he had been warned that it could not be seen from here; then the plane began, like a stone, to drop, the water rushed up at them, the motors groaned, the wings trembled, resisting the awful, downward pull. Then, when the water was at their feet, the white strip of the landing flashed into place beneath them. The wheels struck the ground with a brief and heavy thud, and wires and lights and towers went screaming by. The hostess’ voice came over the speaker, congratulating them on their journey, and hoping to see them soon again. The hostess was very pretty, he had intermittently flirted with her all night, delighted to discover how easy this was. He was drunk and terribly weary, and filled with an excitement which was close to panic; in fact, he had burned his way to the outer edge of drunkenness and weariness, into a diamond-hard sobriety. With the voice of the hostess, the people of this planet sprang out of the ground, pushing trucks and waving arms and crossing roads and vanishing into, or erupting out of buildings. The voice of the hostess asked the passengers please to remain seated until the aircraft had come to a complete halt. Yves touched the package which contained the brandy and cigarettes he had bought in Shannon, and he folded his copies of France-Soir and Le Monde and Paris-Match, for he knew that Eric would like to see them. On the top of a brightly colored building, people were driven against the sky; he looked for Eric’s flaming hair, feeling another excitement, an excitement close to pain, well up in him. But the people were too far away, they were faceless still. He watched them move, but there was no movement which reminded him of Eric. Still, he knew that Eric was there, somewhere in that faceless crowd, waiting for him, and he was filled, all at once, with an extraordinary peace and happiness.

• From Henry Miller on Writing (1964)

  It takes courage to put one’s signature to a piece of pure ore which is handed you on a platter straight from the mint…. And only yesterday—what a coincidence—coming from a walk in the hills, a thin, transparent fog touching everything with quicksilver fingers, only yesterday, I say, coming in view of our grounds, I suddenly recognized it to be “the wild park “which I had described myself to be in in this same Capricorn . There it was, swimming in an underwater light, the trees spaced just right, the willow in front bowing to the willow in back, the roses in full bloom, the pampas grass just beginning to don its plumes of gold, the hollyhocks standing out like starved sentinels with big, bright buttons, the birds darting from tree to tree, calling to one another imperiously, and Eve standing barefoot in her Garden of Eden with a grub hoe in her hand, while Dante Alighieri, pale as alabaster and with only his head showing above the rim, was making to slake his awesome thirst in the bird bath under the elm. My Aims and Intentions—Art and OutrageFrom Henry Miller to Lawrence Durrell Dear Larry, Your two letters to Fred, of which you so thoughtfully sent me carbons, excite me no end. Not because it’s about me , but because of the nature of the project. What a task! Of course, you won’t really get anywhere, you know. Take that for granted immediately—and you’ll travel far and enjoy it. There are many, many things come to my mind at the outset. Helpful hints and clues, for the most part. Though I trust you understand that I too have difficulty putting my finger on “it,” making the right, eternal statement. But I can offer some correctives and some new tacks, perhaps. One of the first things that hits me between the eyes is this effort you are making to discover the “intention.” You speak of the difficulty of explaining or placing me with the younger generation. And with it you couple this business of morality and iconoclasm. As the recipient of thousands of letters, most of them from young people, I get such a different picture. (Could it be that there is this difference in comprehension between the British and the American youth?) At any rate, the young who write me do “get” me to an amazing extent. Naturally, they ‘‘identify” with me, particularly those who are trying to express themselves. But how interesting it is that the same situations are at work eternally and eternally molding new artists. One could almost sum it up, like Lawrence, and say our troubles are largely, almost exclusively, societal.

• From American Swing (2008)

  208 00:09:58,764 --> 00:10:02,059 AND A FEW DAYS LATER I WENT THERE-- WENT BACK. 209 00:10:02,059 --> 00:10:06,022 ♪ ONE THING I FEEL THAT I LIKE... ♪ 210 00:10:06,022 --> 00:10:09,233 PLATO'S WAS A SIMPLE NAME. IT'S THE ONLY ONE I COULD SPELL ACTUALLY. 211 00:10:09,233 --> 00:10:11,485 SO WE USED PLATO'S. THEN AFTER THAT I FOUND OUT 212 00:10:11,485 --> 00:10:13,487 THAT PLATO'S WAS GAY, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. 213 00:10:13,487 --> 00:10:16,407 THE LINES WERE JUST UNBELIEVABLE. 214 00:10:16,407 --> 00:10:20,453 I MEAN WE WENT FROM, WHAT? 30, 40 COUPLES OR PEOPLE 215 00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:21,996 TO 400! 216 00:10:21,996 --> 00:10:24,957 NOW YOU HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW THE OLD CROWD. 217 00:10:24,957 --> 00:10:27,209 THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT USED TO COME TO PLATO'S 218 00:10:27,209 --> 00:10:30,671 THAT TO MOST PEOPLE-- WOULD SAY WERE NOT THE MOST PHYSICALLY APPEALING, 219 00:10:30,671 --> 00:10:34,091 BUT THEY WERE THE NICEST PEOPLE YOU'D EVER WANT TO MEET IN THE WORLD. 220 00:10:34,091 --> 00:10:37,428 THEY WERE WALKING AROUND WITH THE BLACK SOCKS AND THE SHOES, 221 00:10:37,428 --> 00:10:40,222 AND THIS NEW GROUP WERE JUST NAKED 222 00:10:40,222 --> 00:10:42,767 AND MUCH WILDER. 223 00:10:42,767 --> 00:10:46,604 PEOPLE SAY, "HEY, YOU GOT A DATE? YOU WANT A NIGHT OUT?" ET CETERA, ET CETERA. 224 00:10:46,604 --> 00:10:50,358 "YOU AND YOUR DATE, YOU GOT A DATE THAT'S SORT OF ON THE WILD SIDE?" 225 00:10:53,152 --> 00:10:55,655 PERSONALLY I THINK THAT 226 00:10:55,655 --> 00:10:57,948 WITH A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT 227 00:10:57,948 --> 00:11:00,701 EVERYBODY'S ON THE WILD SIDE. 228 00:11:00,701 --> 00:11:03,871 ALL OF A SUDDEN HE REALLY WAS ON A RUNAWAY TIGER-- 229 00:11:03,871 --> 00:11:05,247 OF SEX. 230 00:11:10,711 --> 00:11:14,423 - IT WAS LIKE A BIG PARTY. - THERE WAS LITERALLY LINES AROUND THE BLOCK. 231 00:11:14,423 --> 00:11:17,677 Charlie: THEY WERE JUST COMING DOWN AND IN AND TAKING OVER 232 00:11:17,677 --> 00:11:20,596 AND DANCING AND HOLDING HANDS, 233 00:11:20,596 --> 00:11:22,473 AND HUGGING. IT WAS A SIGHT. 234 00:11:25,017 --> 00:11:26,602 FREAKED ME OUT. I DIDN'T KNOW. 235 00:11:28,312 --> 00:11:31,982 Steve: PLATO'S WAS BECOMING BIG. WE NEEDED A BIG PLACE. 236 00:11:31,982 --> 00:11:33,984 WE NEEDED A SPECIAL PLACE. 237 00:11:33,984 --> 00:11:36,654 HE CONTACTED A COUPLE OF GOOD FRIENDS OF HIS 238 00:11:36,654 --> 00:11:39,198 WHICH I ALSO KNEW: FRANK PERNICE, 239 00:11:39,198 --> 00:11:41,659 FRANKIE-- HE WAS SOME SORT OF CATERER. 240 00:11:41,659 --> 00:11:44,912 FRANK CAME HOME ONE DAY AND SAID, 241 00:11:44,912 --> 00:11:48,457 "WHAT A GREAT IDEA. THIS HAS TO BE FANTASTIC." 242 00:11:48,457 --> 00:11:50,751 ABOUT A WEEK OR TWO WEEKS LATER, 243 00:11:50,751 --> 00:11:52,962 WE MET HY GORDON THERE. 244 00:11:52,962 --> 00:11:55,589 COULD BE DANGEROUS. 245 00:11:55,589 --> 00:11:58,634 THEY WERE GENTLEMEN. THEY WERE THE TYPE OF PEOPLE THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE 246 00:11:58,634 --> 00:12:01,595 TO THROW THEIR WEIGHT AROUND, IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN. 247 00:12:01,595 --> 00:12:04,014 WHY LARRY HAD TO HOOK UP WITH THESE PEOPLE--

• From American Swing (2008)

  873 00:42:21,914 --> 00:42:25,000 LIKE ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING IN THE OPEN, 874 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,461 YOU JUST-- YOU DON'T BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAW. 875 00:42:32,550 --> 00:42:35,052 BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE TURNING A PAGE IN A MAGAZINE 876 00:42:35,052 --> 00:42:36,762 AND YOU'RE SITTING THERE 877 00:42:36,762 --> 00:42:39,181 AND THEN YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND. 878 00:42:39,181 --> 00:42:41,725 YOU KNOW, YOU'RE EITHER INTO IT OR YOU'RE NOT. 879 00:42:41,725 --> 00:42:43,227 AND I WAS INTO IT. 880 00:42:47,398 --> 00:42:50,192 ONE TIME I WAS STANDING THERE BY THE LADIES' ROOM 881 00:42:50,192 --> 00:42:52,611 IN THE BACK AND A YOUNG GIRL CAME UP TO ME, 882 00:42:52,611 --> 00:42:56,031 AND SHE SAID TO ME, "ARE YOU OUTRAGEOUS?" 883 00:42:56,031 --> 00:42:59,535 AND I SAID, "YES, I AM." AND WITH THAT I PUT MY HAND ON HER BREAST. 884 00:42:59,535 --> 00:43:01,829 SHE SAID, "PERHAPS YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US?" 885 00:43:01,829 --> 00:43:04,039 I SAID, "OH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH" 886 00:43:04,039 --> 00:43:06,917 AND I WAS INVITED TO GO IN THIS ROOM WITH SEVEN OTHER LADIES. 887 00:43:10,212 --> 00:43:13,007 ANOTHER TIME I WAS THERE WITH A YOUNG GENTLEMAN 888 00:43:13,007 --> 00:43:15,926 AND HE KNEW THIS COUPLE: 889 00:43:15,926 --> 00:43:19,054 THE LADY WAS CHINESE, THE HUSBAND WAS A WHITE GENTLEMAN. 890 00:43:19,054 --> 00:43:21,724 AND HE SAID TO ME, "YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING WITH THEM? 891 00:43:21,724 --> 00:43:24,268 THE HUSBAND DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. HE JUST SITS IN THE CORNER. 892 00:43:24,268 --> 00:43:26,604 WE COULD BE WITH THE LADY, THE THREE OF US." 893 00:43:26,604 --> 00:43:29,064 AND I SAID OKAY. 894 00:43:29,064 --> 00:43:31,734 AND THE HUSBAND JUST SAT THERE IN THE CORNER. 895 00:43:33,235 --> 00:43:36,071 LIKE TOUCHING HIS WIFE'S SHOULDER, 896 00:43:36,071 --> 00:43:38,157 BUT NOT JOINING IN. 897 00:43:38,157 --> 00:43:39,408 ( camera clicks ) 898 00:43:39,408 --> 00:43:42,828 I WAS GOING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE P.T.A. 899 00:43:42,828 --> 00:43:46,332 WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF YOUR LIFE THAT YOU'RE NOT GETTING FROM MARY? 900 00:43:46,332 --> 00:43:49,001 THAT I AM NOT GETTING FROM MARY? THERE IS NO MAN IN THE WORLD 901 00:43:49,001 --> 00:43:50,919 THAT CAN SAY THAT HIS WOMAN GIVES HIM 902 00:43:50,919 --> 00:43:53,255 EVERY NEED THAT HE HAS-- THAT THERE IS TO HAVE. 903 00:43:53,255 --> 00:43:55,883 I WANT AS MUCH AS I CAN POSSIBLY HAVE IN THIS LIFETIME. 904 00:43:55,883 --> 00:43:58,135 AND THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING. I'M ENJOYING MYSELF, 905 00:43:58,135 --> 00:43:59,928 I'M HAPPY AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE. 906 00:43:59,928 --> 00:44:03,265 Smith: ONE OF HIS CONSTANT REFRAINS WHENEVER HE WAS INTERVIEWED 907 00:44:03,265 --> 00:44:05,184 OR TALKED TO ANYBODY WAS 908 00:44:05,184 --> 00:44:08,604 SWINGING AND PLATO'S WILL NOT SAVE A BAD MARRIAGE. 909 00:44:08,604 --> 00:44:12,191 IT'S SOMETHING EXTRA YOU DO IN A GREAT MARRIAGE FOR FUN. 910 00:44:12,191 --> 00:44:15,361 AS SWINGING WAS EXPLAINED TO ME BY HIM WHEN I WAS A KID 911 00:44:15,361 --> 00:44:17,404 WAS: THERE IS NO JEALOUSY.

• From American Swing (2008)

  123 00:06:11,621 --> 00:06:13,664 IT WAS INTERESTING. 124 00:06:13,664 --> 00:06:15,291 ( bass music thumping ) 125 00:06:17,251 --> 00:06:19,837 IT WAS A PLACE FOR THEM TO DANCE, 126 00:06:19,837 --> 00:06:21,506 HAVE A DRINK, MEET EACH OTHER. 127 00:06:21,506 --> 00:06:23,383 I REMEMBER IT LOOKED MORE LIKE A BAR MITZVAH. 128 00:06:23,383 --> 00:06:27,178 ♪ HEY, LITTLE GIRL, GET YOUR DANCING SHOES ♪ 129 00:06:27,178 --> 00:06:29,013 ♪ GOLD SATIN JACKET... ♪ 130 00:06:29,013 --> 00:06:32,350 I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY'S LAST NAME IN ANY OF THESE PLACES. 131 00:06:32,350 --> 00:06:35,061 AND YET YOU CAN GO HOME WITH THEM, MAKE LOVE TO THEM, 132 00:06:35,061 --> 00:06:37,939 SPEND THE WEEKEND WITH THEM, KISS THEM GOODBYE-- 133 00:06:37,939 --> 00:06:40,358 "SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, JOHN, MARY. BYE-BYE." 134 00:06:40,358 --> 00:06:43,361 AND THAT'S THE END OF IT AND YOU'RE BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE. 135 00:06:43,361 --> 00:06:45,696 Steve: PEOPLE WOULD BE HANDING OUT SLIPS THAT SAY, 136 00:06:45,696 --> 00:06:48,282 "OKAY, THERE'S A PARTY ON THE EAST SIDE TONIGHT." 137 00:06:48,282 --> 00:06:50,701 THE ONLY PROBLEM IS WHEN YOU'RE STONED, 138 00:06:50,701 --> 00:06:54,122 AND I SAID, "NOW I GOTTA GO TO QUEENS?" 139 00:06:54,122 --> 00:06:57,291 ♪ THE ROLLER COASTER GOTTA MAKE THE MOST ♪ 140 00:06:57,291 --> 00:06:58,709 ♪ AND DANCE DANCE DANCE... ♪ 141 00:06:58,709 --> 00:07:02,588 I MET LARRY LEVENSON AT A PARTY BACK IN THE MID-'70s 142 00:07:02,588 --> 00:07:04,465 IN CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN. 143 00:07:04,465 --> 00:07:08,136 AND HE STARTED ARRANGING SOME ORGANIZED SWING PARTIES. 144 00:07:08,136 --> 00:07:10,388 HE LIKED THE IDEA 145 00:07:10,388 --> 00:07:13,516 OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE THAT SCENE OUT IN THE OPEN 146 00:07:13,516 --> 00:07:15,226 THE WAY GAY BARS DID. 147 00:07:15,226 --> 00:07:17,937 IT WAS A ONE-MAN BAND AT THE BEGINNING. 148 00:07:17,937 --> 00:07:21,357 IT WAS JUST HIM AND MARY AND MAYBE A COUPLE OF OTHER PEOPLE. 149 00:07:24,402 --> 00:07:26,654 MARY MADE ALL THE PHONE CALLS. 150 00:07:26,654 --> 00:07:29,115 MARY DID A LOT OF THE FOOTWORK. 151 00:07:29,115 --> 00:07:31,826 MARY WAS ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING TOGETHER 152 00:07:31,826 --> 00:07:33,953 THE LOGO OF PLATO'S. 153 00:07:33,953 --> 00:07:36,914 THE BACKWARD TWOS WAS MARY'S IDEA. 154 00:07:36,914 --> 00:07:40,418 I'M GOING TO ASK YOU ONE OF MY FAVORITE INDISCREET QUESTIONS. 155 00:07:40,418 --> 00:07:44,088 HOW DID YOU AND LARRY MEET? NOW COME ON, THE TRUTH NOW. 156 00:07:44,088 --> 00:07:48,593 WELL, I HAD COME WITH ANOTHER YOUNG MAN TO PLATO'S 157 00:07:48,593 --> 00:07:50,553 IN ITS FIRST LOCATION. 158 00:07:50,553 --> 00:07:53,931 AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM ON THE SPOT. 159 00:07:53,931 --> 00:07:56,434 ♪ WHEN I GET HOME, BABE... ♪ 160 00:07:56,434 --> 00:07:59,437 Dian Hanson: MARY AND LARRY WERE SWINGERS 161 00:07:59,437 --> 00:08:01,439 AND THEY STARTED THE CLUB TOGETHER. 162 00:08:01,439 --> 00:08:04,192 AND IT SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT IDEA 163 00:08:04,192 --> 00:08:06,944 AND A WAY TO BE CLOSE. 164 00:08:06,944 --> 00:08:09,113 SO IT WAS A FAMILY THING.

• From Another Country (1962)

  God, I’ll be so glad to be working again.” Vivaldo came out of the bathroom, seeming unutterably huge in his blank, white nakedness, and walked into the kitchen. He looked critically at the coffee pot, came back into the room, and threw himself into the bed. “You’re going to be working from now on, Eric. You’re on your way, sweetheart; you’re going to go right over the top, and, baby, I couldn’t be more delighted.” “Thanks, Harman. I certainly hope you’re right.” “I’ve been in the business longer than you’ve been in the world, Eric. I know a winner when I see one and I’ve never made a mistake, not about that. You be good now, I’ll see you tomorrow. Good-bye. ” “Good-bye.” He put down the receiver, filled with a fugitive excitement. “Good news?” “That was my agent. We’re going into rehearsal next week and we’re doing my screen test Wednesday.” Then his triumph blazed up in him and he turned to Vivaldo. “Isn’t that fantastic?” Vivaldo watched him, smiling. “I think we ought to drink to that , baby.” He watched as Eric picked up the empty bottle from the floor. “Ah. Too sad.” “But I’ve got a little bourbon,” Eric said. “Crazy.” Eric poured two bourbons and lowered the flame under the coffee. “Bourbon’s really much more fitting,” he said, happily, “since that’s what they drink in the South, where I come from.” He sat on the bed again, and they touched glasses. “To your first Oscar,” said Vivaldo. Eric laughed. “That’s touching. To your Nobel prize.” “That’s very touching.” Eric pulled the sheet up to his navel. Vivaldo watched him. “You’re going to be very lonely,” he said, suddenly. Eric looked over at Vivaldo, and shrugged. “So are you, if it comes to that. If it comes to that ,” he added, after a moment, “I’m lonely now.” Vivaldo was silent for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded very sad and gentle. “Are you? Will you be—when your boy gets here?” Then Eric was silent. “No,” he said, finally. He hesitated. “Well—yes and no.” Then he looked at Vivaldo. “Are you lonely with Ida?” Vivaldo looked down. “I’ve been thinking about that—or I’ve been trying not to think about that—all morning.” He raised his eyes to Eric’s eyes. “I hope you don’t mind my saying—well, hell, anyway, you know it—that I’m sort of hiding in your bed now, hiding even in your arms maybe— from Ida, in a way. I’m trying to get something straight in my mind about my life with Ida.” He looked down again. “I keep feeling that it’s up to me to resolve it, one way or another. But I don’t seem to have the guts. I don’t know how. I’m afraid to force anything because I’m afraid to lose her.” He seemed to flounder in the depths of Eric’s silence. “Do you know what I mean?

• From American Swing (2008)

  1 00:00:24,274 --> 00:00:26,359 Phil Donahue: WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SWINGING, 2 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:28,153 TWO COUPLES WHO SWING. LARRY LEVENSON IS HERE. 3 00:00:28,153 --> 00:00:30,071 HE'S OWNER OF PLATO'S RETREAT IN NEW YORK CITY, 4 00:00:30,071 --> 00:00:33,033 AN ACTUAL COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO AND SWING. 5 00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:35,368 SOME OF THE TENETS OF SWINGERS 6 00:00:35,368 --> 00:00:37,787 INCLUDE THE SEPARATION OF-- WHAT THEY SAY 7 00:00:37,787 --> 00:00:40,415 IS THE SEPARATION OF SEX AND LOVE. 8 00:00:40,415 --> 00:00:43,543 WE PROMOTE SOCIAL INTERCOURSE AND SEXUAL INTERCOURSE. 9 00:00:43,543 --> 00:00:45,503 WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, YOU CAN DO. 10 00:00:45,503 --> 00:00:47,088 ( audience groans ) 11 00:00:47,088 --> 00:00:49,257 - AREN'T YOU ILLEGAL? - NO. NO WAY. 12 00:00:49,257 --> 00:00:51,551 SEX IS NOT ILLEGAL ANYPLACE IN NEW YORK. 13 00:00:51,551 --> 00:00:53,553 BUT I COULDN'T OPEN A CATHOUSE, COULD I? 14 00:00:53,553 --> 00:00:56,181 - WELL, THAT'S PAID SEX. - ( audience groans ) 15 00:00:56,181 --> 00:00:59,059 ( disco playing ) 16 00:01:02,187 --> 00:01:04,522 ( crowd rioting ) 17 00:01:04,522 --> 00:01:07,192 John Leo: THE '70s WERE A TRANSITIONAL PERIOD. 18 00:01:07,192 --> 00:01:09,944 IT WAS WHEN THE ETHIC OF THE '60s TOOK HOLD. 19 00:01:09,944 --> 00:01:13,531 Newscaster: 1500 cops are injured. 20 00:01:13,531 --> 00:01:16,493 Woman: PEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING NEW YORK HAD BECOME A PIT OF VICE. 21 00:01:16,493 --> 00:01:18,703 Anthony Haden-Guest: THAT CONTRIBUTED TO DISCO 22 00:01:18,703 --> 00:01:21,706 AND PLATO'S ALSO PLAYED ITS PART 23 00:01:21,706 --> 00:01:24,084 IN SUDDENLY TURNING THINGS AROUND IN NEW YORK 24 00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:25,710 AND MAKING NEW YORK WHAT IT WAS-- 25 00:01:25,710 --> 00:01:27,462 THE MOST EXCITING CITY IN THE WORLD. 26 00:01:27,462 --> 00:01:29,214 ( disco music continues ) 27 00:01:29,214 --> 00:01:31,091 - ♪ YOU MAKE ME FEEL... ♪ - IT WAS A PARTY TOWN. 28 00:01:31,091 --> 00:01:33,301 1977 IN NEW YORK WAS A FABULOUS YEAR. 29 00:01:33,301 --> 00:01:34,969 SEXUALITY WAS IN THE AIR. 30 00:01:34,969 --> 00:01:37,138 Haden-Guest: EVERYBODY WAS IMMENSELY CURIOUS. 31 00:01:37,138 --> 00:01:39,057 LOTS AND LOTS OF HETEROS WOULD GO TO THE GAY CLUBS 32 00:01:39,057 --> 00:01:40,892 JUST TO LOOK AT THE GLORY HOLES. 33 00:01:40,892 --> 00:01:44,062 AND LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT REMOTELY EXHIBITIONISTIC WOULD GO TO PLATO'S. 34 00:01:44,062 --> 00:01:46,397 SWING COUPLES WENT THERE TO SWAP. 35 00:01:46,397 --> 00:01:48,108 YOU TRY MY WIFE AND I'LL TRY YOUR WIFE. 36 00:01:48,108 --> 00:01:51,736 FORGET ABOUT THE SEX. YOU COULD WANDER AROUND. YOU COULD ACTUALLY SWIM. 37 00:01:51,736 --> 00:01:55,323 YOU COULD EAT THIS FREE THIRD-RATE BUFFET... 38 00:01:55,323 --> 00:01:59,077 WHICH I ALWAYS CONSIDERED TEMPTING, BUT DANGEROUS. 39 00:02:01,579 --> 00:02:03,832 THEY HAD DANCING. THEY HAD A SHOW. 40 00:02:03,832 --> 00:02:06,751 Dan Dorfman: I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "THIS REALLY CAN'T BE REAL. 41 00:02:06,751 --> 00:02:08,920 MAYBE I'M WATCHING A DIRTY MOVIE." 42 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:11,840 BUT IT WAS A DIRTY MOVIE THAT REALLY CAME TO LIFE.

• From Another Country (1962)

  “That’s right.” He felt very pleased and free. He had planned to visit his family but he thought of what a ball it would be to spend the day in bed with Leona. He glanced over at her, noting that, though she was tiny, she seemed very well put together. He wondered what she was thinking. He offered her a cigarette putting his hand on hers briefly, and she refused it. “You don’t smoke?” “Sometimes. When I drink.” “Is that often?” She laughed. “No. I don’t like to drink alone.” “Well,” he said, “you ain’t going to be drinking alone for awhile.” She said nothing but she seemed, in the darkness, to tense and blush. She looked out of the window on her side. “I’m glad I ain’t got to worry none about getting you home early tonight.” “You ain’t got to worry about that, nohow. I’m a big girl.” “Honey,” he said, “you ain’t no bigger than a minute.” She sighed. “Sometimes a minute can be a mighty powerful thing.” He decided against asking what she meant by this. He said, giving her a significant look, “That’s true,” but she did not seem to take his meaning. They were on Riverside Drive and nearing their destination. To the left of them, pale, unlovely lights emphasized the blackness of the Jersey shore. He leaned back, leaning a little against Leona, watching the blackness and the lights roll by. Then the cab turned; he glimpsed, briefly, the distant bridge which glowed like something written in the sky. The cab slowed down, looking for the house number. A taxi ahead of them had just discharged a crowd of people and was disappearing down the block. “Here we are,” said Rufus; “Looks like a real fine party,” the taxi driver said, and winked. Rufus said nothing. He paid the man and they got out and walked into the lobby, which was large and hideous, with mirrors and chairs. The elevator had just started upward; they could hear the crowd. “What were you doing in that club all by yourself, Leona?” he asked. She looked at him, a little startled. Then, “I don’t know. I just wanted to see Harlem and so I went up there tonight to look around. And I just happened to pass that club and I heard the music and I went in and I stayed. I liked the music.” She gave him a mocking look. “Is that all right?” He laughed and said nothing. She turned from him as they heard the sound of the closing elevator door reverberate down the shaft. Then they heard the drone of the cables as the elevator began to descend. She watched the closed doors as though her life depended on it. “This your first time in New York?”

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Buffalmacco commended Bruno's counsel and Calandrino fell in therewith; wherefore they agreed to go seek for the stone all three on the following Sunday morning, and Calandrino besought them over all else not to say a word of the matter to any one alive, for that it had been imparted to him in confidence, and after told them that which he had heard tell of the land of Bengodi, affirming with an oath that it was as he said. As soon as he had taken his leave, the two others agreed with each other what they should do in the matter and Calandrino impatiently awaited the Sunday morning, which being come, he arose at break of day and called his friends, with whom he sallied forth of the city by the San Gallo gate and descending into the bed of the Mugnone, began to go searching down stream for the stone. Calandrino, as the eagerest of the three, went on before, skipping nimbly hither and thither, and whenever he espied any black stone, he pounced upon it and picking it up, thrust it into his bosom. His comrades followed after him picking up now one stone and now another; but Calandrino had not gone far before he had his bosom full of stones; wherefore, gathering up the skirts of his grown, which was not cut Flanders fashion,[375] he tucked them well into his surcingle all round and made an ample lap thereof. However, it was no great while ere he had filled it, and making a lap on like wise of his mantle, soon filled this also with stones. Presently, the two others seeing that he had gotten his load and that dinner-time drew nigh, quoth Bruno to Buffalmacco, in accordance with the plan concerted between them, 'Where is Calandrino?' Buffalmacco, who saw him hard by, turned about and looking now here and now there, answered, 'I know not; but he was before us but now.' 'But now, quotha!' cried Bruno. 'I warrant you he is presently at home at dinner and hath left us to play the fool here, seeking black stones down the Mugnone.' 'Egad,' rejoined Buffalmacco 'he hath done well to make mock of us and leave us here, since we were fools enough to credit him. Marry, who but we had been simple enough to believe that a stone of such virtue was to be found in the Mugnone?' [Footnote 375: _i.e._ not strait-cut.]

• From The Case for God (2009)

  In 320, a heated debate about these issues erupted in Alexandria. It seems to have started with an argument about the meaning of Wisdom’s words in the book of Proverbs, which Christians had always applied to Christ—”Yahweh created me when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works” 6 —and went on to say that Wisdom had been God’s “master craftsman,” his agent of creation. Arius, a handsome and charismatic young presbyter of Alexandria, argued that this text made it clear that the Word and Wisdom of the Father was the first and most privileged of God’s creatures. It followed that the Word must also have been created ex nihilo. Arius did not deny that Jesus was God, but suggested that he had merely been promoted to divine status. God had foreseen that when the Logos became a man, he would behave with perfect obedience, and as a reward had raised him to divine status in advance of his mission. The Logos thus became the prototype of the perfected human being; if Christians imitated his wholehearted kenosis , they too could become “sons of God;” they too could become divine. 7 Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and his brilliant young assistant Athanasius immediately realized that Arius had put his finger on an ambiguity in the Alexandrian view of Christ that needed to be cleared up. 8 The debate was not confined to a coterie of learned experts. Arius set his ideas to music, and it was not long before sailors and travelers were singing popular songs proclaiming that the Father was God by nature and had given life and being to the Son, who was neither coeternal with him nor uncreated. Soon the controversy had spread to the churches of Asia Minor and Syria. We hear of a bath attendant who engaged the bathers in heated discussion about whether the Son had come from nothingness; a money changer who, when asked for the exchange rate, held forth on the distinction between the Creator and his creation; and a baker who argued with his customers that the Father was greater than the Son. 9 People were discussing the question with the same enthusiasm and passion as they discuss football today, because it touched the heart of their Christian experience. In the past, the creeds and explanations of the faith had often been changed to meet pastoral needs. 10 The Arian crisis showed that they would probably have to be changed yet again. Over the centuries, Arianism has become a byword for heresy but at the time there was no officially orthodox position and nobody knew whether Arius or Athanasius was right.

• From American Swing (2008)

  628 00:30:23,863 --> 00:30:26,157 WHAT'S HIS NAME? DREYF-- RICHARD DREYFUSS. 629 00:30:26,157 --> 00:30:28,326 HE NEVER CAME DOWN WITH A LADY. 630 00:30:28,326 --> 00:30:30,745 AGAIN HE WAS INVITED TO STAY. 631 00:30:30,745 --> 00:30:33,289 Hanson: DAN PASTORINI WAS HAVING A BIG YEAR 632 00:30:33,289 --> 00:30:36,626 WITH THE HOUSTON OILERS. AND THE MEN RECOGNIZE HIM. 633 00:30:36,626 --> 00:30:39,462 AND THE MEN STARTED, "IT'S DAN PASTORINI! IT'S DAN PASTORINI!" 634 00:30:39,462 --> 00:30:42,549 AND JUST IMMEDIATELY GRABBING THEIR WIVES 635 00:30:42,549 --> 00:30:44,509 AND JUST-- YOU KNOW, 636 00:30:44,509 --> 00:30:46,135 "FUCK DAN PASTORINI!" 637 00:30:46,135 --> 00:30:50,849 Reporter: WHY DID YOU DECIDE IN EARLY 1973 638 00:30:50,849 --> 00:30:52,725 TO GO UNDERGROUND? 639 00:30:52,725 --> 00:30:56,479 THERE WAS NO WAY THAT I COULD POSSIBLY GET A FAIR TRIAL. 640 00:30:56,479 --> 00:30:58,731 Smith: ABBIE HOFFMAN WAS UNDERGROUND, 641 00:30:58,731 --> 00:31:00,650 RUNNING FROM THE FBI, BASICALLY. 642 00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:04,654 AND ONE OF THESE TIMES I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM HIM SAYING, "I'M IN TOWN. 643 00:31:04,654 --> 00:31:09,117 AND I'VE BEEN READING ALL ABOUT PLATO'S 644 00:31:09,117 --> 00:31:12,996 IN YOUR COLUMN IN THE 'VOICE' AND I WANT TO GO TO PLATO'S RETREAT." 645 00:31:12,996 --> 00:31:15,498 AND I SAID, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" 646 00:31:15,498 --> 00:31:19,502 ( slurring ) THIS IS WHERE WE'RE WORKING ON THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 647 00:31:19,502 --> 00:31:22,297 - ( giggles ) - Smith: AND HE SAID, "NO NO NO, I GOTTA GO. I GOTTA GO. 648 00:31:22,297 --> 00:31:24,257 I GOTTA GO THERE. I GOTTA SEE IT. 649 00:31:24,257 --> 00:31:26,009 I CAN'T MISS THIS." 650 00:31:26,009 --> 00:31:28,469 HE COMES OVER AFTER AWHILE AND HE SAYS, 651 00:31:28,469 --> 00:31:31,431 "CAN'T I TELL THEM WHO I AM? I MEAN, THEY-- THEY-- 652 00:31:31,431 --> 00:31:35,018 THEY JUST WALK AWAY FROM ME. I THOUGHT YOU SAID EVERYBODY GETS LAID HERE." 653 00:31:35,018 --> 00:31:39,188 I SAID, "GO AHEAD, BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY DANGEROUS." 654 00:31:39,188 --> 00:31:42,525 ABBIE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE 655 00:31:42,525 --> 00:31:45,445 THAT I KNEW THAT COULDN'T GET LAID AT PLATO'S. 656 00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:49,824 I PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE GONE AS MANY TIMES AS I DID, 657 00:31:49,824 --> 00:31:52,285 BUT FRIENDS FROM CALIFORNIA KEPT ASKING ME 658 00:31:52,285 --> 00:31:53,745 TO WALK THEM IN. 659 00:31:53,745 --> 00:31:56,080 I WAS WONDERING, DO YOU GET A LOT OF CURIOSITY SEEKERS, 660 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:57,874 PEOPLE THAT JUST LIKE TO GO AND WATCH? 661 00:31:57,874 --> 00:31:59,876 - Man: YES, VOYEURS, DEFINITELY. - LIKE ME. 662 00:31:59,876 --> 00:32:02,462 YES, THERE'S NO PRESSURE, THERE'S NO OBLIGATION 663 00:32:02,462 --> 00:32:04,631 AND NO COMMITMENT TO DO ANYTHING AT OUR CLUB. 664 00:32:04,631 --> 00:32:06,966 AND I'M POSITIVE IT'S THE SAME WAY AT LARRY'S CLUB. 665 00:32:06,966 --> 00:32:09,594 Woman: I COME FOR... 666 00:32:09,594 --> 00:32:12,430 SEX, GOOD CONVERSATION, 667 00:32:12,430 --> 00:32:14,223 INTELLECT. 668 00:32:16,684 --> 00:32:19,479 Michael: THE ONLY RULE, ACTUALLY, IN THE ENTIRE CLUB WAS NO.

• From American Swing (2008)

  582 00:28:09,604 --> 00:28:13,525 THAT KIND OF THING WITH GUYS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T BELIEVE YOU. 583 00:28:13,525 --> 00:28:15,568 TO BE HONEST, 584 00:28:15,568 --> 00:28:18,905 IT WAS GOING OUT ON AN EDGE FOR ME. 585 00:28:18,905 --> 00:28:21,533 IT WAS A VERY EDGY THING TO DO 586 00:28:21,533 --> 00:28:25,245 TO... 587 00:28:25,245 --> 00:28:27,789 YOU KNOW, SPEND AN EVENING IN PLATO'S RETREAT. 588 00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:31,126 THERE WAS THIS ATTRACTIVE MULATTO WOMAN 589 00:28:31,126 --> 00:28:34,754 GOING DOWN ON HER MAN WITH HER ASS UP IN THE AIR. 590 00:28:34,754 --> 00:28:37,298 I SAT DOWN 591 00:28:37,298 --> 00:28:40,844 ON THE MATTRESS NEXT TO HER AND STARTED STROKING HER. 592 00:28:40,844 --> 00:28:44,556 NO OPPOSITION, SO I-- 593 00:28:44,556 --> 00:28:47,892 I GUESS, YOU KNOW, STUCK MY COCK IN HER PUSSY 594 00:28:47,892 --> 00:28:49,978 AND SCREWED HER. 595 00:28:49,978 --> 00:28:53,690 AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN LOOK BACK. SHE WAS TOO BUSY BLOWING HER BOYFRIEND. 596 00:28:57,652 --> 00:29:00,447 I HOPE I'M NOT BEING TOO VULGAR. 597 00:29:01,990 --> 00:29:04,325 THE MINISTER AND I... 598 00:29:04,325 --> 00:29:07,454 DID HOOK UP SOMETIME DURING THAT EVENING. 599 00:29:07,454 --> 00:29:10,874 BUT I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN. 600 00:29:12,542 --> 00:29:14,085 - WHICH IS TELLING. - Larry: PHIL? 601 00:29:14,085 --> 00:29:17,630 YEAH-- YES, LARRY LEVENSON, PLATO'S RETREAT. 602 00:29:17,630 --> 00:29:19,215 I CAN SPEAK FOR PLATO'S 603 00:29:19,215 --> 00:29:21,718 AND WE GET ABOUT 50% NEW COUPLES EVERY NIGHT. 604 00:29:21,718 --> 00:29:24,721 WE HAVE DISCO DANCING-- IN FACT WE HAVE A SONG 605 00:29:24,721 --> 00:29:27,390 ABOUT PLATO'S RETREAT THAT'S NUMBER SIX IN THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW. 606 00:29:32,312 --> 00:29:34,939 Abigail: I MET PEOPLE YEARS LATER WHO SAID THINGS LIKE, 607 00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:37,108 "OH, I WENT IN THERE. I WENT TO PLATO'S." 608 00:29:37,108 --> 00:29:40,695 I WENT TO PLATO'S, YOU KNOW? IT BECAME PART OF THE MEMOIR. 609 00:29:40,695 --> 00:29:43,239 YOU KNOW? THAT WAS EXCITING IN ITSELF. 610 00:29:43,239 --> 00:29:45,867 WE HAD JUDGES, LAWYERS, POLICE-- 611 00:29:45,867 --> 00:29:47,410 - SENATORS. - SENATORS. 612 00:29:47,410 --> 00:29:49,662 Ferrato: ROBIN LEACH WHO WAS... 613 00:29:51,706 --> 00:29:53,291 HE WAS THERE JUST TO LOOK. 614 00:29:53,291 --> 00:29:55,418 STUDENTS MET THEIR PROFESSORS, 615 00:29:55,418 --> 00:29:57,921 GUYS MET THEIR EX-WIVES, 616 00:29:57,921 --> 00:29:59,464 FUTURE WIVES. 617 00:29:59,464 --> 00:30:02,050 SAMMY DAVIS, JR. ON THE DANCE FLOOR 618 00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:04,177 AT PLATO'S RETREAT, IT WAS A TREAT. 619 00:30:04,177 --> 00:30:06,930 THEY'D TELL ME THIS GUY WAS A BIG STAR-- 620 00:30:06,930 --> 00:30:08,765 FRANK SINATRA'S FRIEND, YOU KNOW. 621 00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:10,975 - ALTHEA, HIS WIFE... - ALTHEA, HIS WIFE. 622 00:30:10,975 --> 00:30:12,227 ...PULLED HER SHIRT UP. 623 00:30:12,227 --> 00:30:15,063 OH, MAN, HOW COULD I FORGET HIS NAME? 624 00:30:15,063 --> 00:30:17,941 HE'S A WRITER-- HUGH HEFNER'S FRIEND, 625 00:30:17,941 --> 00:30:19,818 HE COMMITTED SUICIDE... 626 00:30:19,818 --> 00:30:21,653 JERZY KOSINSKI. 627 00:30:21,653 --> 00:30:23,863 MUCH OF THE CAST OF "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE."

• From Another Country (1962)

  The sky was a hot, blank blue, and the static light invested everything with its own lack of motion. Only things could be seen from here, the work of people’s hands: but the people did not exist. The plane rose up, up, as though loath to descend from this high tranquility; tilted, and Yves looked down, hoping to see the Statue of Liberty, though he had been warned that it could not be seen from here; then the plane began, like a stone, to drop, the water rushed up at them, the motors groaned, the wings trembled, resisting the awful, downward pull. Then, when the water was at their feet, the white strip of the landing flashed into place beneath them. The wheels struck the ground with a brief and heavy thud, and wires and lights and towers went screaming by. The hostess’ voice came over the speaker, congratulating them on their journey, and hoping to see them soon again. The hostess was very pretty, he had intermittently flirted with her all night, delighted to discover how easy this was. He was drunk and terribly weary, and filled with an excitement which was close to panic; in fact, he had burned his way to the outer edge of drunkenness and weariness, into a diamond-hard sobriety. With the voice of the hostess, the people of this planet sprang out of the ground, pushing trucks and waving arms and crossing roads and vanishing into, or erupting out of buildings. The voice of the hostess asked the passengers please to remain seated until the aircraft had come to a complete halt. Yves touched the package which contained the brandy and cigarettes he had bought in Shannon, and he folded his copies of France-Soir and Le Monde and Paris-Match, for he knew that Eric would like to see them. On the top of a brightly colored building, people were driven against the sky; he looked for Eric’s flaming hair, feeling another excitement, an excitement close to pain, well up in him. But the people were too far away, they were faceless still. He watched them move, but there was no movement which reminded him of Eric. Still, he knew that Eric was there, somewhere in that faceless crowd, waiting for him, and he was filled, all at once, with an extraordinary peace and happiness. Then the plane came slowly to a halt. As the plane halted, the people in the cabin seemed, collectively, to sigh, and discovered that the power of movement had been returned to them. Off came safety belts, down came packages, papers, and coats. The faces they had worn when hanging, at the mercy of mysteries they could not begin to fathom, in the middle of the air, were now discarded for the faces which they wore on earth. The housewife, traveling alone, who had been, during their passage, a rather flirtatious girl, became a housewife once again: her face responded to her proddings as abjectly as her hat.

• From Another Country (1962)

  “Oh, Eric,” cried Cass, “can’t I tell them?” She said, to Ida and Vivaldo, “It’s got something to do with this movie we’re going to see.” “Well, you’ve got to tell us,” Ida said, “or we simply won’t go in.” She raised her voice in the direction of Eric’s back: “We do know other actors.” “Come on, Cass,” said Vivaldo, “you’ve got to tell us now.” But Cass looked again in Eric’s direction, with a small, frowning smile. “Let me tell them, sweetheart.” He turned, smiling, with the tickets in his hand. “I don’t know how to stop you,” he said. He moved over to Cass, and put one arm around her shoulder. “Well,” said Cass, smaller than ever, and more radiant—and, as she spoke, Eric watched her with an amused and loving smile—“Eric doesn’t have much of a part in this movie, he only appears in one or two scenes and he’s only got a couple of lines—” “Three scenes,” said Eric, “one line. If one of you sneezes, you die.” “—but on the strength of this—” cried Cass. “Well, not only on the strength of this,” said Eric. “Will you let the girl talk?” asked Vivaldo. “Go on, Cass.” “—on the strength of this particular performance”— “—exposure,” said Eric. “Oh, shit,” cried Vivaldo. “He’s a perfectionist,” Cass said. “He’s going to be a dead one, too,” said Ida, “If he doesn’t stop hogging this scene. Lord, would I hate to work with you. Please go on, Cass.” “Well, telegrams and phone calls have been coming out of Hollywood asking Eric if he will play—–” and she looked up at Eric. “Well, don’t stop now,” cried Ida. Eric, now, was very pale. “They’ve got some wild idea out there of making a movie version of The Possessed—” “The Dostoievski novel,” said Cass. “Thanks,” said Vivaldo, “and—–?” “They want me to play Stavrogin,” said Eric. A total silence fell, and they all stared at Eric, who looked uneasily back at them. There gleamed a small crown of sweat on his forehead, just below the hairline. Vivaldo felt a mighty tug of jealousy and fear. “Wow!” he said. Eric looked at him, seeming to see into his heart; and his brow puckered slightly, as though he were stiffening himself for a quarrel. “It’s probably going to be an awful movie,” he said, “can you imagine them doing The Possessed? I didn’t really take it seriously until my agent called me. And then Bronson called me, too, because, you see, there’s going to be a kind of conflict with Happy Hunting Ground. We’re set to go into rehearsal next month, and, who knows? maybe it’ll be a hit. So we’ve got to iron that out.” “But they’re willing to do almost anything to get Eric,” Cass said.