Straight Up | Jan Herman

Cold Turkey Press #%&@#$@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !

Jan Herman — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:17:47 +0000

Cold Turkey Press
*#%&@#$*@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !" rel="nofollow">If we call life a fabulous blur — as though it were a lark — even when our sorrows founder in the dark, let's just call it bad luck.

Cicero Sez

Jan Herman — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 18:40:59 +0000

My two years of high school Latin got me to Julius Caesar's account of his exploits in the Gallic war, written in a straightforward, rather simple style. Unfortunately, I never took third-year Latin, which would have got me to Cicero, whose style was more sophisticated, more complex, and thus more difficult. But I have read Cicero in English and his words of wisdom are eminently clear.

The war made a quick mess of the family. I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth

Jan Herman — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:17:09 +0000
The war made a quick mess of the family.
I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth" rel="nofollow">I had never really read him . . . a few tales here and there, the novel 'Enemies' . . . until I opened a volume of his 'Collected Short Stories' not long ago. It has kept me riveted.

‘The Wild Heart’ Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records

Jan Herman — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 20:56:59 +0000
‘The Wild Heart’
Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records" rel="nofollow">UPDATED! When you're a young composer, perhaps your most formidable problem is not just learning your craft but getting your music played. To solve that problem two Bard College undergrads — Dylan Mattingly and David Blum — put together a band of fellow Bard musicians. Sixteen years later that band still thrives, performing the works of many contemporary composers. And Mattingly's own music has since been commissioned and presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Ojai Music Festival. Now he makes his debut on Nonesuch Records with the release of 'The Wild Heart.'

Early Reviews Are In Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’

Jan Herman — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:35:48 +0000
Early Reviews Are In
Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’ " rel="nofollow"> UPDATED: Colin Asher is "a calm and sophisticated storyteller who picks you up and sets you back down in places you didn't anticipate," NY Times book critic Dwight Garner writes. He calls "The Midnight Special" "a fog-piercing down-bound train of a book" that "underlines sheer human resiliency." The Observer says Asher's new book will “transform" the way you see art. Booklist calls it “mesmerizing.” Publisher’s Weekly likes it; Alex Gershman dives deep into the book on his YouTube Channel; Maurice Chammah drills down on Ike White, one of the book's featured musicians, in a discussion with Asher at The Marshall Project. There is also my own early notice.

Nazi Greeting That Preceded the Trump Handshake

Jan Herman — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:38:38 +0000
UPDATED The collagist John Heartfield defined "The Meaning of the Hitler Salute": "Little man asks for large gifts." Or in Trump terms, "demands big bribes."

New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTINGA. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go

Jan Herman — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:17:53 +0000
New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTING
A. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go" rel="nofollow">UPDATED The author won't need a headstone . . . This monumental omnibus will do . . . Five hundred and eight-six gorgeous pages of verbal pleasure . . . Intimate collaborations with esteemed artists . . . Landscapes of descriptive simplicity . . . Pure thought objectified . . .

David Hockney Liked to Draw by Other Means

Jan Herman — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:21:13 +0000
David Hockney’s departure has drawn obituaries from across the art world and the popular press, which is testimony to his eminence whether his paintings and drawings are considered a simple pleasure to look at or regressive to contemplate. Whatever it comes down to, he loved to experiment.

When Gates Testifies About Epstein, Will Mask Drop?

Jan Herman — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:14:47 +0000
UPDATED At Microsoft, Bill Gates was by many accounts a nightmare boss, 'prone to expletive-laden fits of rage," Anupta Das is quoted as reporting in her new book 'Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King.'

Petit Cabinet #7: ‘Just Two More Times to Sleep’

Jan Herman — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:25:33 +0000
A simple poem becomes an otherworldly love song with the collaboration of a singer and composer.

Stadtlichter Presse Makes My Heart Beat Stronger

Jan Herman — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:28:29 +0000
It's a wonder that the most intriguing publisher of American poets of the Beat Generation happens to be a German publisher, Stadtlichter Presse. Its "Heartbeat" series features not only the most notable — Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, and Ferlinghetti — in bilingual editions, but also dozens of less famous Beats and Beat-era or Beat-related poets.

Statement of Fact

Jan Herman — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:43:25 +0000
In my generation's war, our peaceful protests kept the peace the best we could — yet could not.

Can We Beat the Lies? All the Lies?

Jan Herman — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:17:13 +0000
© 2026 by jh
" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devolution-of-the-american-presidency-enh-2-750.jpg" />Our eyes tell us what is obvious, but what about our minds . . .

without my interference

Jan Herman — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:30:58 +0000
the world slips gently by even when it's shouting Mayday

The Brainiest Dumbest Combo on the Planet

Jan Herman — Mon, 11 May 2026 15:46:20 +0000
It's the so-called 'Arsenal of Freedom' ... no need to give their names …you know them by their faces.

New From Moloko Taking a Trip with A. Robert Lee’s Travel Painting

Jan Herman — Sun, 10 May 2026 19:00:30 +0000
New From Moloko
Taking a Trip with A. Robert Lee’s Travel Painting" rel="nofollow">UPDATED Verse and vignette. New and selected writings. The title phrase belongs to the great haiku master Matsuo Bashō

Musée d’Art Moderne de ParisRetrospective Maps Brion Gysin’s Avant-Garde Canon

Jan Herman — Fri, 08 May 2026 14:56:03 +0000
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
Retrospective Maps Brion Gysin’s Avant-Garde Canon" rel="nofollow">When Brion Gysin "let the mice in" — the title he gave his book about cutups — I don’t think he meant the many artists he influenced, among them William S. Burroughs, his most important associate, who once said Gysin “is the only man I have ever respected." I believe Gysin meant that "any number can play." His was a democratizing influence.

Awaiting an Uncrackable Code

Jan Herman — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:44:12 +0000
Screenshot
" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Collage-©-by-Norman-O.-Mustill-420.jpg" />If poetry make nothing happen, as W.H. Auden once wrote, it sometimes uncannily anticipates what will.

The Bard Died 410 Years Ago Today. His Poems Live On

Jan Herman — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:09:00 +0000
Sometimes he rewrote them. See an example and decide which you prefer: the early or the later version.

THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . . It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music

Jan Herman — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:38:29 +0000
THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . .
It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music" rel="nofollow">Colin Asher, author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nelson Algren "Never a Lovely So Real," now focuses on five emblematic figures — Huddle Ledbetter, Elmo Hope, Johnny Cash, Ike White, and Tupac Shakur — as he explores the influence of incarceration on blues artists, jazz musicians, country singers, rock'n'rollers, and hip-hop creators.

Straight Up | Jan Herman

Cold Turkey Press *#%&@#$*@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !

Cicero Sez

The war made a quick mess of the family. I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth

‘The Wild Heart’ Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records

Early Reviews Are In Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’

Nazi Greeting That Preceded the Trump Handshake

New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTINGA. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go

David Hockney Liked to Draw by Other Means

When Gates Testifies About Epstein, Will Mask Drop?

Petit Cabinet #7: ‘Just Two More Times to Sleep’

Stadtlichter Presse Makes My Heart Beat Stronger

Statement of Fact

Can We Beat the Lies? All the Lies?

without my interference

The Brainiest Dumbest Combo on the Planet

New From Moloko Taking a Trip with A. Robert Lee’s Travel Painting

Musée d’Art Moderne de ParisRetrospective Maps Brion Gysin’s Avant-Garde Canon

Awaiting an Uncrackable Code

The Bard Died 410 Years Ago Today. His Poems Live On

THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . . It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music

Cold Turkey Press #%&@#$@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !