To read the other ACTUAL chapters, click here

I met Hariette in 1984 when I sat next to her at a Chinese restaurant where my publisher, Bill Zavatsky, took a whole gaggle of us after reading and signing my "Selected Poems" at Books & Co (no longer there, alas). I couldn't eat anything because I'd smoked a powerful joint with my pal Mike Golden before the reading, plus Hariette's amazing tits kept blocking my view of all my other appetities. I didn't know who she was, but when she asked me why I wasn't eating, I said, "Because I'd rather eat you." Well, that was that, goodbye China, Bill, and Mike, and all the rest of you, people of 1984. Hariette and I became friends, and when I discovered what a great writer she was, I never stopped publishing her in my new rag, Exquisite Corpse.

Hariette Surovell, an original and prolific writer of fiction, nonfiction and criticism, was discovered in her East Village apartment in the early hours of Friday, May 13, 2011, after friends and family had become worried because she hadn't responded to calls and e-mails for a few days. She had died quickly and painlessly from arrhythmia a few days earlier, according to the medical examiner, at the age of 56.Hariette’s death came as a shock and a surprise to her loved ones. She is survived by her husband, Robin Pitre; her mother Esther Surovell; her brothers Paul, Jeffrey and Alan; and by her niece Margret and her nephew Jonathan. Eerily, her death tracks another mortal story: Her father, Abraham Surovell, who had worked in the art department at Columbia Records for years, died of a heart attack in 1971, when Hariette was 16. He had been devoted to his only daughter since her birth, when he declared as a toast, “My cup runneth over.”

“Hariette was one of the most original, exciting, brilliant and courageous intellectuals on the American scene. I hope that she was able to complete her memoirs,” the American poet Ishmael Reed wrote in an e-mail the week after she died. Alas, she only finished the first two chapters. While she had a cult following, her followers were of the highest caliber.

Chapter One: Witches and Ghosts

I spent my childhood expecting my father, Abe Surovell, to die. He was 50 and I was 16 when his third coronary finally decimated the remnants of his tattered heart. June 4th is the anniversary of his death. A subtle end-of-May depression, a general sadness is a yearly occurrence, one which nonetheless cunningly catches me by surprise. Last May, for the first time ever, I remembered that it was impending and tried to pre-empt it by “spending time” with Abe. I did this by examining the contents of disintegrating cartons brimming over with photographs taken of, and not by, Abe. In the nineteen-forties and fifties, when a camera lens made everyone seem movie-star handsome or fashion-model glamorous, Abe was no exception.

Dave Breithaupt Breaks the Literary News of the Year! Special to the Corpse!

Boston: A Chemist's Day

Special to the Corpse from the High Seas, with links to Dr. Sendroiu's Romanian language dispatches

photo by Dave Breithaupt

POSTER COMPETITION!

“1001 Nights in 2010” or A contemporary take on “1001 Nights”

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York is offering a $400 award for a poster design open to students from Cluj and New Orleans. The winning design will be featured as the official poster of the 1001 NIGHTS STORY-TELLING FESTIVAL in New Orleans that will take place from September 21-25, 2010. A limited edition will be produced and sold at all events. The poster should provide a visually challenging contemporary take on the “1001 nights” theme, and should include the festival name, period and location. Read below more details about the festival theme, approach and guests. The competition is open to students currently enrolled in any university in the cities of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and New Orleans, LA, USA. Format: 24x36’’, TIFF, 300 dpi, CMYK printable file. Submissions to be sent in jpeg format no larger than 1.5 MB. The winner will be asked to submit the printable file. Please submit your proposal by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , include your full name, contact information (email, telephone number, address), and academic affiliation. Deadline for submission: June 15, 2010. The winner will be announced by June 30th, 2010. Visit www.icrny.org for more details and write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for any additional information you might require.

The human gaze has a power of conferring value on things; but it makes them cost more, too.

(1929)


Don't play with what lies deep in another person!


The face is the soul of the body.

(circa 1932-1934)