| The
idea for this website first occurred to me when I
was 19 and living in Los Angeles—a city where
no sane person should ever have to live. The bubble
of American prosperity had yet to burst, and it seemed
very much to me as though the world around me no longer
cared about people and about art—at least not
if there wasn't any money involved. I still, to some
degree, feel that way, though I am a little less naïve
and, unfortunately, perhaps a little more cynical.
I persist, however, in the belief that literature
and art can form communities an create some of the
most meaningful experiences and relationships one
can have. And who should be making this art and building
these communities? Why! Us, of course! This is our
responsibility to ourselves and to you. Because if
we don't assume it, who will? Reading, as Flannery
O'Connor says, is an experience. And to reject experience
is to reject the very splendor of this world. To that
decision I can only say, What a waste!
I
wrote the following in the spring of 2000:
The
site is an attempt to define a new generation of people,
affirming the power of ideas, potential, authenticity,
et cetera. The 4th ed. of Webster’s
College Dictionary defines Generation X as "often
variously regarded as apathetic, materialistic, irresponsible,
etc." If that is the case, then I want to create
a generation that is the exact opposite; the opposite
of "X" is "O," a circle connecting
people to each other. The "O" is also visually
ambiguous; one can interpret it as a zero, acknowledging
the possibility that we really are nothing—a
bunch of twenty-somethings without motivation, convinced
that stock options and a six-figure salary will validate
our worth—people who can not yet understand that
this is a story of the west after all. (Hey, I had
to throw in a Fitzgerald allusion somewhere.) The
dual meaning of the "O" demonstrates the
use of new irony, which finds itself in works
of literature from Eliot’s "The Waste Land"
to Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius. (This is supposed to be literary, right?!)
Additionally, "generation" describes a group
of people with shared experiences as well as the process
of creation—in this case, the generation of a
generation. Is this self-conscious and contradictory?
Absolutely. We cannot possess a single identity free
from superficiality and materialism…
We
need writers to contribute the following: short fiction,
satire, social commentary, essays, more essays, book
reviews, music reviews, movie reviews, interviews,
and other informed writing. Actually, I don’t
think "reviews" are really what we want—critical
essays seems like a better description. We really
don’t care what you think of the synthetic sounds
in R.E.M.’s Up or your opinion of the
set-list from the last DMB show. However, an analysis
of the evolutionary theme in Up or the treatment
of cultural imperialism in "Spotlight" would
be acceptable. All writing will be intelligent. Most
will be provocative. Some (or more) will be humorous.
Other writing will not be humorous. Writers must have
a spirit under the age of 35 (yes, 35 is rather arbitrary
and mutable) and a familiarity with the current English
alphabet. Furthermore, they must have a solid knowledge
of English (or French, if choosing to write in French)
grammar rules and the confidence required to break
them. Writers must be familiar with techniques of
research and be able to use college libraries effectively.
The ability to type is an advantage. Previous experience
in journalism or fiction or academic writing is preferred.
Experience in technical writing is not. Most pieces
of writing should be between 1,000 and 5,000 words
in length. In addition to writers, people with skills
in the following areas are also wanted: HTML, Photoshop,
Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and photography. Anyone
interested should send e-mail to the following address:
contributors@gen-o.com
—Ricky
Opaterny
|
