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Sunday, May 31, 2020

Typewriters of the Times: Maxine Kumin's Hermes

Today's New York Times contains some of the worst, most depressing news I have seen in a depressing year. But an effective way to avoid grim reality is to focus on our tiny areas of expertise and idiosyncratic preferences. Hence ...

Here's a photo of onetime U.S. poet laureate Maxine Kumin at her Hermes 10.



The model 10 is essentially an electrified version of the legendary Hermes 3000.

(By the way, Lorraine Hansberry was pictured recently in The New Yorker with her imposing early IBM. Check out Robert Messenger's post for a whole series of interesting photos of the writer and her writing machine.)

The same issue also includes a rave review of Samanta Schweblin's novel Little Eyes. This is the novel that I reviewed last summer under its Spanish title, Kentukis. I highly recommend it as a creative and insightful exploration of technology and psychology. Here is an interview with Schweblin.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder if an electric Hermes has a squishy feel?
    I've got to read that book once the library reopens.

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  2. I feel ya, man. Have faith. Patience and carefulness endures. (:

    ReplyDelete