But he was making a distinction between the complex external events and his straightforward inner character. Miller’s life, lived at the center of American cultural history, had been a starring role, not a walk-on part. ![]() This last remark might seem disingenuous. And finally, I guess, I don’t think I’m all that fascinating”-though he was about to write his own autobiography. Most of which, in any case, is hardly worth reading. I’ve never kept anything like an orderly file of all my correspondence, I am really writing more now than ever in my life and I don’t want to interrupt. But he replied courteously and, as I learned to expect, modestly: “I would be loath to begin a project such as you suggest for several reasons. Nor did he want to give away material and ideas he still might use in his own writing. He did not want a sleuth to comb through his private papers for unwelcome revelations. Not surprisingly, Miller didn’t want to be distracted from his current work by contemplating the shape and pattern of his entire life. We both came from Jewish families, grew up in New York, had a father in the coat business, were adored by our mothers (who slept late while the maid served breakfast), were taught by Irish spinsters in public schools, rebelled against piano lessons and Hebrew school, and graduated from the University of Michigan. I couldn’t help noting in my letter the similarities between his early life and mine. In September 1980 I wrote to sound him out. I was full of respect for him, and curiosity as well. Though his normal, commonsensical, intellectual life rarely made headlines, in the late 1950’s he had been married to Marilyn Monroe, a conjunction that made heads spin at the time and now seemed the stuff of myth. His plays were a staple of the American theater repertory, and he’d also written classic film-scripts of his own work. His opposition to the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the 1950’s had earned him lasting political prestige. As I began to consider a new subject, my biographer’s antennae quivered at the thought of Arthur Miller. How do you like the video? Grade it at the top of the story.In the 1970’s I wrote two literary biographies, one on Katherine Mansfield, a short-story writer from New Zealand who died early at the peak of her career the other on Wyndham Lewis, an original novelist, great painter and incurable outsider who died blind and neglected in 1957. Ian Wolfson directed the clip, as seen here: Pretty basic stuff suited for a song that’s more mellow and less frenetic than his previous singles. “Of the Soul,” however, features a spartan set comprised of a white room with a backdrop displaying his album art.Īlternating outfits (including a hip pair of specs), Miller raps almost continuously as the restless camera tracks, dollies, pans and spins around him, while several lovely ladies perform somewhat balletic dance moves. His “Day in the Life” clip series, as well as other videos for songs like “Donald Trump” and “Senior Skip Day,” found him at house parties, in parks, at the store, or working at a sandwich shop, usually surrounded by members of his crew. The Pittsburgh MC (and Cobra Starship pal) is in a more abstract mode than in previous videos. Underdog rapper-turned-pop sensation Mac Miller is back with yet another video, this one for “Of the Soul,” the latest single off of his No.
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