About Scott Abbott
I received my Ph.D. in German Literature from Princeton University in 1979. Then I taught at Vanderbilt University, BYU, and Utah Valley State College. At Utah Valley University, I directed the Program in Integrated Studies for its initial 13 years and was also Chair of the Department of Humanities and Philosophy for three years. My publications include a book on Freemasonry and the German Novel, two co-authored books with Zarko Radakovic (REPETITIONS and VAMPIRES & A REASONABLE DICTIONARY, published in Serbo-Croatian in Belgrade and in English with Punctum Books), a book with Sam Rushforth (WILD RIDES AND WILDFLOWERS, Torrey House Press), a "fraternal meditation" called IMMORTAL FOR QUITE SOME TIME (University of Utah Press), and translations of three books by Austrian author Peter Handke, of an exhibition catalogue called "The German Army and Genocide," and, with Dan Fairbanks, of Gregor Mendel's important paper on hybridity in peas. More famously, my children are in the process of creating good lives for themselves: as a model and dance/yoga studio manager, as a teacher of Chinese language, as an ecologist and science writer, as a jazz musician, as a parole officer, as a contractor, as a seasonal worker (Alaska and Park City, Utah), and as parents. I share my life with UVU historian Lyn Bennett, with whom I have written a cultural history of barbed wire -- THE PERFECT FENCE (Texas A&M University Press). Some publications at http://works.bepress.com/scott_abbott/
On July 3, The New York Times published a piece by Natasha Trethewey, former poet laureate of the United States and former poet laureate of Mississipi. The title was “Goodbye to a Symbol That Told Black Americans to ‘Know Your … Continue reading →
Walking today around a familiar loop on the side of our mountain— about 10 kilometers with maybe 400 meters of altitude gain—I stepped off Summit Creek Road (there is neither summit nor a creek, just a developer’s scheme to sell … Continue reading →
For 19 years, my friend Steven Epperson has been the minister of a congregation of Unitarians in Vancouver, British Columbia. Yesterday he led the services there for the last time and I attended church for the first time in who … Continue reading →
Die Obstdiebin / The Fruit Thief Novel by Peter Handke I’ve been reading this novel slowly, a few pages a day, hungry for the complex syntax and Handke’s phenomenological observations. Today I came to the sentence below, complex enough that … Continue reading →
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I just finished Richard Ford’s new collection of short stories, Sorry for Your Trouble. Set in New Orleans, New York City, Paris, and Maine, the stories feature, for the most part, men of means thinking back on their lives. In “Nothing … Continue reading →
John would have been 69 years old today, only a year younger than I am, a year younger until my August birthday once again makes a two-year difference. He was 40 years old when he died. I was 41. I … Continue reading →
This morning I signed a contract with Laguna press for publication of Zarko’s and my book titled We / On Friendship. My half of the book will be translated into Serbo/Croatian. Zarko’s half is already in his native language. They … Continue reading →
This gallery contains 3 photos.
10 June 1927 Berlin Walter Benjamin, in bed with Asja Lacis on this day, or at least remembering that erotic encounter on this day, or perhaps it is the narrator gathering events and thoughts on this day – in any … Continue reading →
Reports last week of the deaths of Beat poet and playwright Michael McClure and musician Little Richard moved Alex to these lines influenced, in MM’s case, by the full moon: MM * To think / this has been going on since / … Continue reading →
Tough times, anxiety high, friends and family without jobs, virus threatening — where does one turn? To French fiction, to Jean-Patrick Manchette’s novels of the 1980s, to Pascal Garnier’s novels from the 2010s. Unlike police procedurals, these promise no final … Continue reading →
