D.G.Wills Books in LaJolla, California is a long time mecca for book lovers who crave a shop with a varied and deep selection literature, poetry and philosophy sections .Owner Dennis Wills, whom I've known (in full disclosure) since he opened his shop in 1979, has besides keeping his doors open , presented San Diego with an impressive roster of world-class literary events over the last few decades. Lucky for the rest of us that some of the most notable personalities were taped for future reference and are now available on D.G. Wills Books' own YouTube Channel, thanks to the curatorial efforts of bookstore associate and media specialist Bill Perrine. More of these remarkable events are being added. Meanwhile, enjoy the plenitude of what Wills hath wrought:Norman Mailer ,Allen Ginsberg,Oliver Stone, Billy Collins, Gore Vidal, Lawerence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder. I recommend checking back with channel from time to see who else has been added to this amazing and important archive of literary figures.
Thanks so much for posting this link. I’ve watched the videos of the Mailer talk and can’t help but be struck by his intellectual daring and gravitas. He was a giant – a flawed one, but still of towering stature. There are no more like him, it seems – really, the serious public intellectual is all but extinct in this country. We have replaced them with hectoring partisans and “rodeo clowns” (Glenn Beck’s self-description). Our novelists today are not fit to comment up much beyond the tiny bit of creative turf they occupy; nobody cares what they have to say about big things. Watching Mailer field questions in 1995, I’m reminded all over again how wide his reach was – and how free his mind was. Mailer was in nobody’s pocket. His comments about politics and world affairs seem heretical, especially his belief that the shredding of America’s social safety net was a direct result of the end of competition with the Soviets on the propaganda front. And his attack on the “second government” represented by American big business, as well as his dislike of advertising – how ancient it sounds now! And how wise. I wish Mailer’s ghost could be set loose to defy the pervasive techno-banality now upon us.
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