It’s been 12 years since publication of the expanded edition of O Holy Cow!: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto (edited by Tom Peyer and Hart Seely) and the ensuing scandal when the book garnered no major awards due to bias against Spoken Word. Consider this classic of architectural angst, which spawned the “Tighten it!” self-help craze (whose acolytes claim that those three syllables uttered repeatedly by world leaders can lead to peace in this shrinking world):
Alienation
I think my head shrinks a little
In this indoor stadium
I am...
The mike is getting bigger.
And I have to tighten it.
Now The Library of the Other America will be publishing The Dialogues of Rizzuto. This excerpt has already become a linchpin of Columbia’s updated Core.
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer
SCENE: A Broadcast Booth. The pitcher has thrown four consecutive balls, but the umpire called the fourth one a strike. The fifth pitch was called ball four.
Rizzuto: If you’re a fatalist, you would say he was meant to walk.
Messer: Is that what a fatalist is?
Rizzuto: I don’t know, I never could figure out what a fatalist was.
Messer: Is that a fatalist or a realist? A realist would say he was meant to walk.
Rizzuto: I don’t know, we could have a good discussion on that if we get some rain.
Genius!
Posted by: Bob Holman | December 28, 2019 at 05:42 PM