Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

From the dark side:

• Clive James, Always Unreliable (Picador, 2004): “Over there, cabdrivers know who James is: the ebullient man who hosted many comic and erudite television programs over the years. We have no one quite like him over here: Think Johnny Carson combined with Edmund Wilson.” (Always Unreliable combines Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, and May Week Was in June.)

Poetry

Poems:

• William Wordsworth, “The Widow on Windermere Side”

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

In jazz ensembles, the side players are indispensable to the creation of great music. Great jazz sidemen, among many others, include:

• Freddie Green, with his playlists;
• Herb Ellis, with his playlists;
• Sonny Clark, with his playlists;
• Wynton Kelly, with his playlists;
• Red Garland, with his playlists;
• Paul Chambers, with his playlists; and
• Charlie Rouse, with his playlists. 

Albums:

• Geri Allen, “The Gathering” (1998) (61’)

Music: songs and other short pieces

• OK Go, "I Won't Let You Down" (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Gustave Caillebotte, Portrait of Henri Cordier, Teacher at the School of Oriental Languages (1883)

Film and Stage

• You Can Count On Me: The brother and sister whose lives are at the center of this story have lost their parents during their childhood to an automobile collision. The older sibling, the girl, has become a sing mother struggling to support her child. Her younger brother, who “has been drifting around the country barely making ends meet,” provides life lessons to her son that she is too damaged to provide. Both siblings wish to do what is right but each of them is limited, and gifted, in particular ways.
• Romántico: a man struggles heroically to provide for his family.