Saturday Night Live Transcripts
Season 25: Episode 14
Let’s Talk Books
Moderator…..Will Ferrell
Karen Holsbrook…..Ana Gasteyer
Kevin Henchey…..Joshua Jackson
Professor Carl Lenz…..Tim Meadows
Moderator: Welcome to “Let’s Talk Books”. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare.The great canon of world literature. Is it still worth teaching on collegecampuses in this age of multiculturalism? Or is it time we open thecurriculum to other kinds of literature? With me, here to discuss thechanging politics behiund curriculum in our colleges – from TempleUniversity, Karen Holsbrook; Kevin Henchey, a frequent contributor toThe Nation; and joining us from Yale University, Professor Carl Lenz.Welcome, all of you. Um.. Professor Holsbrook, I want to start with you.Let’s say I have a child entering college next Fall. Will he be readingShakespeare?
Karen Holsbrook: [ light laugh ] I certainly hope so. No one’sarguing that we throw out the great writers. But, clearly, it’s time thatwe open the door to other writers who are not often associated with the”great” works.
Moderator: Like, Zora Neil Herston, or Toni Morrison?
Karen Holsbrook: Mmm hmm. Also, Ida Paxton Freely..
Moderator: I’m sorry? I’m not familiar with her work..
Karen Holsbrook: The Yellow River? By I.P. Freely?
Moderator: Oh. Of course. I.P. Freely. Didn’t she also writeLights Out at the Boys School?
Kevin Henchey: [ interrupting ] No, no.. Lights Out at the BoysSchool was written by a husband-and-wife team – Holden & Sharon Dix.
Moderator: Ah. Holden and Sharon Dix. I always confuse them withthe East German writer – Lotta Cox. But are these the kind ofwriters we’re talking about? Dix? Cox?
Karen Holsbrook: I’m glad you mentioned Lotta Cox. The Diary ofa Hooker would make any new list of great nooks.
Kevin Henchey: Oh, I agree. But you might also include Through aBrown, Darkly, by Ilene Dover on that list. But something we reallyhaven’t hit upon is the relunctance to include Asian literature in thisargument. I don’t know how you could overlook one of the greats of theWest – Stain on the Great Wall, by Hoo Flung Poo. Or, of course,there’s always How to Make $30, by Chu Sum Wang.
Moderator: Okay. Well, that really is the meat of the matter. Dowe include Chu Sum Wang? Professor Lenz, I see you’re shaking your head.
Professor Carl Lenz: No, I mean, that’s just it. You can’t includeeverything. I mean, do we need Homosexuality in Irish Culture, byMichael Fitzpatrick and Patrick Fitzmichael? I don’t think so. Last weekI asked my students what they wanted to read, and it was Shakespeare. NotThe Tiger’s Revenge, by some obscure French author.
Kevin Henchey: [ helping ] Claude Balls.
Professor Carl Lenz: What?
Kevin Henchey: You’re referring to The Tiger’s Revenge, byClaude Balls. An excellent writer on par with Dick Gosinia, or the Greekwriter, Harry Paratesties.
Karen Holsbrook: Paratesties is certainly on par with Ballsor Cox. Absolutely. Now, I read a scathing indictment of drugs andprofessional sports, called Under the Bleachers, by Seymour Butz.
Kevin Henchey: Exactly. I think it’s really non-fiction like thisthat we need to be looking at. I taught a seminar at Duke University,where we read Richard Sawyer and Alan Bush’s fascinating study of voyeurism..
Karen Holsbrook: Mmm hmm. The Sawyer-Bush Report.
Kevin Henchey: Yes. Yes. And, from there, we segue-wayed into aninteresting report on the Stonewall Riots, authored by Harrison Butz andRandall Dixon.
Moderator: Oh, I love Dixon-Butz.
Professor Carl Lenz: We all love Dixon-Butz. But does thatmean we should grant them immediate status in the pantheon of greatliterature? I mean, what happens to Charles Dickins or Andre de Balsac?
Kevin Henchey: Oh, who cares? Really, truly? I prefer Dixon-Butzto Balsac. I mean, who wants Balsac shoved in your face?
Moderator: Actually, if truth be told, I can’t think of nothing I’drather do on a cold, wintry night, than curl up with a leathery, musky oldBalsac. And I think we can all agree on that. [ everyone agrees ] Well,that’s about all the time we have here on “Let’s Talk Books”. Join us nextweek, when we’ll be discussing Venereal Disease & its Effects”, byMaya P. Burns and Dick Hertz.
