A.O. Scott of The New York Times has a brief review of a new documentary about Spalding Gray, the man we borrowed the phrase “bark, bugs, leaves, and lizards” from (yes, that’s his serial comma):

The story he has to tell is, on one level, a rambling, anecdotal account of a more or less ordinary life, its tragedies, absurdities and frustrations offered with sincerity and charm. In an era of rampant memoirism and multimedia T.M.I., Mr. Gray might seem like a pioneer or just another old guy rattling on about himself, but Mr. [Steven] Soderbergh uses his own artistic resources to remind us of Mr. Gray’s uniqueness as an artist. A natural actor (praised early on for his uncanny sense of timing), he was also an extraordinary writer, perhaps the last in a long line of introspective, eccentric, mildly melancholic New Englanders going back to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Spaulding–to watch his work is to think you know him on a first-name basis–was one of the good ones.

h/t JH

About the Author

Derek Bridges

Derek Bridges lives in New Orleans, trading in words and pictures. A carpetbagger of long standing, he grew up in the top right corner of IL and later went to college in the middle cornfield part. He has also lived in MS and FL, for educational purposes only, and was diasporized for a time in TX.

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