"interpolate"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Wilson's mention of _Mandingo_ on another thread sent me to GB to refresh my
memory of a book I read hastily about forty years ago.  Unfortunately, my
memory was refreshed. (Kyle Onstott's theme, to the extent that he had one,
was that antebellum slavery was ultimately more revolting all-round than
'50s fiction could otherwise imagine.)

The bright side, however, was the discovery of a brand-new meaning for
"interpolate":

2003 Michael Corris & Robert Hobbs, in Gill Perry, ed. _Difference and
Excess in Contemporary Art: The Visibility of Women's Practice_ (Malden,
Mass.: Blackwell, 2004) 118: The copy for the back cover...interpolates a
readership wishing to view the world in stark contrasts and bold headlines:
 Expect the savage. The sensual. The shocking. The sad. The powerful. The
shameful. ...You may rave about MANDINGO or you may hate it, but you won't
be able to lay it down, because it is a terrible and wonderful novel!

Just what that meaning may be, I leave to others.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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