Thanks, Nelson (and Miles)

An unexpected visitor knocked on Mister B's door on Friday evening, what followed was a weekend of some tumult and turbulence. Now Mister B admits his life has a certain comfortable and solitary tameness, and that a good shake up is, in all probability, more than necessary. Welcome, even. But there is turbulence and then there is turbulence.

Fortunately, this weekend Mister B kept in mind Nelson Algren's Advice to Young Man. While Mister B no longer qualifies as a young man, he thinks Algren's advice has some merit. For young or old, man or woman.

You will recall that Algren was a journalist and author. He is probably most well known for The Man with the Golden Arm, later made into a film starring Frank Sinatra. Less well known is that Algren was the on/off lover of Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre's life-long partner. Evidently, Algren was Old School. Years later, Algren was mortified when he read in de Beauvoir's autobiography that he (Algren) had given her her first orgasm; Nelson believed such intimate details should have remained private.

More about Nelson Algren: Wikipedia

Nelson Algren's Advice to a Young Man:

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

So what's with the Miles Davis Ascenseur for l'échafaud? The music is cool and spare, a useful antitdote for what had gone before it.

Oh, here is the American trailer for the Louis Malle film: youtube