Latest Issue of CONFRONTATION, the Long Island University
Literary Journal Examines the Corruption of Language

Brookville, NY – Would Einstein say facts are relative? What angle would he have on the notion of half-facts, even (unthinkable to now!) quarter-facts? What perspective would he give to a possible fact? Or to a certain mis-fact after its early distribution as an attributed fact?

Such corruption of language is the subject of an exchange of essays in the Fall 2003/ Winter 2004 issue of CONFRONTATION (Vol. #84-85), the prize-winning literary journal published by Long Island University. The editor of Confrontation, Martin Tucker, and the distinguished historian, novelist and biographer Thomas Fleming survey the current socio-culture scene with positive alarm. Language has become in their eyes a tool for meaninglessness in the service of partisan goals. Fleming writes: "We are now in far more danger of succumbing to a sterile amoral rationalism hostile to good literary art, whether it be fiction or nonfiction." Tucker sees the modernist perversion of language as a surrender to a tyranny of democratic cynicism.

The new double issue is also highlighted by three memoirs. One, by the widely honored writer Paul West, relates his experience with the world-famous Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Katrina Holden Bronson writes a moving tribute to her father, the late actor Charles Bronson. Cheryl West writes of her decision to stay in the land-locked but dream-opened state of Iowa after many journeys on her way to a career of writing.

The fiction section features stories by Karen Malpede, Tom Stacey and Willard Manus, among others. Malpede’s fiction, "About Oil," is sure to pour controversy over the troubled waters of the theme of power and greed in the contemporary global milieu. Stacy, an English writer known for his brilliant work on African history and English Customs, tells a story charged with claims of ethnic divisiveness.

Also featured in the new issue are work by 14 poets, among them Davis Ray and Kenneth Bernard, and reviews and criticism.

CONFRONTATION, published semi-annually since 1968 and distributed internationally, is available at bookstores/newsstands, by direct mail purchase and by subscription. The cost of this special issue is $10. To order direct, send check payable to Confrontation magazine, to CONFRONTATION Magazine, English Department, C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, N.Y. 11548. For further information, call 516-299-2720; fax 516-299-2735, or email mtucker@liu.edu.