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Essays, Manifestos, Statements, Speeches, Maxims, Epistles, Diaristic Jottings, Narratives, Natural histories, Poems, Plays, Performances, Ramblings, Revelations, and all such ephemera as may appear necessary to bring society into a slight tremolo of confusion and fright at least.

My Year 2013: Murderers and Angels

Douglas Messerli

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The mass shootings that led up to 2013 and continued throughout the year determined that Douglas Messerli’s 14th volume of his My Year series would be focused on the individuals behind the weapons that had killed so very many innocent children and adults. But at the same time, it became clear to this historian of societal and personal cultural events residing in the city of Angels that there were also angels in our midst who created a dichotomy in life. As Cary Grant’s angelic messenger in the film The Bishop’s Wife observed, the face you see while strolling any city or village street “may be the face of a murderer or the face of an angel.” And in most cases there was no way to easily tell the difference.

Once more, attending to political events, reading numerous works of fiction, poetry, history, and philosophy, attending events of theater, cinema, art, and dance, and simply contemplating his own personal experiences, the author was filled with wonder, coincidence, and joy. During 2013, after having lived together for 43 years, Messerli and his companion Howard N. Fox were legally married. And the author made a pleasant journey, one of his last, to visit his aging mother in Iowa.

The author of numerous books of poetry, most recently Stay (2018), Messerli also writes fiction, drama (under the pseudonym Kier Peters), and has edited several anthologies. As the publisher of Sun & Moon and Green Integer, he was awarded The American Book Award and the ALTA Award for publishing translations. He was named Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.