Clinton's Autobiography, Roland Barthes

I finished reading Bill Clinton's autobiography, My Life, last night. I have already mentioned that I found it superficial and descriptive. For a man to have done what he has done ought to lead to more insight that is here. It reminded me of Beverly Sills' autobiography, which quickly turned into a list of the roles in opera she played and the performances she gave. Same here. The book would have been impossible to write without his date books for all those years.

I also read the third volume of Roland Barthes' critical essays, L'obvie et l'obtus. In this volume, at least, the essays are slightly longer than, say, the collection of theatre criticism. The most interesting essays are about music, about which there are some interesting and detailed discussions. He also has a delightful essay on Arcimboldo, the painter who made portraits out of the vegetable patch....For a scholar who looks at meta-images, I thought this was one of his better efforts.