Yakov Rabinovich

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Member for

4 years 16 weeks

Biographical

I was born in 1958 in Paterson N.J., home to William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg. I will pass over the follies of my youth, and only note that I went on to take a BA from Columbia, and a PhD in Classics from Brown, which rendered me virtually unemployable, and for some time not very good company. After almost a decade of waiting tables, digging ditches, selling idols, writing for a small newspaper, &c. &c. in Israel, Ireland and New England, the shifting demographic finally brought demand for my skills, and I am now employed as a High School Latin teacher in New Jersey.

It is unlikely that I will move to college teaching in the foreseeable future, since there are presently several hundred applicants for every job in Classics. Further, High School teaching is, compared to the other jobs a liberal arts degree fits one for, an extremely good gig, and I would have to be quite a fool to trade this for an adjunct position in some desolate place at a third my present salary. Nonetheless, I cherish a faint hope that someday society may find a better use for my talents than explaining the rudiments of person, number and tense, or deciding who really needs to go to the bathroom. I am the author of a number of books. As often (rarely) as my writing is noticed by the academic reviewer, it is vilified, which puts to rest any doubts I may have had about the lasting value of my work.

Tiring at last of the ancient Mediterranean, I have turned my attention to China, and am presently memorizing thousands of cryptic little pictures so as to read the traditional Chinese classics. For less cerebral excitement, I ride a Honda Rebel into the blissful mythic distance. My current project is running Invisible Books. I am always glad to hear from interesting people, so don't hesitate to drop me a line.