whitebalence

Litblog HTMLGiant links to Analecta, the literary and arts journal of the University of Texas at Austin, which has uncovered a 1989 issue featuring a short story by Wes Anderson. "Max, sitting alone on the roof of Philly Joe Jones' Easy Way Out Bar and Grille, on Bleeker Street, cracked open a Dr. Pepper," the story, titled "The Ballad of Reading Milton," begins.

Like many undergrad attempts at fiction, the story isn't exactly bursting with plot, but there is an instance of grand theft auto, and Anderson's peculiar eye for telling detail is already in full effect:

After examining the contents of the glove box, Max removed from it a Maxell XL2-S 100 and slipped it through the opening on the face of the Blaupunkt. An internal mechanism grasped the tape from his fingers and sucked it inside. Six speakers simultaneously presented him with Debussy's La Mer.

There's also a notable interest in the world as cinema, and Nietzsche, Marlon Brando, Plato, and Cary Grant are name-checked. What more could you ask for? Read the entire story at Analectica.

Anderson's The Darjeeling Express is out today from the Criterion Collection.