And so begins the first of many posts here at Quarto where we take a look at older pieces within our archives for the purpose of sparking thoughts and conversations about writing at Columbia.

The piece I chose this week is Call Me Uncas by Ralph Perry, in the 1965 Fall issue of Quarto. It also happens to be mirroring a funny comic done by Louise Gluck, a US poet Laureate and also Columbia alumni, and proud School of General Studies’ student, apparently. This short prose piece is a cool periscope view into the mannerisms, and social etiquette of the 60s, or at least what it was in the writer’s eyes. The story is about a guy named Mark and his date at a party, the people they meet, and how they eventually go home together. I was happy to be able to relate to the mention of The Last of The Mohicans, and was surprised at the sperm conversation in the beginning of it. Even as a child of the non-private and evermore explicit 21st century, I hardly think about my sperm going rancid on a daily basis, let alone enough to mention it in conversation. The eventual interplay between Mark and his date was peculiar, and I felt it lacked the emotion I would have imagined it. Perhaps that it’s my perspective on it, but I see it as fragmented, but nostalgic and friendly view of 60s relationships: short, seductive, and there’s a lot they’re not telling you. Check it out for yourself here:

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