Bewildering Stories discusses...

Floozman’s Seven

with Gary Inbinder and Bertrand Cayzac

“What Is the ‘Seventh’ Ennead?” appears in issue 640.

Hi, Bertrand,

I’m far from expert on the fine distinctions between Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism. As for “spaghetti-throwing,” I should add you’ve prepared the very finest spaghetti, comparable to Jame’s Joyce’s elegant literary pasta. ;-)

I’ll leave the esoteric significance of the number seven to the numerologists.

I’m enjoying “Floozman in Space,” as I have all the other “Floozmans” and look forward to more chapters.

Best regards,

Gary

Hi, Gary,

I’m short of time and breath to tell you how glad and honored I am to discover your review. I’m feeling warm fuzzies and all that.

Let me say first of all that I fully endorse the spaghetti-throwing approach. May I one day pitch a ditch into a base beyond the wall of literature in the same manner as Nicholas of Cusa trespassed the wall of Paradise. I indulge in thinking that the increasing contradiction density of my work is a good indicator that I’m close. I’m prepared to hear the BANG any time now.

Your commentary is highly informative and teaches me a lot on Gnosticism in spite of the time I spent inebriating myself with apocryphal gospels and of course, the Enneads chapter “Against the Gnostics.” Anyway, at the end of the day and for a number of reasons, the whole story proves far more Gnostic than Plotinus would have admitted.

So, while I have been aware of the high potential of the number seven since my first encounter with Snow White, this occurrence stems from a far less learned ground and serves a fuzzier purpose. Indeed, it’s basically a joke intended at mimicking some Indiana Jones title.

Kind regards — Amitiés

Bertrand