{"id":140785,"date":"2019-11-05T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=140785"},"modified":"2019-11-08T13:59:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T18:59:08","slug":"redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Margaret Atwood.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week at The Paris Review<\/em>, we\u2019re looking to the stars and featuring works about or written by Scorpios. Read on for Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, Tom Disch\u2019s \u201cThe Joycelin Shrager Story<\/a>,\u201d and Anne Sexton\u2019s poem \u201cThe Poet of Ignorance<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, and poems, why not\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em> and read the entire archive? You\u2019ll also get four new issues of the quarterly delivered straight to your door. And don\u2019t forget to also subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review Podcast<\/em>\u2014a new episode comes out every Wednesday!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Margaret Atwood, The Art of Fiction No. 121<\/a>
\nIssue no. 117 (Winter 1990)<\/em><\/p>\n

When I am writing fiction, I believe I am much better organized, more methodical\u2014one has to be when writing a novel. Writing poetry is a state of free float.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Joycelin Shrager Story<\/a>
\nBy Tom Disch
\nIssue no. 64 (Winter 1975)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I wasn\u2019t going to tell you this, but you know how Murray was always telling everyone how he was a Scorpio? He\u2019s not. When I had to bring him his things to the hospital, I looked in his billfold. Where it says date of birth on his draft card, the date was January 28th, 1937. An Aquarius! His moon<\/em> isn\u2019t even in Scorpio, for God\u2019s sake. I looked it up, and it\u2019s in Capricorn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably thought he\u2019d be more interesting as a Scorpio.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course that\u2019s what he thought. But that doesn\u2019t make it right, does it? There\u2019s one thing I can\u2019t stand, and that\u2019s a liar. I mean, if your own friends lie<\/em> to you, how can you believe anything<\/em>?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Poet of Ignorance<\/a>
\nBy Anne Sexton
\nIssue no. 60 (Winter 1974)<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps the earth is floating,
\nI do not know.
\nPerhaps the stars are little paper cutups
\nmade by some giant scissors,
\nI do not know.
\nPerhaps the moon is a frozen tear,
\nI do not know.
\nPerhaps God is only a deep voice,
\nheard by the deaf,
\nI do not know \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you like what you read,\u00a0get a year of<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u2014four new issues, plus instant access to everything we\u2019ve ever published.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 5, 2019 \u2013 This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\"},\"headline\":\"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Redux\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\",\"name\":\"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Margaret Atwood.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review","description":"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review","og_description":"November 5, 2019 \u2013 This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Paris Review","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Paris Review","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/"},"author":{"name":"The Paris Review","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e"},"headline":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio","datePublished":"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/"},"wordCount":436,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg","articleSection":["Redux"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/","name":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio by The Paris Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-05T18:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-08T18:59:08+00:00","description":"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Margaret Atwood\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Tom Disch, and a poem by Anne Sexton.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/atwood.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Margaret Atwood."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/11\/05\/redux-more-interesting-as-a-scorpio\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Redux: More Interesting as a Scorpio"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e","name":"The Paris Review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Paris Review"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140785"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140799,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140785\/revisions\/140799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}