{"id":79312,"date":"2014-11-10T13:09:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T18:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=79312"},"modified":"2014-11-10T14:27:26","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T19:27:26","slug":"classified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/10\/classified\/","title":{"rendered":"Classified"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"matthiessenestate\"<\/a>

The crowd at Peter Matthiessen\u2019s estate sale.<\/p><\/div>\n

In early April, Peter Matthiessen, the beloved cofounder of The\u00a0Paris Review<\/em>,\u00a0died at eighty-six. Last week, I received an e-mail from my mother, containing a link to the following announcement:<\/p>\n

\n

SAGAPONACK
THE ESTATE OF THE LATE
PETER MATTHIESSEN
RENOWNED AUTHOR &
NATURIST*<\/strong><\/p>\n

A treasure trove of artifacts and mementos. Both indigenous and from the 4 corners of the Earth.<\/p>\n

Artisanal pottery, vintage typewriters, vast assortment of books, many annotated paintings, prints, photography and posters. Vintage LP collections in original portfolios, Early 20th century American piano table, 19th century French country dining table, additional chairs, tables, chests, beds, headboards, bedding, cookware, tableware, table linens, vintage luggage, toys and games, Vermont casting grill, teak picnic table, and much more!<\/p>\n

Children under 10 must be closely attended by an adult. Please be respectful of neighbors when parking.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The subject line of the e-mail read, \u201cOf course, we\u2019ll be there!\u201d (My parents live just down the road.) <\/p>\n

The evening after the sale, my mother called. \u201cHow was it?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDramatic,\u201d she said. It seems the advertisement had commanded a large crowd. Even before the sale opened, there was a long line of fans, collectors, and bargain hunters\u00a0in front of the house. Due to space constraints, the organizers allowed only twenty-five people to enter at once\u2014\u201cThis company always does that with their sales,\u201d my mother explained.<\/p>\n

My parents were near the front.\u00a0It seems\u00a0tensions were running high. Everyone had been waiting for some time for the doors to open when a woman strolled up and joined her friend in line; the friend had been saving her a place. This started a general grumbling that quickly escalated. One man, said my mom, started screaming. He was abusive, extremely profane:<\/p>\n

\"mestate2\"<\/a>

Photo: Stephen Andrew Hiltner<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBitch! Fucking\u00a0bitch! This is bullshit!\u00a0<\/em>What do you think you\u2019re fucking doing?!\u201d<\/p>\n

The rant went on; the line was taken aback. \u201cWe all agree in principle,\u201d said one peacemaker, \u201cbut your way of expressing it is inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAssholes!\u201d the man screamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re upsetting everyone very much,\u201d said another would-be patron\u2014described by\u00a0my mother as kind of an old hippie type\u2014\u201cand you\u2019re leaving us no alternative but to call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDicks!\u201d he cried.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not in the spirit of Peter Matthiessen,\u201d said a woman, sternly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck Peter Matthiessen!\u201d\u00a0<\/em>he screamed.<\/p>\n

There was a shocked gasp.<\/p>\n

At this point, an organizer emerged. \u201cPlease keep your voices down,\u201d she requested, and indicated the serene-looking hut located a few hundred yards away. \u201cThere\u2019s a Zendo in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

My dad bought a bathrobe.<\/p>\n

In the melee, my mother spotted three colleagues of mine from The Paris Review<\/em>\u2014Matthiessen having been an object of admiration in the office. \u201cI wanted to tell your friends to join us at the head of the line,\u201d said my mother, \u201cbut it\u2019s probably better they didn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

*To my knowledge, Matthiessen was a keen nature lover, not a nudist. He always showed up to Paris Review<\/em>\u00a0meetings in a tie.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early April, Peter Matthiessen, the beloved cofounder of The\u00a0Paris Review,\u00a0died at eighty-six. Last week, I received an e-mail from my mother, containing a link to the following announcement: SAGAPONACKTHE ESTATE OF THE LATEPETER MATTHIESSENRENOWNED AUTHOR &NATURIST* A treasure trove of artifacts and mementos. Both indigenous and from the 4 corners of the Earth. Artisanal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[15977,2143,31,15979,15978,13689],"class_list":["post-79312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-estate-sales","tag-long-island","tag-peter-matthiessen","tag-sagaponack","tag-scenes","tag-tag-sales"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAttending Peter Matthiessen\u2019s Estate Sale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on the crowd this past weekend at the recently deceased writer\u2019s Sagaponack home.\" \/>\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\/2014\/11\/10\/classified\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Classified by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 10, 2014 \u2013 In early April, Peter Matthiessen, the beloved cofounder of The\u00a0Paris Review,\u00a0died at eighty-six. 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