Sarah Lyall, « Air guitar champ makes a comeback », The New York Times (Sept. 10, 2007)
The first coal tit flies down to inspect us within seconds of the car door opening as we park at Cadmans Pool. Perched on a holly branch less than two metres away, it surveys us carefully, pivots to examine us from a different angle, and then moves to another branch to repeat the routine. By then it is being joined by more coal tits, great tits, and blue tits. All come to examine us, but only briefly. The chaffinches keep their distance, a nuthatch puts in a fleeting appearance before vanishing into the throng of birds within the margins of Anses ancient pasture woodland. A cock blackbird calls in alarm and, as we watch, he and others reveal their presence by flicking fallen leaves into the air as they search for insects.
Graham Long, « Country Diary » (The Guardian, Saturday 22 December 2012)
Ashley has a famously complex relationship with language, something that can be traced both to his work with speech synthesis at the AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories and his struggle with a mild form of Tourette's syndrome, a condition that led him to see involuntary vocalizations as a "primitive form of composing." In conversation, he apologizes for raising his voice, continuously asks if he's over-explaining, and frequently criticizes himself under his breath. Yet he also speaks with the same philosophical eloquence that defines his self-conscious characters, stammering briefly before dropping potent little aphorisms like, "There is no such thing as a word without a sound."
Ross Simonini, « Plumbing the Exquisite Psychic Depths of Robert Ashley », The Village Voice, January 7, 2009
On Franzen’s desk sit a pair of earplugs that he wears when he writes, over which he places noise-cancelling headphones that pipe “pink noise” – white noise at lower frequency. His computer has had its card removed, so he cannot be tempted by computer games. The ethernet port has been physically sealed, so he can’t connect to the internet. While writing The Corrections, he even wore a blindfold as he touch-typed.
Ed Pilkington, guardian.co.uk, Saturday 25 September 2010
Jusqu’à présent, les mineurs ensevelis continuent d’afficher un calme et un sang-froid exemplaires. Mais les sauveteurs redoutent que certains soient victimes, un jour ou l’autre, d’une grosse déprime. Ils ont pour objectif de maintenir la cohésion et le moral du groupe. Les familles des « 33 » ont été invitées à entretenir avec eux un courrier régulier et « positif », ce qu’elles font avec joie.Ils vont recevoir de quoi se livrer à des activités ludiques : jeux de cartes, dominos, enregistreurs vidéo. Les équipes de secours leur ont conseillé de multiplier les occupations collectives, de chanter, ou d’improviser des pièces de théâtre. On leur a demandé d’analyser les eaux de ruissellement, de dresser une carte de leur environnement souterrain. Un calendrier de travail, diurne et nocturne, est à l’étude afin de créer une routine salvatrice pour les mineurs restés sous terre.
Jean-Pierre Langellier dans Le Monde daté du samedi 28 août 2010
