Here’s an update, and I know you care, on the continuing struggle of my latest project: I’ve established the Garrison family, their upscale house, their affluent status. I’ve introduced the two teenaged kids, who may figure importantly later. I’ve introduced … Continue reading
I’m writing this post instead of doing my real work, because my real work is stuck. I wrote a scintillating (ha!) Chapter 1, which got the new project off the ground. Hurrah for that. Now I’m staring at the proverbial … Continue reading
Wittgenstein’s Mistress on the Mezzanine Ridgway, Keith (2007). Animals. New York: Harper Perrenial. An unnamed, first-person narrator is a free-lance illustrator of animals, in or around London. He describes his ordinary, nerdy life in excruciating detail, reminiscent of Nicholson Baker’s … Continue reading
I’m looking down into the water, seeing my own hesitant reflection, trying to convince myself that I’m ready to dive. I know I’m not going to turn around and climb down off the board. I’m going to soar, gracefully, smoothly, … Continue reading
Any idea can lead to terrible actions, misunderstandings, unintended consequences. But some ideas seem especially dangerous on their face, not necessarily because they are wrong, not just because they are big ideas, not because acting on them would be imprudent, … Continue reading
Magical Story of Humanity Marquez, Gabriel Garcia (1970). One Hundred Years of Solitude. New York: Harper and Row. It’s difficult to have an opinion about a book that is universally revered as one of the greatest novels of all time, … Continue reading
Second-Person in New York McInerney, Jay (1984). Bright Lights, Big City. New York: Vintage. This short (182 pp) novel of 1980’s New York City is widely praised as having nailed that period and place. I don’t know – I wasn’t … Continue reading
“Nothing can be meaningfully affirmed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche Geuss, Raymond, &Speirs, Ronald (Eds.) (1999). Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. The main Nietzschean text presented in this book is The Birth of … Continue reading
A 75-Page Novel Shteyngart, Gary (2010). Super Sad True Love Story. New York: Random House. This is my second attempt to read Shteyngart, a darling of the literary fiction world these days. Earlier, I had attempted to read Absurdistan and … Continue reading