I have mused before on whether or not literature "matters" in the sense of having force in the world, let alone the universe. In a recent essay, Michael Chabon contemplates giving up entirely in the face of the uselessness of art. In the piece Chabon tenders his resignation, ostensibly as the Chairman of the MacDowell … Continue reading Poetry Makes Nothing Happen
Month: September 2019
Bookish Comfort Food
I like to read before bed but I rarely read the primary book that I'm working on. Those books may be scary or disturbing, or challenging to read with a sleepy brain, or simply too much fun to put down and go the eff to sleep! So a few years ago I took to re-reading … Continue reading Bookish Comfort Food
The Proust Project
The weather has begun to turn, away from the languidity of late summer and into an unapologetic, in-your-face bluster of early fall. 2019 feels like it's entered a stormy adolescence and that makes the time feel right to turn to Proust. This will be year five of my Proust project, my goal to read one … Continue reading The Proust Project
On Alien Minds, + Atwood’s ‘The Testaments’
In brief: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood I tend not to be swept up in (clued into?) the big happenings in contemporary literature. But something about the release of Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, her sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, felt not only of the literary moment but within the zeitgeist. So I snagged a copy … Continue reading On Alien Minds, + Atwood’s ‘The Testaments’
Anxieties
At any given time, I am a ball of anxieties. Like a tangle of yarn, I clump and loop, circling back to where I started and then knotting around again. I worry about the people I love, global warming, refugees in cages, if people like me, work, racism, cancer, the uncrossable gulfs between people, why … Continue reading Anxieties
Raincheck
Reading Friends: I had family in town this weekend so did not find time to get a post together. Briefly though, I want to recommend a remarkable novel that I loved: Normal People by Sally Rooney. This story of young lovers showcases the bonehead ways that people often act when figuring out how to be … Continue reading Raincheck
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 