What are you reading?

[philip nod]

bukowski 'hollywood".....like replaying old good richie hawtin set...

man, i hated this one when i read it recently. made me think i must have been an idiot when i was 14 and plowed through everything he wrote with sick thirst

[AKA*NYC]

his short stories still kick ass and several poems

[Raw Edge]

agreed. I like the notes of a dirty old man series as well.
his poetry> than fiction imho (even though there are a lot of duds)

[Faust]

agreed. I like the notes of a dirty old man series as well.
his poetry> than fiction imho (even though there are a lot of duds)

Yes, some of his poetry is quite striking.

[Fade to Black]

I LOVE these last few lines of his poem "Some People" -

some people never go crazy.
what truly horrible lives
they must lead.

[AKA*NYC]

this poem, published posthumously, is among my favorites:

So You Want To Be A Writer

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

[Fade to Black]

^^^

Bra-fucking-vo.

[Schadenfreude]

[Nikov]

In a week or so, after I resurface from the mountain of work I am currently crushed under, I will begin reading Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec.

I'm excited. I've put it off for too long.

[Fade to Black]

Was lucky enough to track down a copy of Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater at the bookstore today, just started reading it. Roth was right in his recent GQ interview; when Sabbath speaks, Jack Nicholson's voice is the first that comes into my head delivering the lines.

[skecr8r_l8r]

Kundera.. finally.

[Faust]

Kundera.. finally.

which one?!

[destroyed]

I am going 60 pages away from putting Infinite Jest to sleep. I don't want it to end. In light of DFW's suicide, the book reads like a suicide note, a hilarious one. Even if these last few pages were the words "All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy" over and over, it would not change my opinion of this novel. It really is one of those cry from the soul-type works---and really, what is left for the author after pouring out the contents of his person on so many pages?

[Fade to Black]

that's one of those books I always have the intention of reading but fear I will not make it through...sounds like the kind of book that deserves 24/7 devotion until the very last letter, dunno if I'm in the mood for engaging on such a taxing adventure. I've tried IJ back in like the 6th grade off a NYT book review; clearly I wasn't ready for it. I also attempted Don DeLillo's Underworld around the same time, never even put a dent in that one either. Although there's probably something more worthwhile in the Infinite Jest than the Underworld.

i did read David Foster Wallace's short story in the New Yorker, "Good People"...it was alright, but I dunno something was lacking. It felt detached, but didn't quite have the all knowing, deep probing insight that only a complete outsider to the characters could see, something my favorite writings along this line usually have...

[destroyed]

I love Underworld.

IJ does require dedication, maybe even obsession, but it suits the subject matter: addiction.

That said, it is really a friendly read, and a page-turner. I would not be intimidated by it. Just keep a list of characters, with a brief description, and note the page on which they are introduced, for future reference. That will keep the book manageable.

After reading the Rolling Stone article about DFW, I was rather surprised at just how autobiographical the book is; I am finally starting to realize that the bulk of fiction is just loosely veiled autobiography. Not sure why this lesson has taken me so long to learn...