Rarely Likable

This also doubles as my Christmas wishlist, by the way...

I interrupt this otherwise insanely busy and non-blogging day to direct you over to some fantastic eBay goodness. Lots of great things -- including critiques and signed copies -- from great people. It was put together by Tayari Jones for the Dunbar Village victim fund -- she explains here. Just awesome all around.

Post mortem

Garth Risk Hallberg's post over at the Millions today, about Roberto Bolano's opus magnum 2666, reminded me that I wanted to talk about what I took away from the preface for The Savage Detectives.  It seems like it's glossed over in discussion of Bolano's work, and maybe rightfully so. But that preface makes it very clear: Bolano knew he was dying, and he raced against the clock, writing-wise, for the last ten years of his life.

There are a lot of reasons I'm fascinated by that, and am subsequently reading The Savage Detectives more slowly than I ordinarily would. Some of those reasons are boring and emotional and if they should be explained anywhere, it sure as hell isn't here. But some of them have to do with the way Bolano manages to be exuberant (as every single review I've read calls his work) and world weary, sometimes within seconds of each other, and how his were the circumstances under which that is most possible. I also have a much better understanding of why Bolano's story "Luz Mendiluce Thompson" (Harper's subscribers only, sorry) led me to finally pick up and enjoy The Savage Detectives when dozens of reviews up to that point hadn't.

Aside from the impact it obviously had on Bolano's work? It's a writing scenario that is maybe trite, but also secretly interesting to consider. What if you only had ten years left? Six months? Five days? What would you want to have finished by then? Or, what would you want to be half-finished on your desk, if there wasn't enough time? For me, thinking about it from a HAY LET'S RAISE YOUR STAKES EVEN HIGHER LOL perspective misses the point almost entirely. It's more like this: What do you want to have written, the whole time thinking that after it's done you won't have to deal with it anymore, at all? That opens up all kinds of interesting.

As they say...even the squirrels wear black.

Today was a really crappy day, the kind of day that (thankfully) doesn't get discussed in vaguely thematic blogs. But it was improved by Joshua Henkin's exuberant guest hosting at The Elegant Variation.  Henkin teaches at my alma mater x2, and reading his batch of posts today made it very easy to relive happy conference memories...even if we weren't there at the same time.

A modest proposal, with no baby eating

I've been watching a little of the litblog discussion of what can be done to bring appreciation of short stories back from the terrifying abyss. I read one the other day that made me laugh hysterically, and not in a good way. Since I don't have the time to curate any resulting firestorms here, I'm not going to link or discuss it...email me if you want to know.

Despite that unintentional hilarity, it did make me realize that there's an inherent problem at work. Most people at the caring-about-reading level of a litblogger (and this includes me, though I don't think I am much of a litblogger) are, by definition, extremely far from the problem. Take any other defined interest with a group of people who are extremely passionate about it...

BOWLING EXPERT: Bowling is on the decline in this country. What can we do to fix that?
ANOTHER BOWLING EXPERT: Every game should come with a certified professional telling you exactly why you are there and what you're doing right and wrong. That way, you will learn to really appreciate bowling.
ANOTHER BOWLING EXPERT:  We've already dumbed it down enough with glow bowling and gutter guards! What more do those mouthbreathers want? Revert everything back to the 1950s and start over!

And so on. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything bad about people who are passionate about literature being forced to take a step out of themselves and consider the fact that others aren't. But the wrong people claim to have answers to the original posited problem.

So here's what I propose, as a first step: Find someone in your life who reads but isn't a Reader, and ask them: What would make you read more short stories? Be sure to really listen, and check your snobbery (and yes, we all have it in spades) at the door. Their money is the same color as yours, and if this short story thing is going to get fixed? Their experiences are just as valid. Having just spent 20 minutes talking to someone who dislikes both Lydia Davis' and Stephen King's work? I'll wager that you'll learn a lot.

In other news, the trailer for "The Mist" looks pretty good...

I think we have a topical meme.

(How did Google Reader miss all this until now? Will I forever need to check my feeds just before I sit down to dinner?)

Confessional alert!

David Leavitt wants to hear about writer envy. As much as I think it'd be amusing to go over there and name him, David Leavitt doesn't fall into that category for me at all. That's right, I wish him well in all that he does and I mean it. In fact, I have very fond memories of reading "Territory" during my first year of college.  That said, there are several writers who fall into this category for me -- one that I used to be acquainted with, actually. But maybe I should save any vague elaborations for that comment box.

I'm back.

I am really not fit to resume blogging again just yet, but wanted to let the world (and myself) know that I am, in fact, returned and alive.

In the meantime, I am still bummed that I won't be able to squee in the city on Friday.

STATUS: Still not here, but...

The LBC has picked the book I happen to be reading right now.  Looking forward to 8/20!

Back soon.

Status: Still in the fiction sweat lodge

I had a brainstorm earlier this evening...you know who should get one or both of  these jobs at America's Soon to Be Most Irritating Liberal Arts College? Tod Goldberg. Seriously, I'd consider going back to collect yet another degree from the place if that went down. (Like I don't daydream about it anyway...but still!)

Some things get cooler, some stay the same.

MFA Blog has been all sorts of interesting lately. This year there are at least a half dozen contributors from various walks of pre- mid- and post-MFA life. Admissions season hasn't even begun yet and the discussion is really lively. The MFA as a "professional" degree, advice for non-traditional students, when you should take your turn in workshop, and plenty more.

I'm going to be dimming the lights here for a little while -- kinda like I did this time last year, and for probably about that long. I'm working on something that is demanding a fair amount of attention, I have a whole stack of books that need reading, I need a break from unintentional Internet drama, pick one or all as your favorite excuse.

And since this IS the Internet, here is a picture of my cat being pissed off. She can has outrage.

See you soon.