The Blues: Seven Days, Five Books, Some Other Stuff

I closed the door of my classroom approximately 168 hours ago, and it will remain shut (barring trips back for reference material) until August 26. Since the door closed I've hosted one barbecue, attended one wedding, attended one Makers of Manchester meeting, met one Rhodes Scholar for a beer, spent three days in curriculum-development workshops for a new Freshman Writing class, shared one KC’s Rib Shack platter with my wife, slept about fifty hours, started breaking in a new messenger bag, played three hours of (mostly losing) poker, watched three episodes of The X Files, wrote a couple of thousand new words of fiction, plowed through the new Rolling Stone and Poets & Writers, and read five books.

I feel pretty good about the week, but I have a mixed reaction to the books.

What I'm ... (May 24, 2013)

Reading:

I’ve been on a “dirty realism” kick this month: Charles Bukowski’s Ham on Rye, a bunch of Ray Carver short stories, and The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake. I’ve long been a fan of grit -- as any oyster can tell you it’s the only way to get a pearl – and stories of doggedness.  Life’s default is “not pretty and generally unsatisfying.” Happy endings and happiness itself are fleeting.  We can learn a lot from fiction that refuses to sugarcoat that, while still revealing the pearls -- the shiny bits that make it worth the work.

I picked up Michael Chabon’s The Wonderboys for $1 at the supermarket donation bin the other day. So far, so good.

I also received my contributor copy of Something Wicked Vol. 2. It looks good and, may I say, there’s something mightily satisfying about seeing your name in an other-published book. You can get the ebook (published by Random House Struik) on Amazon  or preorder the paperback via Barnes & Noble. I haven’t read it yet, but I have looked at the pictures. Did I mention every story has an illustration?

Writing:

I’m still punching and scraping my way through the latest revisions of Leaving Home. I have vowed not to write anything new until I get that together, revise the synopsis, and get the book back into the ring. You can do it, Rock!

Listening to: 

George Jones.

The new Bowie album.

A chum recommended the new Daft Punk, but I gave up on it and listened to Parliament instead.

Watching:

Batman Beyond … In the future, Batman is still around, but he’s a kid in high school. Great visual style plus crusty, old Bruce Wayne.

Drinking:

HiCu – Magic Hat’s cucumber/hibiscus ale. In a summer variety pack near you. Light and weird.

What I’m ... (March 21, 2013)

 Reading:

Superheroes  -- A collection of superhero short stories, but not your usual “kapow.” Subtle, nuanced, and from interesting POVs and characters. Features work by Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and Hugo winner James Patrick Kelly.

Amoskeag Journal proofs – Southern New Hampshire University’s venerable (thirty years old next month) literature journal is due out on paper, Kindle, and Nook round about April 19. It features contest winners, National Endowment of the Arts favorites, and Peabody nominees, to name a few, and I get to catch the typos.

Listening to:

The New York Times’ Book Review podcast  -- Voices and journalists made for print interview authors, talk about trends, and tell you what’s going to be on the cover of the New York Times Book Review.  It’s a great way to learn about new authors without taking your hands off the wheel.

Same Trailer, Different Park by Kacey Musgraves – This is who I hoped Taylor Swift would become in her twenties.  Life issues, poverty, sadness, and sweetness … almost real country music.

Watching:

Green Lantern: The Animated Series  on the Cartoon Network   -- What the movie should have been. Captures the cosmic feel of the Green Lantern and his Corp.  Number three in my top three of DC Nation shows that should not have been canceled (Batman: Brave and the Bold, Young Justice and …)

Californication, Season One – In another universe, I am someone more like Hank Moody. I’m just glad it’s not this one.

Drinking:

Chocolate stout from Milly’s Tavern.

Jameson’s Irish Whiskey leftover from St. Patrick’s Day.

Books for Writers: "Education of a Wandering Man"

A local used bookstore went out of business around Christmas time. I was saddened , but I took advantage of the low, low prices to grab … well ... everything. Christmas books for all!

Among the finds I kept for myself was Education of a Wandering Man, cowboy writer Louis L’Amour’s memoir. Published by Bantam in 1989 (a year after the writer’s death), it’s L’Amour’s account of the life he led while learning to be a writer and, more importantly, the books that taught him about words and story forms.

Books for Writers: "Apocalyptic Planet"

I've long been fan of big real(or at least realistic)-life adventure stories. As a kid I read Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon Tiki" at least seven times and devoured books by Farley Mowat, Jack London and Mark Twain. I read about sea voyages and shipwrecks, desert crossings and awkward portages, glacier ascents and trips into the bowels of the earth. It was the next best thing to being there, and as close as I could get from my home in rural Maine.

Somewhere along the way, partly awakened by the Reagan administration, I became aware of how transitory these places and adventures were, how using the wild often means using it up, and that mankind has the power to kick the crap out of the planet without the self-control not to. I transitioned from adventure and exploration tales to studying the apocalypse through "Alas, Babylon," "On the Beach," "No Truce with Kings," "Shadow on the Hearth" ...

The Blues: The Devil You Know Knows You Better

             Amazon.com likes to think it knows me better than I know myself. I came to this realization the other day, when I logged on to buy a book authored by my friend, Jason Korolenko. I hit “Buy Now With 1-Click” and – ZOOM! – Jason’s book was on my Kindle, ready for me to read.
            Meanwhile, Amazon.com was busily offering me other things to buy based on past purchases and my “wish list.” Books by authors I like, books with similar themes and sub-genres, sequels to books, musical instruments (I bought my wife a banjo for our third wedding anniversary), and audio-recording gear: Amazon want me to have access to it all. It knows me. It loves me.

But does it know too much?