A Meme Time For Everything
My very first meme here on the blog, inspired by Chicago writer David Schwartz:
One book that changed your life:
The Hours, by Michael Cunningham. I read it in Dublin, in a day, and discovered that men could write about women, of women, in their voices, and more than successfully. It stunned me right out of my trepidation and naivete, and the next day for one of our workshop assignments I basically riffed on the book, exploring a Mrs. Kitchen who lived in small town Iowa, in the desolation of her life: the better part of her youth behind, her marriage perfunctory, her children alien to her and it was like discovering a new world for me. The Hours ultimately set me down the course I'm on now, straddling this line between 'literary' fiction and more or less science fiction (something Cunningham did himself in his follow-up, Specimen Days).
One book that you've read more than once:
The Hours, for one, but also A Confederacy of Dunces. I very rarely read books over; it's the same with movies or TV, though. I can't abide reruns. I do lots of spot reading/watching though, sections or segments I go back to from time to time like I'm nibbling on it or something. The only thing I repeat over and over is music.
One book you'd want on a desert island:
The Lord of the Flies.
One book that made you laugh:
Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson.
One book that made you cry:
I could be glib and say one that I wrote, since it made my brain hurt so bad, but there are lots of books that made me cry, including some I've mentioned already.
One book that you wish had been written:
Dignity: How To Maintain It In 3 Easy Steps
One book that you wish had never been written:
This is kind of like saying someone should have never been born.
One book you're currently reading:
The Art of Hunger, by Paul Auster, and Pincher Martin, by Golding, which I just discovered.
One book you've been meaning to read:
I have a mountain of books in Waterloo I've been meaning to read.
One book that changed your life:
The Hours, by Michael Cunningham. I read it in Dublin, in a day, and discovered that men could write about women, of women, in their voices, and more than successfully. It stunned me right out of my trepidation and naivete, and the next day for one of our workshop assignments I basically riffed on the book, exploring a Mrs. Kitchen who lived in small town Iowa, in the desolation of her life: the better part of her youth behind, her marriage perfunctory, her children alien to her and it was like discovering a new world for me. The Hours ultimately set me down the course I'm on now, straddling this line between 'literary' fiction and more or less science fiction (something Cunningham did himself in his follow-up, Specimen Days).
One book that you've read more than once:
The Hours, for one, but also A Confederacy of Dunces. I very rarely read books over; it's the same with movies or TV, though. I can't abide reruns. I do lots of spot reading/watching though, sections or segments I go back to from time to time like I'm nibbling on it or something. The only thing I repeat over and over is music.
One book you'd want on a desert island:
The Lord of the Flies.
One book that made you laugh:
Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson.
One book that made you cry:
I could be glib and say one that I wrote, since it made my brain hurt so bad, but there are lots of books that made me cry, including some I've mentioned already.
One book that you wish had been written:
Dignity: How To Maintain It In 3 Easy Steps
One book that you wish had never been written:
This is kind of like saying someone should have never been born.
One book you're currently reading:
The Art of Hunger, by Paul Auster, and Pincher Martin, by Golding, which I just discovered.
One book you've been meaning to read:
I have a mountain of books in Waterloo I've been meaning to read.
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