January 2009
9 posts
Fun Reading
There’s a lot to criticize in the memoir genre, but for a willfully naïve moment, let’s commend the dual courage to write a book about one’s past. The first courage is obvious: You have to reveal your secrets. The second is faith in your narrative.
We all have fun anecdotes about running into someone on the train or falling in love, but most of life doesn’t fit into a storyline. It’s easy to...
9/12
So I’m rereading Netherland, Joseph O’Neill’s “post-9/11” masterpiece. I agree with the noun, but I’m not sure I understand the adjective. As Dwight Garner pointed out, all books are post-9/11 now. Indeed the attacks happened more than seven years ago, and a lot of books have been written since.
Where was I that fateful Tuesday? I was in my first weeks of college, lacking friends and...
You Know That Book Everyone Was Talking About...
I can generally how I feel about a book about whether I look forward to the subway ride. While reading Bonfire of the Vanities, I considered playing Pong on the train.
That’s harsh, but fans of Bonfire of the Vanities must agree that the book is misanthropic and too long. The book picked up in the end, but there were characters and descriptions of 80s couture I could do without. That’s not...
I Dream of Obama ...
The other night I had a dream with Barack Obama. We talked politics for a bit, and then he asked how my bf was doing. So considerate! What do you think it means that in my subconscious Barack Obama cares about my personal life?
Anyway, if you can’t get enough of Obama, here are some retro block quotes about him.
When Living In The City Is Hard
When a homeless woman enters your subway car asking for money: There was a fire, which destroyed everything, everything and she her husband, who is blind, worked so hard for, and now they have three kids to support, but no money—the fire destroyed everything—and she prays for you, even you, who got on the subway to go home to an apartment that hasn’t burned down and maybe read twenty pages of a...
And on a Personal Note ...
Today I went to the gynecologist. Covering the metal stirrups were NuvaRing cozies. In case you don’t know, NuvaRing does the exact same thing as any other vaginal ring, but it’s a name brand, so it’s more expensive.
When I asked the physician’s assistant about it, she said, “They’ll advertise anywhere.” No medical friend, they’ll sell advertising...
Some of My Dreams Are Superficial Too
In twenty days, I leave urban Brooklyn for rural Vermont, where I will be placed in a snowed-in isolation chamber to work on Raronauer’ed, The Novel (working title) for the month of February. There’s some hope I will finish the book during this month. After that, the hope continues that I will immediately sell the publishing and film rights and then not have to worry about money or bugs for...
Quick Question
How many times is the New York Times going to pretend that mustaches are coming back and praise Michelle Obama’s personal style? [link,
It’s Another Beautiful Day in the Berkshires
From 8 through 13, I went to Camp Taconic. Many former campers cite this experience as one of the best in their lives. There were certainly the facilities to make it so. But despite all the water-skiing and lit tennis courts, I was miserable each well-planned summer.
When I was 12, through a series of complicated and uninteresting events, two bunk mates of mine repeatedly asked me to move...