June 8th, 2010 / 8:26 pm
Word Spaces

The Bather

Here’s me in the tub, circa 1999, reading Infinite Jest to Benji. Thanks to our third roommate, Craig, for sending me the photo.

Except for submissions, I read almost exclusively in the bathtub. I’ll even take a bath in the middle of the day so I can get some reading done. I think it just works best for me ergonomically. What about you?

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84 Comments

  1. Hank

      I read on the toilet, but I can’t read anything complex or difficult on the toilet. Tao Lin makes good toilet reading and that’s not saying anything against Tao Lin.

  2. zusya17

      i thought about whether or not to post this in this thread, you known, in accordance with the fact that i consider myself a nice person. but then i thought: what the hell. i often struggle with another fact as well: that satire isn’t always for everyone.

  3. mimi

      THAT is great!
      I just got home from voting. I have a sticker to prove it. And now I’m surfing.
      PS -I never got to thank you properly for “The Voyage of the Mimi” info because HTMLGIANT went all wonky and I couldn’t comment for like a whole day, so, now, zu, THANK YOU for all that and for being so nice!
      “in accordance” ha ha ha

  4. Sean

      First thing benji has great calves. He’s a biker or runner.

      Second I love to read in the bath. That’s godly. I even read in the shower.

      Thirdly ander monson has a good bath essay in neck deep.

  5. marshall

      Cute picture.

  6. Mike Meginnis

      Man I hate baths. Can’t think in the morning without a shower. Pretty sure I would fall asleep and drown if I tried to bathe.

      I also drop books a lot. (Shaky hands.) Wouldn’t end well.

  7. Shannon

      I always read in the bath. I have one book specifically for that, one next to the bed and usually one that goes in my purse for commuting.

  8. Justin

      the only think i read in the bath is palms

  9. Rebecca Loudon

      I am a devoted bath reader and recently dropped Blake Butler’s book in the drink where it turned very dark my water and the book. I practice my violin in the bath as well not with my violin but I take the music in with me and read it and practice it in my head and once I dropped an entire book of Bach sonatas and partitas in the the water the day before an audition and had to dry it with my hair dryer so all the notes were and are forever wavy. Also the pages turned blue because I had been putting my fingerings in with a pen.

  10. Justin

      think palms

  11. Kevin

      Just read Harry Mathew’s The Conversions pretty much entirely on the subway. People singing “Afternoon Delight” killed my Barry Hannah game today, though. So it’s a mixed bag.

  12. demi-puppet

      Baths make me itch. I do not let my books enter the bathroom. Just seems like asking for trouble.

  13. demi-puppet

      I’m kinda gross in that I think/write/read best in the morning pre-shower. Showering gives me that “OK, entering the real world now” feeling.

  14. Add

      I think you are Jean-Paul Marat.

  15. Amber

      I’m with you, Mike. No baths here. I like to read in bed best. In fact, I could probably live the rest of my life in my bed and be just fine. You know the thing when you were little and sometimes you pretended the bed or the couch was a desert island and you couldn’t leave it because of the sharks? And so you piled all your toys and books and Game Boy and stuff onto the bed all around you, and maybe some cookies? I still do that, sometimes.

  16. jereme

      lol, gena just disturbed me from my writing session to show me this picture. and all i have to say is do you suck dick much?

      hahahaha

  17. elizabeth ellen

      adorable. i wish more people read to me in the tub.

  18. Hank

      I read on the toilet, but I can’t read anything complex or difficult on the toilet. Tao Lin makes good toilet reading and that’s not saying anything against Tao Lin.

  19. Lily Hoang

      I read and write in the bath. The only time I don’t write between 7-9am is in the bathtub. Also, books in the bath are the best, though sometimes it’s hard to navigate note-taking.

  20. mimi

      THAT is great!
      I just got home from voting. I have a sticker to prove it. And now I’m surfing.
      PS -I never got to thank you properly for “The Voyage of the Mimi” info because HTMLGIANT went all wonky and I couldn’t comment for like a whole day, so, now, zu, THANK YOU for all that and for being so nice!
      “in accordance” ha ha ha

  21. postitbreakup

      wow

  22. Sean

      First thing benji has great calves. He’s a biker or runner.

      Second I love to read in the bath. That’s godly. I even read in the shower.

      Thirdly ander monson has a good bath essay in neck deep.

  23. zusya

      i still that PBS show’s damned theme song in my head every once in a while… the comment wonkiest happens to me too. i put some post with chinese characters the other day and it got filtered/deleted, dunno which.

      does your sticker say: “yo voté”? that’s what mine said last time.

  24. zusya

      d’oh, typorrata: “still get that” … “the comment wonkiness” … “put some post up”

  25. marshall

      classic jereme

  26. Guest

      Cute picture.

  27. postitbreakup

      i’m new, but– am i supposed to ignore how hot that guy is and find some literary reason to discuss this? uh, i’m working on getting through infinite jest, too, but that guy is infinite _______

  28. Shannon

      I always read in the bath. I have one book specifically for that, one next to the bed and usually one that goes in my purse for commuting.

  29. Tim Horvath

      Also big on the bath-reading with the occasional foray into marginalia. My theory is that it has something to do with immersion. That sounds like a pisspoor pun and nothing more, but I mean it sincerely. We crave immersion; reading literature is the mind reminding the body of that, bathing is the body reminding the mind. Or something along those lines.

  30. Justin

      the only think i read in the bath is palms

  31. Rebecca Loudon

      I am a devoted bath reader and recently dropped Blake Butler’s book in the drink where it turned very dark my water and the book. I practice my violin in the bath as well not with my violin but I take the music in with me and read it and practice it in my head and once I dropped an entire book of Bach sonatas and partitas in the the water the day before an audition and had to dry it with my hair dryer so all the notes were and are forever wavy. Also the pages turned blue because I had been putting my fingerings in with a pen.

  32. Justin

      think palms

  33. Kevin

      Just read Harry Mathew’s The Conversions pretty much entirely on the subway. People singing “Afternoon Delight” killed my Barry Hannah game today, though. So it’s a mixed bag.

  34. demi-puppet

      Baths make me itch. I do not let my books enter the bathroom. Just seems like asking for trouble.

  35. demi-puppet

      I’m kinda gross in that I think/write/read best in the morning pre-shower. Showering gives me that “OK, entering the real world now” feeling.

  36. Add

      I think you are Jean-Paul Marat.

  37. Amber

      I’m with you, Mike. No baths here. I like to read in bed best. In fact, I could probably live the rest of my life in my bed and be just fine. You know the thing when you were little and sometimes you pretended the bed or the couch was a desert island and you couldn’t leave it because of the sharks? And so you piled all your toys and books and Game Boy and stuff onto the bed all around you, and maybe some cookies? I still do that, sometimes.

  38. oh noes!

      That book’s not tall enough to be Infinite Jest.

  39. jereme

      lol, gena just disturbed me from my writing session to show me this picture. and all i have to say is do you suck dick much?

      hahahaha

  40. elizabeth ellen

      adorable. i wish more people read to me in the tub.

  41. lily hoang

      I read and write in the bath. The only time I don’t write between 7-9am is in the bathtub. Also, books in the bath are the best, though sometimes it’s hard to navigate note-taking.

  42. postitbreakup

      wow

  43. Guest

      classic jereme

  44. postitbreakup

      i’m new, but– am i supposed to ignore how hot that guy is and find some literary reason to discuss this? uh, i’m working on getting through infinite jest, too, but that guy is infinite _______

  45. Tim Horvath

      Also big on the bath-reading with the occasional foray into marginalia. My theory is that it has something to do with immersion. That sounds like a pisspoor pun and nothing more, but I mean it sincerely. We crave immersion; reading literature is the mind reminding the body of that, bathing is the body reminding the mind. Or something along those lines.

  46. samuel peter north

      me too. that’s one of the best games. the only problem is sometimes i associate the bed with reading and don’t sleep as well.

  47. samuel peter north

      “writing session” – the question, jereme, is do you?

  48. samuel peter north

      i will say i was shocked to get this far down the comment thread before you or someone else asked the question. ha ha

  49. zusya17

      hah: “stuck in my head”

      / would you believe i’m paid to edit?

  50. zusya17

      ;( … “the comment’s wonkiness”

  51. oh noes!

      That book’s not tall enough to be Infinite Jest.

  52. Pete Michael Smith

      A few weekends ago, I took the weekend to “Eartha Kitt”, meaning I recreated her role from Harriet the Spy and stayed in bed all weekend only getting up to pee. Books everywhere, sandwiches piled high. Bags of chips, and my god, the bedside hotplate. It was wonderful.

  53. A.C. Ford

      As a college student who has lived in some pretty run down places, I’ve yet to bathe in any home I’ve rented. The shower is the only option. But when I go home-home, and I always stay with my grandmother, who always makes me Poor-Boy Stew, I make it a point to take a bath before bed, and I always bring something to read. There are few things that make me as shiny inside.

  54. michael

      yeah. i only just comet’d my tub. maybe i’ll take a bath one of these days, but for now i still got the shanty town fear.

  55. Joseph Riippi

      In high school, at my parents’ house, i did the bulk of my reading (homework, mostly) after football or basketball practice in the hotbub out back. I remember reading Siddhartha in one soak. The pages are still wavy from the steam.

      Ever since, no reading while bathing. That’s not to say there aren’t ample NYkers and TimeOuts in the bathROOM, but none in the bathTUB.

  56. Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.

      Indie lit boy Tiger Beat.

  57. jesusangelgarcia

      I revise and brainstorm in the bath. It’s an excellent opportunity for my mind to relax and rove freely. The only problem is sometimes I can’t read the blurry pen marks on the page after I get out. I do like it hot.

      Book reading usually happens in bed, and not usually nekkid.

  58. mimi

      Funny, I understood everything you said. Maybe commenting here allows you some sloppy-non-edit catharsis?
      Where are you, Portugal?

  59. mimi

      No you’re not supposed to ignore it! Why do you think they posted it?
      Say anything you want. Run with it. They like that kind of stuff here, I think. I know I do.

      Those guys have good hair style.

  60. samuel peter north

      me too. that’s one of the best games. the only problem is sometimes i associate the bed with reading and don’t sleep as well.

  61. samuel peter north

      “writing session” – the question, jereme, is do you?

  62. samuel peter north

      i will say i was shocked to get this far down the comment thread before you or someone else asked the question. ha ha

  63. zach

      Best photo ever. Adam, you’re the Cousteau of poetry marketing.

  64. Tim

      Absolutely.

  65. Pete Michael Smith

      A few weekends ago, I took the weekend to “Eartha Kitt”, meaning I recreated her role from Harriet the Spy and stayed in bed all weekend only getting up to pee. Books everywhere, sandwiches piled high. Bags of chips, and my god, the bedside hotplate. It was wonderful.

  66. A.C. Ford

      As a college student who has lived in some pretty run down places, I’ve yet to bathe in any home I’ve rented. The shower is the only option. But when I go home-home, and I always stay with my grandmother, who always makes me Poor-Boy Stew, I make it a point to take a bath before bed, and I always bring something to read. There are few things that make me as shiny inside.

  67. A.C. Ford

      Yeah, comet can’t get the sin out

  68. michael

      yeah. i only just comet’d my tub. maybe i’ll take a bath one of these days, but for now i still got the shanty town fear.

  69. Joseph Riippi

      In high school, at my parents’ house, i did the bulk of my reading (homework, mostly) after football or basketball practice in the hotbub out back. I remember reading Siddhartha in one soak. The pages are still wavy from the steam.

      Ever since, no reading while bathing. That’s not to say there aren’t ample NYkers and TimeOuts in the bathROOM, but none in the bathTUB.

  70. Today I didn't even have to us

      Indie lit boy Tiger Beat.

  71. jesusangelgarcia

      I revise and brainstorm in the bath. It’s an excellent opportunity for my mind to relax and rove freely. The only problem is sometimes I can’t read the blurry pen marks on the page after I get out. I do like it hot.

      Book reading usually happens in bed, and not usually nekkid.

  72. mimi

      Funny, I understood everything you said. Maybe commenting here allows you some sloppy-non-edit catharsis?
      Where are you, Portugal?

  73. jereme

      do i suck dick much or have i tried it?

      i am not against it.

  74. mimi

      No you’re not supposed to ignore it! Why do you think they posted it?
      Say anything you want. Run with it. They like that kind of stuff here, I think. I know I do.

      Those guys have good hair style.

  75. zach

      Best photo ever. Adam, you’re the Cousteau of poetry marketing.

  76. samuel peter north

      (backing away) let’s just forget i asked

  77. Tim

      Absolutely.

  78. A.C. Ford

      Yeah, comet can’t get the sin out

  79. jereme

      do i suck dick much or have i tried it?

      i am not against it.

  80. Bambi A.

      Is this for real?? Or is it a jest.

      I read in parks or in the pool.

  81. samuel peter north

      (backing away) let’s just forget i asked

  82. Bambi A.

      Is this for real?? Or is it a jest.

      I read in parks or in the pool.

  83. adam strauss

      Wow: yummmmmmmmmmmmmmy picture–ya’ll are verrrrrrrrrry cute!

  84. adam strauss

      Wow: yummmmmmmmmmmmmmy picture–ya’ll are verrrrrrrrrry cute!