Not tonight, darling. I have to finish this John Vanbrugh play. And, uh, I have a headache
I imagine that I’m not the only one that carries around up to half a dozen books with them everywhere they go, at all times. I really hate having any kind of down time with nothing to read. Doctor’s office, in line at Walgreens, on my way to sell books at the Strand, less exciting moments in foreign movies I’m watching, or for when my lady friend is watching Top Chef. Whatever. One of the few I was lugging along on the train today—Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (which is pretty great so far, fyi)—had an interesting passage that got me to thinking about the previously unconsidered victims of my solipsistic and obsessive habits.
“You must have brought something. Books? I never saw you without a green bag of books.” To her mother she says, “He reads everywhere—in the subway, between the acts at plays, at intermissions in Symphony Hall, on picnics, on dates.”
This speech conveys considerable information to Aunt Emily. She watches Sid’s eyes close in mock agony, while a really very engaging smile takes over from the sheepishness on his face. “Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind. Everybody’s read ten times more than I have.”
“What did you bring?” Charity asks. “Restoration dramas?”
“I’m taking a rest from those. I’ve just got some hole-fillers. Middlemarch, The Idiot, things like that, novels I should have read but haven’t.”
When is it okay to bring along books, and when is it not? Dinner parties? The bar? Bar Mitzvahs? Sporting events? Sporting events where your team sucks and them losing is a foregone conclusion but you still want to tacitly show your admittedly wavering support? Please advise.
Tags: Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner
i have a similar compulsion…. i read magazines everywhere i go (ones in doctors’ offices, etc,…)…and i have my Ipod which has recorded bits of poems, fiction, essays, etc…. so, for example, when i’m at the ballet with my wife i can be somewhere else….
p.s. i like iron chef (especially when it’s dubbed into spanish….)
i have a similar compulsion…. i read magazines everywhere i go (ones in doctors’ offices, etc,…)…and i have my Ipod which has recorded bits of poems, fiction, essays, etc…. so, for example, when i’m at the ballet with my wife i can be somewhere else….
p.s. i like iron chef (especially when it’s dubbed into spanish….)
I have five books in front of me right now as I house sit that I’ve been alternating between: Malloy, Varieties of Disturbance, 60 Stories, Part of the World; & a lent Remains of the Day–that I promised to get in my head. Last night it was around 3am and I had to walk home even though I was going to come back and I thought: What if I get mugged or chased? I decided to take two books home that I might read before sleeping even though I didn’t and left the rest so that all five wouldn’t get lost if I got attacked. My purse was a secondary thought. And then my life. I found five dollars on the way home.
I have five books in front of me right now as I house sit that I’ve been alternating between: Malloy, Varieties of Disturbance, 60 Stories, Part of the World; & a lent Remains of the Day–that I promised to get in my head. Last night it was around 3am and I had to walk home even though I was going to come back and I thought: What if I get mugged or chased? I decided to take two books home that I might read before sleeping even though I didn’t and left the rest so that all five wouldn’t get lost if I got attacked. My purse was a secondary thought. And then my life. I found five dollars on the way home.
i wouldn’t suggest reading too much at work. my manager just came down on me about that the other day.
Not that I thought they’d take my books necessarily. I just thought I’d have to abandon them running after all the kung fu, and that made me sad before anything even happened.
i wouldn’t suggest reading too much at work. my manager just came down on me about that the other day.
Not that I thought they’d take my books necessarily. I just thought I’d have to abandon them running after all the kung fu, and that made me sad before anything even happened.
My dad brings novels to church and to funerals. People consider this rude.
My dad brings novels to church and to funerals. People consider this rude.
When is it okay to bring along manuscripts?
When is it okay to bring along manuscripts?
I used to train tankers unload as my well-paid job and I read novels all day and nothing exploded.
I used to train tankers unload as my well-paid job and I read novels all day and nothing exploded.
Bosses need to get lost.
You might have been able to use a satchel full of books as a sweet weapon though. More cudgeling weight.
Your dad is awesome.
Damn, you make a good point, Drew.
Damn, you make a good point, Drew.
i remember the last year i went to yom kippur services i sat next to my grandmother, and i read naked lunch behind the siddur or whatever. my grandmother kept going “oo” and shaking her head, and i kept saying “it’s fine.”
i remember the last year i went to yom kippur services i sat next to my grandmother, and i read naked lunch behind the siddur or whatever. my grandmother kept going “oo” and shaking her head, and i kept saying “it’s fine.”
i was just on the street car reading a story in dennis cooper’s Wrong, which has sort of a big font and i’m almost positive the 60 year old woman sitting next to me was reading along…
i was just on the street car reading a story in dennis cooper’s Wrong, which has sort of a big font and i’m almost positive the 60 year old woman sitting next to me was reading along…
Some article in the paper recently about people and bikes had this lady reading a hardback across the handlebars of her cruiser while riding. Commitment.
Some article in the paper recently about people and bikes had this lady reading a hardback across the handlebars of her cruiser while riding. Commitment.
jobs, too.
jobs, too.
*Major* props for using “The Great Hunt” as the pic for this post.
*Major* props for using “The Great Hunt” as the pic for this post.
There is no place you can’t read. No place! I love the people that come to movies by themselves and read before the movie starts; once a guy in front of me got so into his book that he totally forgot to watch the movie–he was just reading his book in the dark the whole time. It was kind of amazing.
I also saw a guy driving his car, reading a book, and smoking a pipe. No lie. Okay, so maybe you shouldn’t read when you’re driving. I was right next to him and I felt really nervous about it.
There is no place you can’t read. No place! I love the people that come to movies by themselves and read before the movie starts; once a guy in front of me got so into his book that he totally forgot to watch the movie–he was just reading his book in the dark the whole time. It was kind of amazing.
I also saw a guy driving his car, reading a book, and smoking a pipe. No lie. Okay, so maybe you shouldn’t read when you’re driving. I was right next to him and I felt really nervous about it.