From an Art in America magazine (Jan 2012) sitting in my bathroom, I read “Being a writer is like being a piece of photographic paper. Everything makes an impression upon you, and you have to stop and take stock of what had the most impact. I almost can’t read anything without a pencil in my hand.” – Maggie Nelson
I almost can’t live without a pencil (and post-its) in my hand.
But writing is always competing with reading. Right now reading is winning. After a few days of my eyes wandering aimlessly and restlessly, I’ve picked up The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout. Very excited. Not only is it described as a “novel of shimmering strangeness” (yes! yes!) but the translator, Hans Konig recounts reading the galleys of this Dutch novel for the first time like this
“It was long ago, but I remember it like yesterday: the ship, a high wind as always blowing over the North Sea, and tears running down my face. That was one of the most beautiful, and saddest, stories I had ever read.”
I am also reading the gift of an ordinary day by Katrina Kenison, which was given to me for my birthday a year ago. I like it also.
I LOVE a good book recommendation.