Impossible structures

I bought two novels by Ismail Kadare from Barnes & Noble over the weekend, they were impulse purchases, as most of my purchases tend to be, bought along with the current Saint Anne’s Review that’s got a story by the lady who moderates my workshop—but I am now thinking of returning them, not because I [...]

Befuddled by Friends, Lovers, Chocolate

Have agreed to proofread a new novel by the writer I’d vowed to forever avoid, ever since I’d proofread one of his myriad novels in a series years ago.
I need the money.
Maybe I’m wrong to have disliked his other novel so much. Maybe I’m just not his audience, not when review after review of the [...]

Back to work

After nearly a month and a half of no proofreading due to another self-imposed writing spree, I sent out a query to my contacts about upcoming jobs. Sadly, not much fiction is being done right now (or perhaps my contacts are shunning me!), but one contact finally proposed a novel. I don’t have the luxury [...]

“The Death of the Author”

I hesitated some time, not knowing whether to open these memoirs at the beginning or at the end, i. e., whether to start with my birth or with my death. Granted, the usual practice is to begin with one’s birth, but two considerations led me to adopt a different method: the first is that, properly [...]

“Inaesthetic stains”

. . . No one could ever accuse death of having left behind in the world some forgotten old man of no particular merit and for no apparent reason merely for him to grow ever older. We all know that, however long old people may last, their hour will always come. Not a day passes [...]

A writer’s first sentence

The thesis behind Natural Novel, the debut novel by Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov:
My immodest desire is to mold a novel of beginnings, a novel that keeps starting, promising something, reaching page 17 and then starting again. The idea or nucleus of this kind of novel can be found in classical philosophy, and mostly in the [...]

Bumbling around in the heat

Yesterday
Wrote early in morning at new writing space. ** Found out I’ll be attending a show of The Colbert Report in August, woo! ** Went to dance class after work, sweated like a mofo to Kelly Clarkson (ungh), but at least the lady who usually jazzes it up to nth degree in front row wasn’t there to [...]

A mother’s echo

A week ago: At the last minute came another chance to do a reading of somebody else’s work. So: took it. Read about two pages of Ma Jian’s ”Where Are You Running To?” from the anthology of international fiction by Wordswithoutborders.org. And was satisfied at the end. Not with the reading itself—hadn’t had time to practice aloud, as had decided only [...]

Newly acquired first sentences

Sartorialist, I hope I look as good as this lady if you and I ever run into each other in the street.
*
Meanwhile, I’ve added new fiction openers to my Shelf from books that I bought or pilfered from work in the last month: Mariama Bâ, Thomas Bernhard, Roberto Bolaño, Péter Esterházy, Gabriel Josipovici, Georges Perec, Laura Restrepo, and [...]

“An interesting kind of madness”

QUESTION: How did you ever dream up Pierre Menard, the author of the Quixote?
BORGES: I had undergone an operation, and I didn’t know whether I could go on writing. Then I said to myself, if I attempt a short critical essay and fail, then I’ll know there’s no hope left for me. If I’d attempted [...]

Varieties of Lydia Davis

A friend said that she felt Lydia Davis was too bitter a writer for her taste, but I think that’s exactly why I’m drawn to this lady and drink in every word of her neurotically sharp questions and observations. So note and celebrate: Her new collection is due out in May! If you don’t know her work, [...]

It was all just a dream . . .

A few years ago J and I watched three films* in the space of about a week, each of which ended eerily on the following note: It was all just a dream. I had objected to the transparency of two of these films, and felt pacified by the third for its pulling back from that direction at the last minute. And [...]

My Shelf keeps growing

Well, actually my shelf hasn’t been growing for the last fifteen years, but at least I can add a little bit to my Shelf here. So, on to first sentences by François Cheng, Vladimir Makanin, Javier Marías, and Flann O’Brien, as well as more from Pierre Michon.
Have a warm, eventful weekend.

New sentences; writers’ desks; and how to read a book

First sentences from Witold Gombrowicz and Margeurite Yourcenar have been added to my Shelf, as well as a couple of pieces from Franz Kafka’s and Robert Walser’s collections of short prose writings.
My desk at home has been moved to another corner of the room and tidied up. The pile of books to the left are [...]

Take the Bait

I had started David Albahari’s Bait sometime last summer and finally finished it yesterday afternoon on the subway. As I had about five more stops to go, what else could I do but start reading from the beginning of the story again? It’s only a slim 117 pages, but I kept putting it down because the [...]