A recent challenge made the rounds on a few literary blogs: list seven things about yourself as a reader. Alright, I'm game ... and perhaps you are too. Post a reply on this thread and let us know seven things about your reading life.
1. My mother was a librarian and so was my grandmother. Our home shelves weren't lined with books, but we did have cardboard boxes full of them that we would borrow and return from the library every two weeks. I was so fortunate to have a parent who was a never-ending source of book ideas.
2. David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest blew my mind. It was not strong on plot, and the ending was unsatisfying, but the overwhelming intelligence, imagination, and effort on every page left me in awe. And while his essays continue to be among the best published, I have not enjoyed any of his subsequent fiction. His latest stories feels more and more like writing exercises than inspired work. And don't make the mistake a friend of mine did; he heard I loved DFW, picked up his latest, Oblivion and, halfway through, couldn't figure out why the plot meandered so much. Because it's a book of unrelated short stories, Dave.
3. There was a two-year period after college where I didn't read a book. I was burned out from school, busy (and depressed) with my new business career (I was a management consultant ...ha!), and didn't feel motivated. I sat down on New Years Day in 1992 and realized that I needed to make a change, that this was not the life I wanted. I still needed my job, so I compensated by spending just about every Saturday of that year in the Boston Public Library, working my way through authors. It was a great year.
4. My dirty secret and, I imagine, the dirty secret of every publisher, editor, and bookstore owner: I don't have time to read all fifty books we cover in each issue. I'm always amused when former colleagues find out what I'm doing and say, "wow, so you just sit around and read books all day!" If only that were the case! Yes, I read ... and I'm sure read more than most. But read everything? Couldn't do it.
5. I know that I'm too stressed when I'm reading more nonfiction than fiction. If I'm fully focused on non-fiction, it means I'm in one of those "Every moment of my life must be measurably productive! Acquiring new knowledge and facts means I'm clearly accomplishing something!" So every once in a while I step back, look at my reading pile, and weed out nonfiction and work fiction back in. Relax, Jon ... you're allowed to enjoy your free time.
6. Genre fiction: there have been times in my reading life when I'm DONE with suburban angst/modern ennui novels. So I turn to genre fiction as an antidote. For me, science fiction has been great (well, good science fiction ... there is so much dreck out there). Crime ... I just can't do it. Sure, it reads fast and painless ... but I just don't find myself caring. I keep trying though.
7. I used to imagine that I was open to any experience, any topic -- that it was good for me to expose myself to everything. I still believe that, I do. But since I had children, it's harder for me to read tragic stories. I know that Cormac McCarthy's The Road wasn't light reading for anyone, but reading a story about a father trying to take care of his son under impossible circumstances ... boy, that was a tough one. Yep, it was a good, fine book, but I couldn't wait for it to be over. Does that ever get better?
Wait, I have much more things to say than seven! Ah well, I'm sure another list challenge will come along. Anyone else willing to share?
Jon
Editor & Publisher