A Nation Mourns

I ask everyone who reads this to take a moment of their day and reflect on the passing of one of America's greatest citizens of this - or any - generation: Skidboot.

Please visit his site and leave your thoughts in the guestbook.

Godspeed, Old Friend.

This Post Does Not Have a Controversial, Potentially Offensive Title [Any Longer]

THE 351 BOOKS OF IRMA ARCURI by David Bajo

Viking; editor Josh Kendall. Edited manuscript due June 2007.

David Bajo’s debut novel, THE 351 BOOKS OF IRMA ARCURI, is a metaphysical, literary mystery – THE SHADOW OF THE WIND written by Milan Kundera or John Fowles. Bajo’s story will appeal internationally to people who love books – he subtly (and not-so-subtly) references Borges, Camus, and Cervantes among others to great effect. Set in contemporary Philadelphia, Madrid, Barcelona and Seville, the novel tells the story of the erotically charged relationship between Irma Arcuri, a book conservator, and Philip Masryk, a mathematician. By the novel’s opening, Irma has disappeared and left her collection of 351 exquisitely bound books to Philip. In an attempt to find her he begins to read through her library, reshaping his life to explore the collection and search for Irma. He gradually discovers that not only has Irma manipulated the books, she has also customized his life to a much greater degree than he ever realized; and she may be very well designing it still: Philip’s friends, ex-wives, stepchildren, and a woman who reminds him of a recurring character in the collection all appear driven in some way by the missing Irma.

David Bajo grew up the tenth of fifteen children on a California ranch overlooking the Pacific and the Tijuana bullring. He earned a masters degree in English literature at the University of Michigan and received an MFA in fiction from UC-Irvine. He worked as a journalist in San Diego covering border culture, Mexican wrestler movies, music and drama. He also translates Spanish and Portuguese sociology, anthropology and physics. David has taught writing at UC-Irvine, Boise State and presently teaches at the University of South Carolina. He's published stories in The Sun, Zyzzyva and The Cimarron Review.

UK: Viking. Translation: Regal Literary. Sold to Holland (Signature), Italy (Sperling & Kupfer), Taiwan (Crown), Korea (Munhakdongne)

Film rights: Regal Literary

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I want to see either Sidney Greenstreet or Griffin Dunne as Phillip the mathematician and ... hmm ... Scarlett Johanssen or America Ferrera as Irma. And Dave should have a very small but notable part that will win him an honorary Oscar for best Alfred Hitchcock-like insertion of artist into film.

Good [dog] news

Dog's panels came back normal, so she is over whatever toxin she ingested. I couldn't be happier. Does this mean I can stop feeding her baked chicken?

Cruelest Month

Kurt Vonnegut just passed away.

On an earlier post, I mentioned how a friend sent me a stack of Vonnegut paperbacks when I was about 18, and it helped me kick-start me reading as a young adult. I went through a period of probably 6 or 7 years when I did not read much [about the time I began playing guitar.]

These books contained more than a few things that informed how I saw the world.

One, which I believe is contained in an introduction to one of his books [often the very best parts of Vonnegut's books] described how his Uncle Alex would attend AA meetings even though he had no verifiable problem with alcohol. But he attended for the sense of community that was otherwise lacking in his life [and in Vonnegut's estimation, in modern society, generally. Loneliness is a huge theme in Vonnegut's work.]

Secondly, there is a beautiful quote that I will always remember from "Rosewater" about how, in every sizable transaction, when large amounts of wealth are transferred, there is a moment - a magical instant - where some of the gilt rubs off on the lawyers' hands:

“In every big transaction,” said Leech, “there is a magic moment during which a man has surrendered a treasure, and during which the man who is due to receive it has not yet done so. An alert lawyer will make that moment his own, possessing the treasure for a magic microsecond, taking a little of it, passing it on. If the man who is to receive the treasure is unused to wealth, has an inferiority complex and shapeless feelings of guilt, as most people do, the lawyer can often take as much as half the bundle, and still receive the recipient’s blubbering thanks.”

Many of my views of the world - the inexorable loneliness of modern society, the absurdity of human intention, how people deal with fate [Deadeye Dick, for example], so many of these ideas were shaped and nurtured by my love of Vonnegut.

I'm going to go get "Palm Sunday" and some of his essays tomorrow. I hope I'm not alone.

Freeway Is A Dog

My mom had a serious stroke that left her paralyzed and aphasic in mid-1984. Her recovery, such as it was [the paralysis and aphasia stayed with her until she died in 1998 at age 62], was difficult on the family.

But during these times, I learned that even in tough times there is humor.

I used to drive my mom to her doctor's visits pretty frequently in that era, and once while we were coming back from the appointment, I told her that we were "getting on the freeway." To which she replied "Freeway is a dog." Puzzled, I said something to the effect that "yes, traffic sure can be a dog sometimes ..." And again she stated "No, freeway is a dog!" And I mumbled something about the traffic, and she again came back with "No, freeway is a dog ... on the TV." At this point I was seriously confused.

Later on, while we were watching Hart to Hart, I discovered what my mom was referring to. Freeway is the name of the dog on the show. Freeway, indeed, is a dog.

Dog Update

Thanks for the cards & letters regarding the dog.

She has been on Baytril and Metronidazole for a week, and a chicken and rice diet [which she loves, of course.] And she has gotten a lot better, more energy and back to her "barking all the time" usual mode. So that is encouraging. But until I get her blood work done next week, I won't stop worrying.

So the good news is that she is energetic, wet nose, and eating well.

I'll post late next week when I get her blood work results.