a) I thought XO read really well--not sure how to say this, but when you read the published work of writers you first knew as students, sometimes you're happy they got published but the work still feels like apprentice work, but in other cases you find yourself absorbed in it, forgetting that earlier context, reading it as you would the work of a peer, which is the case with XO. b) I don't know if we ever got into this, but I'm a Massachusetts boy [Lunenburg]--I ended up spending the bulk of my life in the West [MT, WA] but feel increasingly attached to my MA roots in old age, and lately I keep running into others with a MA tie of one sort or another. c) Of course I endorse your reading of the classics--a nicely baggy term, very flexible . . . if you'd like to get into a dialog about what those classics might be, I'd be happy to discuss/suggest/help vet . . . if you're interested you can back channel me: fallboy52@hotmail.com. d) It's such a bummer that we outlive our cats!
Hi David, a) Thank you for the kind words about XO! Absorption was one of my big goals for the book and I'm glad I evoked it for you. b) And I do remember talking with you about Massachusetts during residencies -- Lunenberg rings a bell for sure. c) thanks for the offer about the classics: I very well may take you up on it! I have stack to start (which will be in a post soon) but depending on how quickly I read, I may need to source more. I'm also thinking about "classics" across genre and outside the bounds of literature... d) it truly a bummer to outlive our cats!
a) I thought XO read really well--not sure how to say this, but when you read the published work of writers you first knew as students, sometimes you're happy they got published but the work still feels like apprentice work, but in other cases you find yourself absorbed in it, forgetting that earlier context, reading it as you would the work of a peer, which is the case with XO. b) I don't know if we ever got into this, but I'm a Massachusetts boy [Lunenburg]--I ended up spending the bulk of my life in the West [MT, WA] but feel increasingly attached to my MA roots in old age, and lately I keep running into others with a MA tie of one sort or another. c) Of course I endorse your reading of the classics--a nicely baggy term, very flexible . . . if you'd like to get into a dialog about what those classics might be, I'd be happy to discuss/suggest/help vet . . . if you're interested you can back channel me: fallboy52@hotmail.com. d) It's such a bummer that we outlive our cats!
Hi David, a) Thank you for the kind words about XO! Absorption was one of my big goals for the book and I'm glad I evoked it for you. b) And I do remember talking with you about Massachusetts during residencies -- Lunenberg rings a bell for sure. c) thanks for the offer about the classics: I very well may take you up on it! I have stack to start (which will be in a post soon) but depending on how quickly I read, I may need to source more. I'm also thinking about "classics" across genre and outside the bounds of literature... d) it truly a bummer to outlive our cats!
Loved your Art Monsters review; I'm looking forward to reading that one!
Thank you! I think you'll really like it!