We made a quick trip to the mountains today. There is still about a foot of snow on the ground, and the forecast is calling for more this week.
Recent readings and reports: I finished Lorrie Moore's "Self Help" a few weeks ago, and found this collection of short stories to be quite satisfying. She successfully takes on the narrative voice of second person in six of the nine stories in this collection. Try writing in second person sometime if you want a challenge. I particularly liked "How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)."
From there I moved on to Elizabeth Gilbert's "Stern Men." Eh. I read half of it, and it sat on my table unread for about a week. When I picked it up and realized I couldn't remember any of the main characters' names, the death knell rang for this book, and I took it back to the library unfinished. You will remember Gilbert is the author of the gargantuan best-seller, "Eat, Pray, Love." I am reminded of my clever daughter Alison's quip: a memoir about the life of a praying mantis might be entitled: "Pray, Love, Eat." I haven't started EPL yet, but I'm thinking I would enjoy my daughter's version of the book better than Gilbert's.
I just finished a short little book by Steven Pressfield, entitled "The War of Art." The subtitle of the book is "Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles." Sort of corny sounding, but Pressfield is an ex-Marine, and he is not pussy-footing around with this muse thing. To sum the book up: sit your butt in the chair and do whatever it is you think you have a passion for. Quit talking about it. Quit going to workshops. Quit eliciting sympathy from your friends about how you don't have the time, or you don't have the talent, or the moon isn't in the right phase. Shut up and do it. So now you don't have to read Pressfield's book, though I encourage you to anyway. Otherwise you might miss some great quotes and insights, like this one: "Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator or aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death."
