Transit – It’s definitely not quite right to say that Transit picks up where Outline left off, because it definitely doesn’t. It IS interesting to try to decide what Transit picks up from if anything at all. Outline, if these books do connect the same narrative across multiple texts, was about a writer and various other voices in and around a literary event and conference. Now, this book is much more situated in real life. I say real life because conferences take on a kind […]
Winding Down
Operation Shylock – Philip Roth 4/5 Stars This is one of those books I got really excited about when I was like 20 and I bought or got ahold of and then never read. In fact, I remember sitting on my brother’s couch and reading one page and being like OH NO and not reading any more. I like Philip Roth a lot, warts and all. He’s ridiculous and writes a lot about maleness, but I am male and it sometimes connects with me. In […]
My Dinner With Ennui
Outline is a novel about writing and writers that seems rather thin on plot and strong on philosophical reflection. It reads more like an extended metaphor than a novel. The main character, Faye, is a writer who has flown from London to Athens to spend a week teaching a writing course. Starting before she even boards the plane and continuing through her last day in Athens, Faye encounters individuals who tell their stories without much provocation. This gives Faye and author Cusk an opportunity to […]