I’ve gotten really cool stuff in the mail the past few days! First up is a 7″ and a postcard from one of my favorite friends from far away, Zet! It’s really sweet of her to do this, because it was totally unexpected.

I’m glad she included a return address because I still owe her a package from when she was in LA for school. She sent me a couple of postcards, some pinback buttons and this! I’m really the worst at mailing stuff out at first, but when I get the hang of it, I promise you, I’m the funnest.

And then today, I woke up to this! I can’t believe it—a package from Visual Editions, one of my favorite publishers. They might be a bit newer than most people in the book business—they only have four books out—but their work is amazing. It’s really a visual understanding and representation of stories and words, especially in relation to the actual, physical space where these stories “happen”.

Anyway, the contents of the package I got were wrapped in discarded spreads of what looks to be their edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Because of the gorgeous neon pantone and the creamy-smooth paper, and also because I am a packrat, I’m keeping this, heh.

Inside: an advanced copy of their fourth book, Kapow! by Adam Thirlwell. I can’t believe it! I’m so excited to read it; I’ll probably put down Chad Harbach’s “The Art of Fielding” momentarily just so I can get into this right away. For more on the story, visit this VE blog post. For more photos of this truly gorgeous book, visit this other blog post.

You can pre-order the book here. I cannot recommend the quality of their products enough. If you recall, I raved about Jonathan Safran Foer’s Tree of Codes a while back.

I got a postcard from them, too. Two lovely ladies who sought to make “great looking stories.” How about that? :)

The post Surprises in the Mailbox appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

Since my last post here, I’ve finished reading three books on my Kindle, namely J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” (a review of which can be found here), Sara Zarr’s “Story of a Girl,” and Julian Barnes’ “The Sense of an Ending,” all of which I love to pieces. Funnily enough, my busy self has found time to read—funnily enough, on a Kindle—but I suppose it’s Internet activity that has suffered a decline. Good thing or bad thing, you decide!

So far, I’ve been successful with four January goals, the four being Get two big projects, Work six hours a day, five days a week, Save 50% of my paycheck, and Write down all expenses. Begin budgeting. Obviously have not been exercising. I thought I had a good motivation, but I guess that’s not enough. I’ll try again, though. January is still young and there is still a lot of fat to be lost.

2012 has been exciting, to say the least. I’ll be exhibiting some more works for a group show next week (I’ll post the details as soon as I can) and also next week, I’m taking a trip to the mountains! This is exciting because I’ve always wanted to go exploring up north and also because I’ve just read “The Hobbit,” which still makes my heart ache in numerous places but has also somehow planted this weird seed of adventure in me. Seeing a little part of the world from a mountaintop would be a great start; I can’t wait!

Speaking of traveling—while it looks to be a year that’s full of traveling for me—I came upon this gorgeous list from the New York Times, 45 Places to Go to in 2012, and obviously I can’t possibly go to all of these places, but it’s a great reminder of what kind of adventure could lie behind your door. My mountain is not on this list; in fact, only two places are. But, I feel like it’s a start.

I’ve always loved traveling, but I think my sense of exploration and discovery has somehow been dulled. I like seeing different cities, but when I’m on the plane, from way high up, I always wonder what it’d be like to get lost in something other than buildings and metal structures and monuments and seas of people. I’ve been watching a lot of Survivor‘s past seasons lately, and behind all the scheming and starving, it’s such a beautiful peek into places around the world that I don’t know how I would find myself lost in.

Maybe that’s a romanticism of the wilderness, because I know there are all sorts of threats unimaginable if I chose to coop myself up in cities. But there’s also satiated wonder and an unmatched awe in the God that created these places.

I’ve always said that I wanted to see the world, and lately I’ve been thinking about which parts I want to see. Which parts I would gladly be uncomfortable for. I’ve been thinking about taking risks a lot, and I’ve realized that sometimes the greatest payouts come from the greatest risks. I don’t mean to sound like a cliché and announce my newfound lifestyle of being a daredevil explorer with a constant need for an adrenaline fix. What I want to say is that when I say I want to see the world, I mean that I want to really see all of it. Not just the manicured lawns, or the smooth roads, or some local iteration of Starbucks and McDonald’s. I still want to cities, yes. I want to see art and culture and different sorts of places, but I want to see the earth that was before everything started becoming what it is now.

The world is so big. I suppose I’ve got to get moving.

The post THE ROAD GOES EVER ON. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

First of all, there’s Recovery, which is a project with Cat. It’s an idea that’s been brewing in her cute little noggin’ and I loved it so much, I asked if I could join in. The main thing is that we really want to create a good atmosphere for Philippine literature by reviewing as many as we can, as well as “recovering” them.

I know we’re not alone in thinking that Philippine graphic design—at least, in terms of books—needs a little sprucing up. We have a lot of plans for this little thing, and we’re so glad for the encouraging words and expressed interest in Recovery.

We are going to be using this Twitter account and this Facebook page for updates, so if this is the kind of thing you’re into, please join the fun.

I’m also slowly updating Book Report, which was my book blog. I think I honestly read more (and “better”) when I kept a log and attempted reviews. I’m not the most intellectual person, and I get swayed easily if a sentence sounds right, but I do love books, and I miss talking about them.

The latest entry is about my October reads, illustrated volumes by Craig Thompson and Sanjay Patel. I like both because they are culturally unfamiliar territories to me, so it was a nice kind of change from what I usually read. You can read it here, if you are interested.

Last, but not the least—Read Hard. Read Hard is a book club that Zet started. I offered to help out with moderating it, when she chose “Everything Is Illuminated” as the first book. (Hehe.) And the followers just skyrocketed until we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves. Truthfully, that was probably our only successful round. A possible revival is still in the works, but I’m hoping to get it started again. It really was a nice community of readers.

That’s it! I know that sounds like a lot, but I breathe books anyway (not like this lady does, though), so it doesn’t feel like too much work.

I hope you check these out, though, especially if you love books, and if you love talking about them.

The post FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

It’s kind of funny how I’ve never really been to these book fairs in recent years. I remember getting “The Screwtape Letters” in one of the ones held at Megatrade Hall when I was in grade school, but I’ve never went to one with the sole intention to just buy books. Sarie found this to be ridiculous (since I’m pretty much a book h0) so we went to the one this year!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were tons of books everywhere. Normally, I would be diligent to take better photos, but I don’t fare so well in crowded places. Plus, there were so many books to see. There’s a Php 20 entrance fee (Php 15, if you’re a student) but it’s ell worth it, if you’re in for some serious shopping.

There were all kinds of books, most at 20% off and up. I very nearly fainted, to be honest. Here are a few of the ones I got, but I didn’t end up getting “LAMB” since I’ve got a copy already. This one was really pretty and looked like the Bible, though. I always wanted to get it, but I figured I needed space for other books in my life.

In the super bargain bin, we found a funny book about a stuffed panda bear. Here is Tink giving Minty some toilet paper as they pondered their options for staying together.

(We were too cheap to buy it.)

Rad Roald Dahl editions! I quite like the “James and the Giant Peach” one. I used to watch that over and over, much to my sister’s dismay. She hated it, and I could never really figure out why.

In the middle of book shopping, I got a headache (because I’m totally a nerd like that) so Sarie and I went out for coffee. We sat at a free table at a Dunkin’ Donuts café, which I guess is supposed to make it classier, but there was this lady who claimed it was her table even though she didn’t save it or anything. We left for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, because I hate dealing with rude people.

We commenced book browsing, and behold! My book loot!

I’m pretty happy! The most expensive ones were “The Art Director’s Handbook of Professional Magazine Design” and “Creative Space,” which is a collection of creatives’ workspaces and homes. “Teen Film” was pretty expensive, too, but I love these things. While working on my thesis, I was pretty sad at the lack of these kinds of books (media studies) in our library. At least, the ones I needed.

And then the rest are just… kind of books I’ve always wanted to get.

I spent quite a bit of money on this book fair, but it’s O.K. since it only happens once a year. I kind of wish I bought some of the ones I saw (like these local books that I decided not to buy, because I bought all of these already), but I’m glad that MIBF seems to be a pretty consistent event. I’m hoping my book purchases hamper any book-related impulses in the near future.

It’s going on until tomorrow, so if you’re inclined, drop by the SMX Convention Center. Here’s the link for more details.

The post 32ND MANILA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

Winners for the Chabon contest will be announced in about four days. For this leg of giveaways, I have three books up for grabs. Honestly, a part of why I am doing this is because I have no more room in my room for new books. Another part is because of International Literacy Month—which is a “cause month” that I can get behind. And yet another part just likes being nice, I guess.

I got all three of these books in 2008 on a trip to the States, and they’re all what my friend would call airplane books. Which is to say, they were entertaining to read to pass the time, but I haven’t really formed any close bonds with any of them.

First up is Water For Elephants, which was apparently a NaNoWriMo novel. It’s been developed as a film with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon as the leads. It’s about an old man who reminisces about his days in the circus as a young man. It was a pretty quick read—I read it in a resort in Florida.

This book, I actually read on an airplane, and shuffling in airports before my flight from Florida to New York City. Possible Side Effects is an entertaining and amusing collection of personal stories by Augusten Burroughs.

Fangland, I got from CostCo. It’s a vampire novel. To be honest, I only reached until chapter thirteen, but it was a sufficiently creepy novel. It takes part in a shady part of Europe where vampires are said to roam.

Anyway, same general rules, but as there are three books in one entry, I had to tweak them a bit. People outside the Philippines are welcome to enter, but please be open to paying for shipping.

GIVEAWAY RULES & MECHANICS:
Winners will be picked randomly.

1. Comment on this blog post. Indicate which book you are trying to win. This counts as one entry. (Make sure your email address is valid.)
2. You can comment only once per book. (Make a new one for each entry.)
3. Tweet one of the following:
   - “I want to win a copy of “Fangland” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”
   - “I want to win a copy of “Possible Side Effects” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”
   - “I want to win a copy of “Water For Elephants” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”

   This will qualify as your additional entries in the lottery. You can tweet per book once daily.

   REMINDER: If your Twitter is locked, I won’t be able to see your Tweet.

4. You can comment until 11:59 PM on September 25, 2011 (+8:00 GMT).
5. Winners must reply to the email alert within 24 hours of receiving it. Otherwise, I will pick another winner.

Feel free to share this contest (link: http://bit.ly/ns-three) or to join the first leg.

Thank you! I have a bunch of other books to give away, so stay tuned.

The post SEPTEMBER MEANS BOOKS: PART II. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

This photograph is of the last (and probably only) time I’ve ever been to New York City’s famed Twin Towers. It was 1999 and the only thing I remember was how strong the wind was and how big the world seemed to be from all the way up there. The next time I would return to that place would be in 2002, and the world had changed.

My favorite book is Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” It’s about a nine-year-old boy, Oskar Schell, who is dealing with the loss of his father from 9/11. Essentially. It’s so much more than that. It’s about tragedy, loneliness, loss, and how beauty is still possible amidst and despite these things.

I don’t pretend to have had a special relationship with the World Trade Center, as a place or as a memory, because I don’t. I didn’t lose anybody or any place special that day, but what I did lose was hope. I lost the feeling of security, and I felt several different shades of grief, anger. I felt helpless. At least, for a little while.

It’s been ten years after 9/11. It’s been ten years and in so many ways, it still doesn’t make sense to me. Ten years ago, a heartless action damaged the world in a way that seemed irreparable. How do you pick up the pieces after this kind of wreckage?

But the human heart is resilient. Each time we remember, it’s not a giving into sadness and grief and loss. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come. We remember because each day that we spend away from that day is one of overcoming. Everyday, we choose to live on is proof that we did not let this tragedy win. In “Looking for Alaska,” John Green wrote, Those awful things are survivable, because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be.

We remember because ten years ago, on September 11, millions of people banded together and found that we are so much bigger than what we thought we could be. In the course of one day, we saw the opposite ends of the spectrum of humanity. And while the human heart is capable of doing horrible things, we know that it is capable of wonderful, amazing things as well. We know that it is capable of compassion, selflessness, forgiveness, healing.

From “A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert:

“We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit that there will be music despite everything.”

We choose to remember because how could we forget?

The post 9/11: WHAT ABOUT A TEAKETTLE? appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

I’d like to challenge myself to be diligent in updating this September. Words and books have a soft spot in my heart, so I like putting them in the spotlight when I can. I’ll be having a few more giveaways and launching book-related projects until the end of the month, so watch out for those, too!

The first leg of these giveaways (because there will be several) concerns a book that I haven’t read by an author that I love. The Yiddish Policeman’s Union is a novel by Michael Chabon. I always pass by used bookstores and sales, and I always feel compelled to buy it because I totally judge books by their covers.

Unfortunately, I keep forgetting that I already have a copy of this book, and that is how I ended up with three. I’m keeping the first edition that I managed to find, but I’m giving away these two paperbacks.

I’m going to do a random picking again, like my last giveaway. Again, for international participants, I’d ask you to shoulder shipping fees, if you feel compelled to join.

GIVEAWAY RULES & MECHANICS:
Winners will be picked randomly.

1. Comment on this blog post. A “Hello, my name is!” is fine, but try to tell me something nice! This counts as one entry. (Make sure your email address is valid.)
2. You can comment only once.
3. Tweet the following: “Two copies of “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” up for grabs at http://bit.ly/ns-chabon #BooksAreSoCoolLike” This will qualify as your additional entries in the lottery.*
4. You can comment until 11:59 PM on September 16, 2011 (+8:00 GMT).
5. Winners must reply to the email alert within 24 hours of receiving it. Otherwise, I will pick another winner.

If you know someone who loves Chabon and does not have this book yet, feel free to share this link: http://bit.ly/ns-chabon.

Visit me for the rest of September for other book-y goodness. I’m also trying to revive my kind-of-dead book blog, so fingers crossed. I’ve actually been reading a lot. Not as much as Sasha, but I’ve been reading!

———
* Thanks to Val of QuietGirl.net for this idea! You may only Tweet once a day.

The post SEPTEMBER MEANS BOOKS. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

I’ve been a big fan of Visual Editions ever since they released Jonathan Safran Foer’s Tree of Codes. Aside from the well-known fact that I am a Foer stan, I love that book because it was different and refreshing and ambitious. I love the publishers because they dared to do what most people would have written off as impossible.

(Lately, I’ve been thinking about the real difference between ‘impossible’ and ‘difficult,’ and I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes, what we really mean by ‘impossible’ is that it’s a little bit too ‘difficult’ that we don’t have much of a desire to try. Sometimes, all we really need are a tiny push and a little bit of courage.)

Visual Editions’ latest offering is a re-imagining of Marc Saporta’s Composition No. 1. Initially, I was pretty unimpressed by what it comes off as—a loose-leaf book that seemed to be too much trouble to bother with. However, here’s the clincher: you can rearrange each page to tell the story in a way that makes sense.

It was Jean-Luc Godard who said that “A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but not necessarily in that order.” (Marc Saporta is, coincidentally, a Frenchman like Godard.) Composition No. 1 does follow a narrative, but you choose how the story will go. Google’s Tom Uglow writes in the introduction: “This is a work that confounds the convention of literature. Composition No. 1 was the first book to demand active participation, or what we might call today, interactive. There is nothing as disconcerting as the sensation of holding a loose sheaf of papers, with no numbers, no chapters, with a hundred and fifty beginnings and a hundred and forty nine endings.”

Saporta’s novel was first published in the ’60s. Think about how revolutionary and pretty much unheard of this idea was at the time. Today, it’s still considered something that goes outside the box of conventional publishing, what more then?

To push the boundaries even further, Visual Editions enlisted the help of Universal Everything‘s Matt Pike to create an accompanying app. I think it’s a great response to the growing dilemma (dialogue? contest?) between technology and the old ways of life. The presence of an app could discourage buyers from buying the book, but Uglow outlines the difference between the two: “The physical edition of Composition No. 1 is an object to be held, owned and loved. The digital edition is to be read, pushed, shared, discarded and reinvented.”

Most unconventional books have to battle the question–“So, what is it about?”—as though they had any more reason to prove themselves than the typical book. This is what Composition No. 1 is supposedly about:

“Composition No. 1 is about the interconnected stories of a group of Parisians during the Second World War German occupation. There is Marianne: a gifted Sorbonne graduate turned disappointed house-wife and mother. Long shut down by news of her husband X’s extramarital affairs Marianne begins to emotionally unravel when she has to nurse her close friend, Francine, through terminal cancer. Her husband is X, the mysterious narrator of this novel, who never speaks and is never described. A young artist, Dagmar, is working on an abstract self portrait painting called Composition No. 1 and once dated narrator X.”

Obviously, I have not read the book, but doesn’t that sound like an absolute wonder to read, and rearrange, and read again? What I love most about Visual Editions is that it concentrates on creating a unique experience for the reader, where the narrative is a part of the format, which is what they seem to be keen on reinventing. They play a lot around with the meaning behind the “bodies” of these texts.

I wrote about Foer’s Tree of Codes over in my pretty dead book blog, Book Report. It was the second book they ever printed, and it was such a glorious read. I can’t wait for their future books. Their website says they have two new ones on the way!

Visual Editions also claims to concentrate on making works that they file under Visual Writing, which is:

“…writing that uses visual elements as an integral part of the writing itself. Visual elements can come in all shapes and guises: they could be crossed out words, or photographs, or die-cuts, or blank pages, or better yet something we haven’t seen. The main thing is that the visuals aren’t gimmicky, decorative or extraneous, they are key to the story they are telling. And without them, that story would be something altogether different.“

One of their examples is my favorite book in the world, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. It is often thought of as annoying and gimmicky, but I don’t think Oskar Schell’s story could have been told any other way.

I love Visual Editions because they aren’t afraid to take risks, and they aren’t afraid to explore and exhaust all available possibilities. I’ve always wanted to work in books and publishing, and these people represent what I want to be making in the (hopefully near) future. Their work is always exciting to me, and I appreciate that they constantly show me that it can be done.

The post VISUAL EDITIONS: COMPOSITION NO. 1. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

I just finished reading Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit From the Goon Squad” and you should know that this is not a review so much as a congregation of Things This Book Made Me Feel. I think, before I will be able to write a proper review, I would have to revisit the novel again (which I don’t mind, because I thought it was beautiful) or talk to other people who’ve read it. I thought it was brilliant, because aside from making me care about what—and oftentimes, who—she was writing about, Egan also utilized so many different ways of telling a story, fitting of the characters, the stories, and the circumstances.

Most of all, this novel moved me to want to start writing again.

Currently, my writing has been limited to tiny snippets of semi-fiction and to-do lists, some scenes that would play out in words and paragraphs, but would stay in my head, eventually disappearing forever. Example: a smattering of notes for a YA novel I have had in my head for a while. Another example: a collection of short fiction that I never quite managed to complete.

I used to dream about having my fiction published, and writing a column for some magazine or broadsheet or online tendency catalog group. That was what I always wanted to be, but I think I really just am more sensitive about my writing than my design work. I never really published a lot of my stories, but I wrote all the time. This was the journal I used to bring around with me from when I started college until the end of sophomore year:

Right now, I’ve still been writing, but the level of documentation from then is so much different. It was very entertaining to read through: often funny, sometimes sad and painful. But I loved it because it reminded me of how real those feelings felt at the time, and it showed me a) that it really does get better, and b) how much I’ve grown up, even if sometimes, it doesn’t quite feel like it.

I’ve been writing in tiny notebooks (Field Notes is obviously the brand of choice, LOL), and while it is awesome for to-do lists and keeping me in line when it comes to productivity, it’s not particularly helpful for me when I want to write. Maybe that’s just an excuse I’d been formulating. Maybe it’s not in the tools, but in the want to write, in the desire to keep track of everything, in the love of telling stories.

Sometimes I think that maybe I was never meant to be a writer. This years-long dry spell is a little bit ridiculous. But, Egan’s writing jolted a desire I’d been nursing from before I could even remember: to put thoughts and ideas and lives into words. It moved me to want to start turning possibilities into actual, tangible writing. Maybe I’ll come up with something crappy, but that’s O.K. The important thing is that I always just try to be better. It’s better to come up with creating something that could possibly be good, than giving up before even getting started.

Something from a person whose work (and opinions!) I admire, Ira Glass:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this.

And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met.

It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.“

And so, my personal mantra, until I die:

The post WRITING EVERYTHING DOWN. appeared first on Nothing Spaces.

I have been faltering colossally, on the book front this year. Reading, not buying. (I seem to have no problems with the latter…) I was reading pretty rapidly in 2010, so I felt bold enough to challenge myself to read 75 books this year, as opposed to the usual goal of 50/52. I suppose it’s pretty clear that I overshot and now, I am in big trouble. As of right this very moment, I have read sixteen books, some of which are poetry collections and graphic novels.

Even though I’ve been obviously failing at quantities, I’d like to think that, on the upside, I’ve been exploring different genres and types of books. A smart alec once told me that I should read books other than Jewish fiction, which I admittedly tend to gravitate towards. I would say that I do so unwittingly—I had no idea that Aleksandar Hemon’s “The Lazarus Project,” for one, was such. Anyway, lately, I have been exploring new genres like poetry and non-fiction. So, anonymous smart alec—be proud. I did this for you. (Not really.)

I think I’ve also had very different reading experiences. Out of the sixteen I finished reading, five were borrowed, and I rarely ever finish borrowed books. One was an ebook sent by Aldrin, the third ever I’ve finished reading. I also realized that I can’t really read books in increments, or I will lose interest. I need to be immersed in something for a long time, or else days will go by before I pick it up again. I may have also lost my ability to multi-read! Currently in the middle of about ten books. I am ashamed of myself also.

For the next few days, I’m going to be writing about books again, I hope. I think maybe when I stopped writing about them, it also affected the way I read, and the way I processed what I read. In any case—I’ve been taking down notes, so I hope not much will have been lost with time.

I’m going to start with my January reads: Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger andRichard Yates by Tao Lin. I also read Adam David’s The El Bimbo Variations (which you can download as a free PDF over here), but I might write about that another day. I guess I’ve been feeling really stupid and useless when it comes to books. Some of my February books, I already wrote about here (Jack Gilbert’s Refusing Heaven and Shane Jones’ Light Boxes). Oh! People, you would be pleased (?) to know that I have not read any YA this year… Although I imagine I would have to now. /withdrawals

Under the cut, “reviews” of Nine Stories by JD Salinger and Richard Yates by Tao Lin. And for the curious: a rough list of my 2011 reads, complete and in progress.

NINE STORIES
BY JD SALINGER

J.D. Salinger and I are not very good friends. We started off on the wrong foot when he introduced me to Holden Morrissey Caulfield. I guess I was expecting far too much from a boy that was as lost as I was, but at the time of reading, I wondered why he couldn’t just get on with his life. I don’t remember much from that book, and I plan to do a re-read of “The Catcher in the Rye”, but I’ve always been wary of Salinger from that day. For reasons I can’t quite explain, I tried to read “Franny and Zooey” in 2010, and fell in love with Salinger.

“Nine Stories” is my third Salinger book—my first collection of short fiction—and I absolutely loved it. I devoured it on train rides and during quiet moments where I waited for the rest of my life to happen. The first story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” hit me really profoundly. My other favorites are “Teddy,” “Down at the Dinghy,” and “For Esmé—with Love and Squalor.” A thing I’ve noticed with Salinger, aside from being good at writing his characters, is that he is very good with writing children. I’ve read a lot of fiction who feature children and they sometimes make them sound really juvenile—as though adults are writing children in the way they think they are as opposed to really understanding how they are. If that makes sense.

I think I maybe get along with Salinger the most when I get his writing in short doses, because I really loved “Franny and Zooey”, which happened during a short frame of time, and I loved “Nine Stories,” because I saw mere glimpses of the characters in each story, and these glimpses, I am such a big fan of. I’m really not sure what it is. All I know is that I feel really sorry that I never attempted to cross paths with Salinger sooner.

Book “Richard Yates,” how much I wanted to love you.

I’ve been a fan of Tao Lin’s poetry for a while, but I’ve never tried reading his fiction. I did not expect this, but in retrospect, I don’t really know why I expected anything else. The writing is very characteristic of his writing—not just his poetry, but his non-fiction as well—and he deals with a lot of contemporary ideas. In “Richard Yates,” he writes about the love that happens between one Dakota Fanning and one Haley Joel Osment.

I haven’t read any books by Richard Yates (don’t kill me!) but I’d like to think that perhaps Tao Lin drew some parallels with the dysfunction in the relationships of his characters and the relationships that Yates wrote about, transposing these into the 21st century. It was not a very pleasant read. Lin paints, what I take to be, a bleak landscape of how this generation treats and sees romance. Filled with Google chat transcripts and puny little text messages back and forth, Lin’s story does not really deviate all that much from what contemporary relationships look like. And I’m not sure if that is something I am enthusiastic about.

This novel was really short, but it took me a while to get through. Perhaps I didn’t want to read about people chatting and texting each other when I was doing the very same thing. I wouldn’t really call the relations of these characters as morally depraved, but that’s how a lot of relationships right now look like. It was not a terrible novel, but it’s not something I would like to read about or again.

(Maybe I just like ~emotionally connecting~ with books, and this one just felt extremely detached from any kind of emotion—even though they talk about love all the time. Love!—but I don’t know, maybe Tao Lin meant to do that. I really don’t know at this point.)

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