January 29, 2016
Dear Hildie:
We went to sunny Tickfaw the day before yesterday. I really got tired out watching the young folks dig holes!
I’m reading Christopher Buckley’s THE RELIC HUNTER now. It’s very funny. His father was the late William Buckley, one of the shallowest intellects of the 20th century, but the son is fun to read.
Take care. Keep warm.
Love,
M
January 27, 2016
Dear Hildie:
Spent my whole morning working on a part of a proposal for a job we won’t get.
I’m still puzzling over BOVARY. You really insisted on my education in literature back then and I was sure you’d read the books you were recommending. I can’t imagine doing that on my own!
I just finished THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION, J. HENRY WAUGH, PROPRIETOR, by Robert Coover. Enjoyable, and written as if he was on meth or something, it has such a mad-cap flow. I was touched by the poor soul who’d had the book before me (I bought it used). Obviously a student, because here and there throughout he’d written sophomoric comments about the symbolism such as, “…like Jesus” and “maybe Henry is crazy” and “this is about life.” And then I finally came to one that was so endearing I just broke up laughing: “I’m hopelessly confused.”
Aren’t we all?
Take care.
Love,
M
January 26, 2016
Dear Hildie:
I thought you’d already read Bovary. I read it back in 1966-67, when we were corresponding, and you were sending me lists of books to read. I read that, THE RED AND THE BLACK, and WAR AND PEACE, plus a lot of Faulkner—all that your urging!
Right now I’m reading Robert Coover’s THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION, J. HENRY WAUGH, PROPRIETOR, a 1968 absurdist novel which is quite enjoyable. Ever heard of it? It has a wonderfully original premise.
Have to go now and get a haircut in the rain.
Take care,
Love,
M
January 22, 2016
Dear Hildie:
A flurry of activity at the office has kept me from working much on my latest writing effort. It’s the world of multi-tasking we seem to live in. But I guess multi-tasking has been with us forever, even if it was hunting and also scavenging for berries and nuts.
Take care. Keep warm!
Love,
M
January 21, 2016
Dear Hildie:
I indeed think it’s immoral for governments to encourage citizens to throw away their money on gambling. People who buy lottery tickets are indulging in fantasy. But we humans do that and I can understand somebody saying, “It’s a small amount to pay for the chance to be rich,” even though the mathematical expectation is piss poor and, as someone calculated, your chance of being hit by a meteor is four times as great. And your syllogism is flawless: ALL DEMOCRATS BELIEVE IN WASTFUL WELFARE SPENDING. MALCOLM IS A DEMOCRAT. MALCOLM THEREFORE BELIEVES IN WASTEFUL WELFARE SPENDING. The only flaw is your premise. And that’s a pretty big flaw!
I see Derrick Todd Lee died and there’s said to be lots of gloating on the Internet. I can’t see that. As Yogi Berra might have said, “Monsters are human, too.” And I’ll bet he didn’t tell where all the other bodies are buried.
Have to prepare a budget now. Take care. Have fun buying more lottery tickets (i.e., flushing money away).
Love,
M
January 20, 2016
Dear Hildie:
Went to a cemetery yesterday, to get measurements and see whether it could be avoided by a project we’re working on. Like Bill Haag once said, “A cemetery’s the last thing I want to see!”
Ah! Now I see from your letter about the Natchez commune and cemetery why the Furies part of my novel struck home for you.
Have to write up my results. Take care. Love.
M
January 18, 2016
Dear Hildie:
Happy MLK Day!
Thanks for the vote of confidence for CRIMES OF ARTEMUS KEEL. I value your ideas on revisions. I don’t know about one of the great American novels, but thanks, anyway. My problem is I have so many stories in me I feel like I’m letting one risk dying if I spend too much time on another. I have this urge to get all these stories out. I know, that’s amateurish—my former agent said I never gave my “talents a chance to mature.” New York-speak for concentrate on quality, not quantity. But I feel; like I’m in such a race against time, and the other night I had a dream with a plot that really seized me, which is rare, because I seldom get anything creative from dreams. It was a familiar plot, the theme of which I dream about often—Going into the jungle to visit a lost tribe or place. Typical her-quest stuff. Arch-typal.
Oh, well.
Good to have seen you even for a little while.
Love,
M
Dear Hildie:
Too bad you didn’t win the Powerball. You could’ve bought that whole Mexican prison where your sons now reside. Mala suerte!
Finished THE BONES OF PARIS. Very disappointing end. No real suspense. No figuring out who did it. Zilch.
Take care.
Love,
M
January 13, 2016
Dear Hildie:
Right now I’m about finished with THE BONES OF PARIS. A good read. I’m not sure what to go to next—the Erik Larson book or a biography of Lou Gehrig. I keep adding thoughts to the thing I’m working on now—I hate jumping the gun, getting halfway in, and finding I have to tear it all up.
Take care.
Love, M
January 12, 2016
Dear Hildie:
There’s very little happening here—Another sudden trough regarding work. All these projects that are posed to take off, like planes on a runway, but the tower won’t give the go-ahead.
I finally got a couple of hundred dollars royalties for the ebooks yesterday. Wow! I’m rich.
Powerball? I’d as soon flush my money down the toilet. I think it’s absolutely immoral for governments to sponsor these things. But I understand the attitude of “what’s a dollar to me when I might win a billion.” That’s human. But the government should be encouraging people to work, not gambler.
Enough moralizing for now.
Take care,
Love,
M