Here Goes Nothing

Posted on May 17, 2005 by Tito

For whatever reason*, Ed has decided to invite me to join his on-line William T. Vollmann (hereafter WTV) "In The Flesh" reading group – I’ll call this affair "Voll-Tron". I wonder if this isn’t how David Letterman’s mom felt covering the Winter Olympics. I’m happy to included; not sure why; but will give it my best (for the children).

What you’ll get: Weekly updates on my reading of WTV, beginning with Fathers and Crows. I have not read him before, but the vigor of his fans’ enthusiasm along with his critical acclaim are enough to lure me in. If reading the ruminations of a not-too-literary minded person wheeling his way through Vollmann for the first time sounds like your cup of tea, then welcome. I hope to read at least 100 pages a week, and then post whatever comes to mind.

For an introduction into my world, here is a little background on my "literary" leanings, in a chronological nutshell (prepare to be underwhelmed).
Age 0-4: "The Illiterate Years" Despite my inability to "read" I did enjoy pop-up, coloring and match books.
Age 5-10: Favorite titles included: The Hardy Boys, The Circus of Adventure and Beverly Cleary titles
Age 11-15: I don’t think I read much at this point. Unless you count Becket’s and SI.
High School: I tended to like most of the reading from my high school classes. Favorites from the curriculum included Going After Cacciato, Winesburg Ohio, Slaughterhouse Five. Biggest non-favorites were Ethan Frome and The Oxbow Incident. Outside of class, I enjoyed  Catch-22,The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Tom Clancy novels.
College: There was not much leisure reading outside of my engineering courses. I was a little over my head in my freshman seminar class and have vague recollections of Ovid and Joyce. The phrase "sweet breath" also remains forever lodged in my head along with the mixed feelings of hatred and sadness I felt for my classmate who proclaimed his love for Manhattan Transfer.
Immediate Post-College Years: Reading? Hah!
More Recently: I guess you could say I fall under Ed’s classification as a "New Literate". I have mostly the internet to thank for this, as the web has made it is much easier to find a variety of reviews and recommendations. My favorite recently read books are Home Land, Gilead, Cloud Atlas, The Cave and The Book of Evidence.

…and with that, I’m off like a herd of turtles…

* apparently, seeing WTV "in the flesh" (at a reading, presumably) is the key to membership.

» Filed Under Books, Voll-Tron (William T. Vollmann A Go Go)

Comments

One Response to “Here Goes Nothing”

  1. david on May 17th, 2005 10:47 am

    Speak of the devil, I take it you didn’t watch this last night on Turner Classic?

    http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/Schedule/Index/0,,~-1|0|,00.html

    8:00 pm
    Ox-Bow Incident, The (1943)

    A loner gets caught up in a posse’s drive to find and hang three suspected rustlers. Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn. Director: William A. Wellman. BW-76m, TV-14

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