choose wisely...On my last travel I had Proust - "In Search of Lost Time" with me. It was a hitchhiking tour to south France in spring 2003. I visited Lacoste, the home chateau of le Marquis de Sade... very inspiring. Unfortunately I never finished the book, read different stuff and didn

The woman in betweenI confess that I read a lot of non-fiction, including a lot of books on psychology and buddhism. Lately I have been reading Jung, a figure much maligned when I was in graduate school. He like Freud is a wonderful prose stylist.But even more fascinating at the moment is the story of a woman in between the two great founders of psychoanalysis: Sabina Spielrein. The book is call A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud and Sabina Spielrein. It would make an excellent play, which I may attempt, though a short version has already been done, with good reviews.Sabina Spielrein was a patient of Jung's then turned into his lover. Naughty Jung! She then became associated with Freud and became an analyst herself, publishing papers that figured in the development of Freud's later works, such as the idea of the death drive. Her story is much suppressed because of the indiscretion of Jung, the break-up of Freud and Jung at the same time and Freud's own affair with his sister in law. Talk about a messy affair!Until recently not much was known about Sabina Spielman, her papers largely ignored, but then a whole set of letters of correspondence were found and after that another set, giving biographers and historians a chance to see another side of the intensity of these important figures and their even more intense falling out.There are other books on the topic but this is the one I am finding the most fascinating at the moment.I encourage people who haven't read much of Freud or Jung to give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised at how metaphorically their minds work.

How topicalI always go to the second hand bookstore before flying. As I am getting ready to fly tomorrow on my way to a 10-day bus tour of 5 European countries, I went out just last night to get some reading material. I had never been to this store before, and was very surprised by the selection. I bought Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel and a book with three Richard Brautigan in it: In Watermelon Sugar, The Pill versus the Springhill Mining Disaster, and, yes...(drum roll), Trout Fishing in America, which I haven't read before.And that is what I am reading.

Goethe and KeseyJust starting "The Sorrow of Young Werther" by Goethe and "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Kesey. Also wandering through "Dangerous Peaks" by Gary Snyder (with a shout out to Jamelah!).Just finished "Windblown World/Kerouac's Journals" and "Nova Express" by Burroughs, which is the second novel in his cut-up trilogy that starts with "The Soft Machine" and concludes with "The Ticket That Exploded." Plan on reading "The Ticket..." next.

a reading bingeI've been on a reading binge lately. I have read some pretty darn good books. While the books I have been reading have supplied mainly entertainment, I have also learned a little something on those literary travels. Here are a few I've read lately that I would recommend.Leaving Early: a novel written from the viewpoint of a mother who has a "perfect only son". Her marriage is strong--until it isn't. Her son is perfect--until he isn't. The main conflict is exposed in the beginning chapters--her son, Early (a diminuitive for Earl) has just graduated from high school and on the night of his graduation he has killed a teen boy. Her telling is the recounting of Early's life and where it (and she) went wrong.Smashed, a drunken girlhood: I actually just finished this book today. A non-fiction work about the author's experience with booze and alcohol abuse throughout her teenage-twenty years. It has wide comment and application on every woman's life...especially those of us who have binged on sangria and encountered ourselves on the other side of a black out. A haunting but incredibly well written account.The Circus in Winter: this was an interesting book which weaved together stories of a circus owner, his family, the acrobats, etc. from the circus as they hiatus in a small town for the winter. Well written and really interesting!The Pact: this is a book that I read over a year ago, but it haunts me still. The premise of the book revolves around two adult couples who have been friends for a long time. One couple has an only daughter and the other an only son. They push the children into dating and love, etc. The main conflict of the story is when the children, as teenagers, are involved in an accident. The son has been arrested for the daughter's murder. Come to find out there was a suicide pact made but he never followed through on his part. Obviously there are other details I can't reveal...one hell of a read.I'm onto a new book tomorrow (or tonight depending on the wildness of my binge) entitled "The Memory of Running". I'll let you know what I think of that soon. Any of the above books are excellent. Have a good trip!

Charles, Fyodor, and HenryCurrently I'm reading a Tale of Two Cities and The Brothers Karamazov simultaneously. Notes from the Underground and Walden/Civil Disobedience are next.

Enjoy the Snyder... it's a lovely book.

Hey Kate -- I recently read an interview with the author of Smashed and though about picking it up, though I figured I might need to let my own drunken girlhood settle a bit before empathizing with someone else's. All around, sounds like a good list. Ah, how I miss reading binges.

Sometimes... is just so good. Better than Cuckoo..., as far as I'm concerned.Put hair on your chest and make you cry at the same time.

That's some good reading, Boho ...

Richard Brautigan on an airplane -- that's double trippy. Careful there, Knip ...

I went through a phase of reading Freud. I think I might have done some Jung at some point too, but it's Freud's original texts that stick out in my memory. He's a sharp writer, tells good stories, hammers his points home. "Interpretation of Dreams" was classic but a bit thick for me. "Civilization and its Discontents" is pretty relevant to modern times (it would probably be relevant in any era, I guess). Maybe I'll pick that one up and go through it again -- thanks for the remind.

Indigo ChildrenI picked this book up because it suggests on the back flap that people diagnosed with stuff like ADD, ADHD or other learning disabilities are actually gifted (I always figured that much. You have to be smart if you are not paying attention to the drivel they dish out at school.)It talks about people being born (or already born) on this earth called Indigos that are either psychic, or gifted, or know their purpose on this earth. Because they know their purpose on this earth, it can cause them pain. Anyway, is this book new-agey? Yes. Is it interesting? Yes, so far.The full title is "Spiritually Healing Indigo Children (and adults too) by Wayne Dosick & Ellen Kaufman Dosick.

Notes sounds good. I haven't read Walden in a long time. I think I should re-read it.

daily bus travel to work-- "Rosario de Antolog

Knipper, I hope you enjoy Richard but be careful not to startle the passengers by LOL. Hah!

Beth...I must confess that I was rather put off of Freud and his attitudes about women (especially mothers) at one point in my youth and Jung was rather heavy reading for me but I think you have piqued my interest again...and Hi!

Never read Goethe but Kesey and Snyder are first rate. "Sometimes a Great Notion" is what I consider Kesey's best work and Snyder can do no wrong in my opinion. Hi Jamelah...;)

Sheesh, there is some very interesting stuff out there that I have never heard about... Are these all modern novels and writers?Hi Katie!

Boy...nothing like a little 'light' reading! ;) Good stuff all.

Andeh...this sounds very interesting and I could certainly buy into that premise. I do know that so-called gifted children (like my oldest son) have a hard time staying interested in the blather and pap that our school systems feed them. Indigos huh? I like that color too!Howdy!

Wow! You are a busy girl...Hola Arcadia!

What a trip that must have been! Proust, France and the Marquis. Lucky you!

Creative ConsciousnessI must admit that my reading lately has mostly consisted of free materials that I got at the trade shows. These mags are grist for my mill and inspiration for my artistic endeavors. I must try and take some time for reading and relaxation but I can't seem to tear myself away from what I can be creating on a physical level. (No airplane travel for me and it is hard to read driving a truck unless it is a roadside sign or billboard. Hah!) Hi Levi and FC!

I can dig it Sooz....by the time I get home from rod bustin' something's up or CJ's got something planned or it's time to jam, I might read in the hot tub....in fact I gotta go read yer blog....all my love to you all.

A hot tub? Sheesh, some guys have all the fun...Hah! Tell CJ hey for me.

Hey, B-Bitch, good to see you! I will go check your blog too.

18th century CelineI've been traveling between Europe and America for over three years. So I know how to pack lightly and carry big reading meterials.Recently, however, I've been adjured by my responsibilities to carry more equipment and less choices. Since I keep a copy of "Journey To The End Of The Night" on me at all times - even if it means less clean t shirts - the suplimentary tomes must be thinner, so it goes. "Candide" is a perfect travel size book. It's less than half an inch thick. But every page is as full and dense as most airport bookstores' entire collection. And Voltaire reminds me of Celine. Both are scabrous, satirical, and seem to deal with 'le condition humaine' so concisely it may as well have been written this week.

Always finding good booksI haven't done much travelling lately, unless you count hobbling out to the gnome garden for a smoke, but I've had some pleasant reading experinces. Two books I got from the public library, both recommended by Levi, were Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet by Michael Wolff and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Both were page-turners, I'm happy to report.Then I found a little book my mother had given me about a year ago which I had almost forgotten about. Crimes, Criminals, and Characters of the Cumberlands and Southwest Virginia, autographed by the author, Roy L. Sturgill, is a compilation of actual newspaper accounts of murders, trials, hangings, chicken-thieving, and various other wild spreeing by the mountain folks who lived in the Cumberlands in Virginia in the late 1800's & early 1900's, with photos. Fascinating stuff. If you like movies like Judge Roy Bean or you would want to read this book. I just found out that the author lived in Bristol, VA, not far from my grandparents and aunts & uncles on my father's side of the family. Mr. Sturgill passed away in 1993. I wish I could have met him.

I read a review of Smashed and it sounded pretty good.

Sometimes I do that - start reading a book, move on, and don't come back to it. The great thing is, sometime later, I suddenly get an interest in the book again, and go back and finish it. Sometimes years later. No hurry, I always say.

Cool. You should write that play!

My Story"My Story" by Bill ClintonI recount my life by past presidents, and in that way I have someone to blame. President Clintons' book is quite enjoyable actually, and as we all know there's a new sheriff in the White House. I blame him. For everything, so Billy C. you're off the hook.

Let us know what you think of Look Homeward Angel. If you don't mind.

Nothing's wrong with that. The world of reading is almost infinitely varied and free.

what i've been readingMainly due to the day jobs with which I pay my bills ... for the past few weeks I've been reading nothing but stuff like this:http://www.w3.org/2004/02/XML-Protocol-CharterI'd rather be reading Jane Austen. But, as a techie who specializes in content management systems, I have to say that great software trends -- like Linux, Java or, in this example, XML -- often read like poetry. Seriously. Anyway, these types of manuals are all I've been reading since, like, December. That probably explains my grouchy personality.

Jamelah! Hey there! You should definitely read Smashed. I couldn't put it down--in a morbid I know this is me but don't want to say it out loud kind of way. Buddhabitch! Hey back, lady! Yes, all these books are contemporary and wonderful. Read up!

'Wicked' good and othersJust finished reading Gregory Maguire's "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" for the second time. Had read it once, then read all his others to see if they were as good, then came back to "Wicked". It made a huge impression on me, in that it told the story of a life on the sidelines, full of self-perceived failures, one with no meaning, and in the telling, gave it one. And so I thought, if hers can mean something, perhaps so eventually can mine. I closely identified with certain key events in the character's personal history as well, but it was the creative approach to meaning that allowed me optimism without sentimentality, or lying to myself about it.Were his other books at this level? No, although great, lyrical writing throughout, and he's definitely an engaging storyteller. But in an oeuvre, you don't need each piece to be a masterpiece, right? Just one is plenty!Now reading Jay Cantor's "The Death of Che Guevara: A Novel", which I was inspired to pick up after having seen "Motorcycle Diaries", which if you've seen it you know presents a part of Che's life whitewashed of all the politics. The frame of the novel is of flashbacks produced during an intense, weeks-long session of Marxist self-criticism. Marxist self-criticism may or may not be extremely useful, but it was never billed as entertaining, which is the main drawback of the book. Also I'm reading it on the subway, which may be increasing its utilitarian feel for me.But I think Che Guevara's might be one of those lives that defies attempts (or at least severely challenges attempts) to describe it. Like Shackleton and the Endurance, some adventures sound almost too fantastic for fiction.

Hey Peggy -- I read "Wicked" too, a while ago, before it became a Broadway play. I thought it was excellent. Not sure if you also know of another book based on the Wizard of Oz myth, "Was". I can't remember the author's name, but the book came out about 10 years ago I think. "Wicked" focuses on the good and bad witches, and has interesting political overtones, whereas "Was" focuses on Dorothy's real life in Kansas and is a very realistic treatment. Both excellent. Che, haven't read that one yet.

W3C. Exciting stuff. Woohoo.Though I personally find the World Wide Web Consortium to be an invaluable resource, I often find myself wondering, as I validate my stylesheets, why it's such a damned unattractive website. But of course, I would wonder that.

Well, it's no jamelah.net, but I do think it's a nice use of basic sans-serif fonts. You gotta admire their visual consistency.

as a representative of Safety First, I'd highly discourage blog reading while hot-tubbing.Our representatives will be knocking on bathroom doors all over the world to enforce this precaution.Watch out, unplug - that next spark could be your last.

Cerebral CyanideToday your correspondent scanned his Cerebral Cyanide for his first book reading in Seoul on Sunday. Last week, he scanned The Tiananmen Papers which details the Tian'anmen Square protests of 1989, i.e., the series of student-led, pro-democracy demonstrations and the PRC leadership's reaction in the People's Republic of China. The same should be written for the Iraq and Afghan invasions.Nearly finished, for sake of re-selling, is Thurow's Future of Capitalism which is written so well that it is a page-turner and as equally as scary as The Tiananmen Papers with its sad tale--not for the socioeconomic elite--of union-busting and fair price equalization in a period of punctuated equilibrium. Also nearly finished is Chen Sui Ning's excellent 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course, Book I, the best book this student has encountered for learning Mandarin. Recently purchased was Best American Short Stories 2004 and, at first, believed he'd been duped because the first entry he turned to he had read and so was the next random choice. After investigation, he found he'd read them online but hasn't had the patience to read many of the others and plans to trade it at his favorite local second-hand next week, possibly for some of the titles mentioned here if found. Also recently scored used--for return to China-- are Franzen's Corrections and at another, Searle's Mind, Language, and Society. To be a discerning reader and a miser creates a conundrum: what does one buy to read that's worth stealing time from one's own

readingI'm reading The Healing Fountain, Poetry Therapy, by Chavis and Weisberger.I'm reading The Magic Life of Milarepa, a wonderful comic version of the life of a holy man, by Eva Van Dam.I'm reading my Little Zen Book, when I only have time for one brilliant thought before I continue on my day.Not much time for reading - doing double shifts almost everyday.

Well, true. Though I mostly just admire the fact that they've made me use the phrase "parse tree" on more than on occasion.

breathing room.....got off early today and have some time to look at the writings on net.j i have that milrepa cartoon book, it's great, got it in a sales bin few years back at politics and prose in d.c.......

Passage Through India....by Gary Snyder.....I first saw a copy of this book back in the 90's and put off buying it and ya know the story, snooze ya lose, well just got it through amazon.com finally and I am savoring this Gary book, the man can just plain write, he's perrhaps my favorite living author and I did have the pleasure of meeting him back in late 90's at the Folger Shakespeare Library. I have seen him in performance a number of times, even with the music of Paul Winter which was awesome.I also am reading a small book I found on ebay that's an essay by Yasunori Honda about Henry Miller and his never completed novel Draco and the Ecliptic, it's illustrated and signed by Irving Stettner Miller's friend and also the publisher of Stroker magazine. The books real interesting, especially for me, as much as I love HM's work.Today and tomorrow I'll be sifting through my poetry bout Love and maybe some Litkicker stuff too, to do at Gallery 1448 here in Baltimore Saturday night the 12th of February, part of Erotica 05 exhibit. judih's gonna give me one and I've written some new ones, that I'll post here when we have an Action Poetry session again....hint....hint to my favorite trio of internet publishers, it tis my religion, don't cha know............wired

Hey Mike.....Clinton was good for me, as a construction worker we were swamped with work, I made a whole lotta dinero in those Clinton years. Was fearing this Bush era but the work's been steady for me, mainly Museums and Hospital's and of course the dreaded IMF on Pennsylvania Ave. Been at work here in Bawlmer doin' a Johns Hopkins Hospital project for past year, but now I'm getting ready to head back down to D.C. my hometown........

am I?hola buddhabitch, thanks for reading!

great link judih!.I love comics.

Got the hint, WIREMAN ... we're just working on some software changes and then we're getting Action Poetry back in action better than ever ...

And I thought I had it rough. I've got to "brush up" on Microsoft Access here at my job. It was recommended that I read Access For Dummies.

cool!we can turn the pages togetherraining over here in the desert - wet winter means bright green fields and wild flowers all over.good time to visit when you get tired of winter, arcadia and wired!and all!pop on over and watch history in the making, while there's still something to stand on in the middle east.

well, whatdya know!that's the best news i've heard in a long, long time, levi(and i've been listening, make no mistake)to life!

Levi you just didn't make my day, ya made my year.....yes.

My Grandmother's Letters I am reading excerpts of the letters my grandmother wrote to her mother.My father had looked through them all and transferred them to the computer, where he made them into several books. Right now, I am reading part III, the letters from 1937-45. Parts I and II were the letters from '21 - '31, and '31 - '36.They are interesting, funny, touching, sad, revealing, humorous... everything, and I only wish I'd had a chance to get to know my grandmother more while she was still alive.I was 20 when she died 16 years ago, at the age of 93, after she had gradually lost her consciousness during the last years of her life - I have a few vivid childhood memories of her, but of course, back then I wasn't able to see more than a grandmother in her.The woman, though, is someone I only now get to know through her letters, and to find her there is like a trip back into my own past.

yes -and even winter smells mild and of cardamom and oranges, while the air changes sound and texture within seconds and history somersaults through olive orchards and across desert sands...popping over sounds good.

Bill .....good books abound, I'm constantly bidding on and buying the works of my favorites, Henry Miller, Gary Snyder, Richard Brautigan, Bob Kaufman, Lord Buckley, Hermann Hesse, and I can't get enough of it.

I know what you mean! I've got not one, but two, O'Reilly books looming over my head, basic ActionScript and ActionScript 2. Haven't started them yet, just admired the line drawings of animals on the covers. Hard for me to focus on that stuff on the subway. Or at home, or at lunch, or at my desk . . .got to be done, though!

ahhh judih...You really crack me up!

Interesting post Bill...hey, you may yet met Mr. Sturgill in the gnome garden after a smoke! Hah! I love tales about chicken thieves and shady characters, especially with the old photos. Howdy Bill!

Heya Mike...Would love a book report on Bill's book. He sure made life interesting and I would pick sex over violence any day...Nice to see you around buddy.

My only comment would be: "Yuck!"But of course, I am sure you would find my beading mags fascinating too. Hah!

Damn...I am going to have to read more fiction! This sounds wonderful and enlightening.

I think I am experiencing that conundrum right this minute...well put!

The desert may be wet but I love the dry humor. That little Zen book is a gem. Thanks for the link too, I am going there now. Everyone needs some comic relief.Smacks babe!

Gary Snyder and Paul Winter together, heck, that's almost too much. Paul came to Phar Lepht and made us all howl like wolves. Bless him!Gary is a favorite of mine too but you knew that didn't ya. And Levi...keep reading that computer stuff. It sounds like it's doing some good. Hah!

Book ReviewsI am reading Action Poetry which I recently received in the mail. It is as pleasing to read as it was to see my name in print as a contributor to the 24 hour poem. You may have a good selling book. I hope it becomes a best seller.In addition, I am re-reading an old journal entitled "Weird Pen Scratchings..." which I wrote ten years ago for laughs and am getting more pieces to send out which may be pleasingly retro. One good thing about a journal: You don't have to write in it every day.Is it too late in history to be a New Renaissance person? We are at the beginning of a new age. All one has to do is pick up a blank book and write on the page... Samples available for publication at moments notice. Seize the day!

Real cool, it must be enlightening for you to have this gift, in my family we have a sea log my Great Grandfather kept of his voyages around the world in the late 1800's, it is a treasure.

It's always interesting to find out about your ancestors and predecessors. I have slowly learned about my ethnic background and tales of my grandparents and aunts and great-greats through their various pictures, letters and logs. It will take a while, but it contains everything from Ellis Island papers to world war rations and it's so interesting. I mean, what stories.

HitchHiking PoetryI do most of my traveling localy by HitchHiking (a habit i picked up on in high school whilst trying to dodging math lessons and get to the nearest park to read and have a martini or two with friends.) I always find that collections of poetry on the area that you're travelling are best because you are physically in the area and can truly appreciate what the poet was trying to communicate.

books/mag that i've been reading...when i'm not reading submissions...reading my email...i've been reading two books and a magazine......"captains of consciousness" by stuart ewen...ewen's book is a critique and history of the consumer culture...he offers a very thorough look at and history of advertising in america beginning with the early twentieth century advent of mass production introduced by henry ford and on towards the present...i find this book fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking...ewen brings to light many things that i've often taken for granted...ewen's work is comparable to the work of guy debord...howard zinn...mcluhan...incredibly left......"the archaic revival" by terence mckenna...a book of collected essays and interviews...mckenna's work is comparable to the work of timothy leary though not incredibly similar...his work (as far as i can tell) is more informed by "the doors of perception" by aldous huxley than any of the work leary produced during his lifetime...mckenna certainly has interesting ideas regarding just how he believes that the use of psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin and dmt) can change our world...although i have a hard time swallowing his argument that shamanic states...mystical states can only be reached through the holistic use of psychedelics...i really don't buy that...although when i read between the lines and pull the blinders off i find myself enjoying the book more and more...it is quite apparent to me that mckenna is an incredibly well-read and learned individual......"the black warrior review"... BWR is published through the university of alabama--tuscaloosa...it is full of wonderful writing by both emerging and pretty established writers...the staff claim that BWR is one of the nation's premier literary journals...i can certainly see why...innovative and thought-provoking work within it's pages...nice mix of prose and poetry...amazing stuff...

The Age of DiscoveryLately I've been interested in explorers & their discoveries in the maritime world's golden age. I'm currently reading "Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe" by Laurence Bergreen. It's a quick-paced narrative on the greatest nautical journey in history, the first known voyage to traverse the entire globe. Led by the courageous & determined Magellan, the five ships that comprised the fleet endured storms, mutinies, starvation, scurvy, torture, & death to reach the "ends of the world." In between they witnessed wonders of nature, lands brimming with strange animals & deceitful tribes reared on violence & cannibalism. Exotic women draped in half-naked splendor beckoned the sex-starved Europeans to unusual coupling that beguiled as they fascinated. In all of this stood one man whose indomitable spirit saw him accomplish what no known man had done before, & which proved to be his undoing. A very good read.

Wonderful, because such experiences elicit a whole plethora of thoughts & emotions to the reader: fascination, sentiment, joy, sadness, wonder. I myself look forward to unraveling my roots. It's through such endeavors that one gets to know more about one's self.

I incline to agree. I can't wait to visit Paris & see if the place holds up to her bards!

A Million Little Piecesby James FreyThis one's a memoir written about the authors personal experience as a serious junky going through rehab. His style of writting is an extremely fluid stream of thoughts, recollections, feelings and dialog all flowing together somehow connecting you directly into the flow of time which he was in during the crazed and fury ridden journey back into himself. Well done and surely one to check out if you don't have a weak stomach.