News and Thoughts

Couple quick things before class, which starts in seven minutes. As expected, I had a great time reading with Ken Meisel in West Branch. His poetry just keeps getting better and better. If you have an opportunity to hear him read, and you don't take . . . well, you're really missing out.

My reading at Kirtland Community College also went well. What a nice crowd they were. Carol Finke is a fine host. The college served hotdogs, chips, and lemonade before the reading. A very cool idea. I could see where that might lure some students to stick around for the reading.

Some thoughts I've been having. Why is fiction on the decline in America? What does contemporary fiction not offer readers? Or, have readers changed? Why are more and more agents going to non-fiction exclusively? Feel free to comment.

Also, as I'm reading Ulysses, I'm wondering if Joyce captured stream-of-consciousness or only his brand of it. Sometimes I think Bloom thinks too much. I just catch myself thinking, "He was able to think all of that before he answered her question? What does he do, pause nine minutes before he speaks." That novel has got me thinking about how my own brain works. It really is all over the place, and I'm wondering if stream-of-consciouness can really be captured in writing. Probably not.