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Dirda on Books
Hosted by Michael Dirda
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor
Thursday, Jan. 10, 2002; 2 p.m. EST
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor Michael Dirda took your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.
Each week Dirda's name appears -- in unmistakably big letters -- on page 15 of The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a hefty literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be turning out one of his idiosyncratic essays or describing his travels to, say, a P.G. Wodehouse Convention. Although he earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda has somehow managed to retain a myopic 12-year-old's passion for reading. He particularly enjoys comic novels, intellectual history, locked-room mysteries, innovative fiction of all sorts -- just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner in criticism (1993).
These days, Dirda says he still spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth, listening to music (Glenn Gould, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, The Tallis Scholars), and daydreaming ("my only real hobby"). He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer, working. In the fall of 2000 Indiana University Press published "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments," a selection from Dirda's Book World columns. He hopes to bring out a companion volume soon.
Dirda joined The Post in 1978, having grown up in the working-class steel town of Lorain, Ohio and graduated with highest honors in English from Oberlin College. His favorite writers are Stendhal, Chekhov, Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, Nabokov, John Dickson Carr, Joseph Mitchell and Jack Vance. He thinks the greatest novel of all time is either Murasaki Shikubu's "The Tale of Genji" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu." In a just world he would own Watteau's painting "The Embarkation for Cythera." He'd also like to spend six months in Florida writing a book that would become a runaway best seller, a critical success, and the hottest cinematic property of the year. A guy can daydream, right?
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books. For the next hour we'll discuss. . . well books. Writing. Reviews. Book World. The inimitable prose of M. Dirda, Ph.D. What have you, so long as it related to books. Unless, of course, you need advice on affairs of the heart--in which case I'll give you the accumulated wisdom of the ages,not that it will do you much good. Still. Anyway, let's start the hour.
Story Hill, Milwaukee, Wis.:
Michael, do you (or others) have a favorite used bookstore in Chicago? I'll be there this weekend and have time to visit one large bookseller.
Thanks
Michael Dirda: Hmm. I don't know the names of Chicago bookstores well enough to remember which ones I liked best. I suspect that you might do well with a famous one--names forgotten--near the university of Chicago. Or just make a call to one or two, describe your intersts and ask where you should go.
Crofton, Md.:
My 90 year old mother loved your book as did
my brother living in California. I gave them your book for Christmas. Is Jack Vance better than Ursula Le Guin? And which of his novels
do you recommend?
Michael Dirda: Gee, it's always the 90 year old mothers and brothers, and never the 34 year old sisters who love my book. Oh well. Vance and Le Guin are different kinds of writers. Le Guin doesn't have much humor, if any, in her work, while Vance is often quite hilarious, in a sly way. For Vance you could look for an anthology called The BEst of Jack Vance or plump for his first book, The Dying Earth. For Le GUin, you should probably start with Left Hand of Darkness.
Lenexa, Kans.:
Mr. Dirda,
In reviews of Kurth's Isadora Duncan, saw one of her husbands was Sergei Esenin, a Russian peasant-poet. After leaving Isadora, he married a Tolstoy granddaughter, and followed that by hanging himself in a hotel room at age 30 - but only after slitting a wrist and writing a final poem in his own blood.
How's that for a poet with a flair for the dramatic? With your usual 20 seconds, how many poet-suicides can you name off the top? Extra credit: Which American wrapped herself in her mother's warm furs before lowering the garage door? Thanks much.
Michael Dirda: Chatterton, Hart Crane,Mayakovsky, Berryman, Plath, possibly Jarrell, Sexton--and was she the one who wrapped herself in furs? It seems right, but I can't remember. Twenty seconds is up.
Washington, D.C.:
Michael,
You mentioned in a chat last year that you might write about the NESFA Press' Fredric Brown and William Tenn collections. Have you written such a pieve yet?
Michael Dirda: No. But volume two of the Tenn was covered in a recent sf colum. I still would like to write about them, both favorites of mine. There is an interesting review of these volumes by James Sallis in a recent Magazine of Fantasy and SF. Sallis used to be a New Wave sf writer, but reforged himself into a crime novelist, translator and biographer (of Chester Himes).
Washington, D.C.:
Michael,
I was saddened to hear of the death of W.G. Sebald a few weeks ago. I know you've reviewed him, so could you recommend a book of his as a starting point?
Thanks!
Michael Dirda: Start with his first here The EMigrants. His autumnal, world-weary, Holocaust-burdened personality is one that people like a lot. Now why is that? Is it because we see ourselves, or someone worse off than ourselves? I wonder.
Reston, Va.:
I'm new to the chats -- Have you ever mentioned Diana Gabaldon or your opinion of her books?
Michael Dirda: For years I've meant to read Outlander and should have when I was doing a lot of research and reading in romances. But never did. I know she's written at least three sequels to that book too. Who would have thought there would be a genre of time-travel romance storeis?
Washington, D.C:
Hello Michael -- The Newbery and Caldecott awards will be given out on Jan. 21. Any thoughts on possible winners?
Michael Dirda: None. But I haven't kept up with children's books for the pst three or more years. And even when I did cover them, I always guessed wrong on the big awards. Only once did I name a winner: David Macaulay's Black and White.
Casa de Oro, Calif.:
Michael, Enjoyed your appearance on C-SPAN last weekend at the Folger Library. For some reason, the first time I saw you on tv, I didn't notice your laugh, as I did this time. All I can think of to call it is puckish. I got to wondering whether peoples' laughs change as they age and how much they give away about us.
Michael Dirda: Puckish--I think this is a good thing. Do you mean an ironic, what-fools-these-mortals-be kind of laugh? Or one more like we're all idiots together kind of laugh? I do have a wistful/self-deprecating kind of humor. But then I have lot to be wistful and self-deprecating about. Such a waste of talent! So many wrong decisions on life's way! There are times I feel I"m lucky not to be suicidal.
Certainly laughs tell us something. In my case, when I give talks I try to make people laugh so that they'll have a good time. And I like to laugh, so that I'll have a good time. I think I'm afraid of betraying a fundamentally shallow character.
Vienna, Va.:
On your advice from an earlier forum on the Lord of the Rings, I re-read Fellowship of the Rings and spent December with The Two Towers and Return of the King. Loved them all. Any reading recommendations for someone who was sorry to see the story end?
Michael Dirda: You could try The Silmarillion. Or look for similar books: Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy; T.H. White's Once and Future Kings series; the novels in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials sequence. Robert Heinlein's Glory Road. Jack Vance's dying earth novels. GEne Wolfe's complex Book of the New Sun.
Takoma Park, Md.:
I'm plowing through Robb Forman Dew's latest, "The Evidence Against her". Tough going, for some reason. I have fond memories of the two novels she wrote 15 years or so ago (Dale Loves Sophie to Death and another one).
What happened to her to make the quality fall off so far? Or is it just me?
Michael Dirda: Could be you. But authors lose their spark, or change and deepen when readers want the same stuff they wrote when young. We write as well as we can. Or rather as well as our wills allow us.
Washington, D.C.:
Which American's do you think are front-runners to win the Nobel over the next few years?
Roth?
Pynchon?
Updike?
DeLillo?
Dirda?
Someone else?
Michael Dirda: Someone else. Though Dirda would be a wildly popular choice. ALl the others are deserving.
Charlottesville, Va.:
And, by the way, I recommend Sallis's crime novels -- the latest of which just arrived. Have you read them? What do you think?
Michael Dirda: Haven't read them. But I'd like to. Havbe the first around here somewhere.
Silver Spring, Md.:
Have you been invited to talk to the Silver Spring friends of the library this year?
Michael Dirda: No. Surely, they've had enough of me.
Washington, D.C.:
Hi, Michael. I fear the gentleman from Milwaukee may be a little disappointed by Chicago second-hand stores. There is nothing so good as Milwaukee's own Renaissance Books and the Constant Reader. But the best Chicago has are Powell's (both the one on 57th Street, near the University of Chicago and the branch at 828 S. Wabash) and another bookstore down almost opposite the street from the University of Chicago Powell's, called something, something and O'Mara. You can't miss it if you make the trek down to Hyde Park, but be forewarned -- the University is about ten miles from the center of town. There is a good express bus, though.
Michael Dirda: Thanks. Yes, that's the bookshop I remember--and the O'mara's one too.
Takoma Park, Md.:
Good used bookstore in chicago:
I can't remember the name, but there is a good one right on lakeshore drive at about 8th street, right near the Frank Lloyd Wright foundation and all that.
The ones near the University are fabulous of course. I think one is named Powell's, originally related to the one in Portland but no longer.
Michael Dirda: Thanks. A different opinion.
Washington, D.C.:
Michael -- Thanks to your recommendation, I've been enjoying the books of P.G. Wodehouse over the past couple of years. I read one of Wodehouse's books every now and then, in no particular order -- just when I need an infusion of well-written humor. Currently, I'm reading "A Damsel In Distress." My questions: what are the best Wodehouse books, as you see them? And where can I get more information about Wodehouse himself, as well as a literary criticism of his work? Thanks.
Michael Dirda: Plum Lines reprinted a talk I gave at the Wodehouse convention in which I address just this question: Which are PGW's best books? I survey the critical opinion over the years. Top vote-getters, so to speak, are: The Code of the Woosters; Right Ho, Jeeves; Leave it to Psmith; Uncle Fred in the Springtime; The Mating Season. I'm particularly fond of the Mulliner stories.
Chicago Book Stores in Hyde Park:
Powells (used books -- some really great finds)
57th Street Books (Eclectic and wonderful new books)
Don't even BOTHER going into University of Chicago's bookstore -- it's a Barnes and Nobles
Michael Dirda: yes
re: Gabaldon:
Listened to a chunk of Outlander on tape during a recent road trip. Didn't find anything extraordinary about it, but it's solidly written and seems to have quite a bit of historical research behind it (at least as much as the typical Rutherford or Michener historical novel).
It's told in the first person -- I usually don't like that technique, but it works pretty well here since it's a kind of diary or memoir.
Michael Dirda: thanks
Washington, D.C.:
Assume you're talking about your own dime here: would you buy hardcovers, because they look nicer/last longer/etc., or paperbacks, because then you can buy more books for the same amount of money?
Michael Dirda: I buy mostly hardcovers,mostly firsts, mostly only when they're underpriced (in my view). If I need a book right away, I'll buy any edition I can find. But I don't really like paperbacks--except to see my name on them occasionally (praising the book).
Casa de Oro, Calif.:
Michael, I used to be told that friends could tell if I were present at a movie by identifying my laugh. I always liked the idea. I wanted to ask you if you had seen the catalog for the exhibit on readers at the Folger and if you thought it worth purchasing?
Michael Dirda: It's a very good, but scholarly book. Interesteing pictures. And a very good show. Why don't you sit down in a bookstore and spend 10 minutes with it and see if it's to your liking?
Swim-two-birds:
You said: "But authors lose their spark, or change and deepen when readers want the same stuff they wrote when young." Is there such a word as "shallowen"? If so, this statement would apply nicely to Larry McMurtry with that one word substituted. Do you agree with me that his first half-dozen books (Horseman, Pass By; Leaving Cheyenne; The Last Picture Show; All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers; Moving On; and even the now-dreaded-because-of-the-film Terms of Endearment) were those of a nicely maturing serious novelist, while his later books (including Lonesome Dove) have been mostly fluff, albeit of a very craftsmanlike order?
Michael Dirda: In a loose sense, yes. But I do like Walter BEnjamin at the Dairy Queen.
Reston, Va.:
Michael, some of those books you recommended as similar to LoTR aren't all that similar. The only similarity Glory Road has is that it, too, is a fantasy book. Otherwise, well, LoTR is suitable for 10-12 year olds, if they have the vocabulary, but Glory Road, what with the (admittedly understated) sex scenes, probably isn't.
Michael Dirda: Ah, but what is similar? I could say Terry Brooks, butg I"ve never read him, or Stephen Donaldson. But I like to suggest books I like,know and admire.So sometimes I stretch things a bit.
Washington, D.C.:
Do you know of any good used book stores in
Northwest, besides the usual culprits in Dupont Circle?
Michael Dirda: ONly in Georgetown. Is that Northwest?
Washington, D.C.:
Re: Chicago -- There are also a number of book shops up around Lincoln Park, near Clark Street and Diversey. Nothing very special, though.
So strange. All the great second-hand stores are moving to smaller cities. Milwaukee is a better book town than Chicago. Long Beach has Acres of Books, which shuts down anything in L.A. proper. Oakland and Berkeley now have better second hand stores than anything in San Francisco. And don't forget Powell's in Portland, Oregon and John King in Detroit. Real estate has killed second-hand book stores in the big cities.
Michael Dirda: Yes, a bookstore has to have cheap rents, which explains why they're often in run-down parts of town. ON the other hand, they do need traffic--else they might as well become online bookdealers--which is what many have become. Witness, Alphaville Books here in DC.
Reston, Va.:
Another good, or at least fun, fantasy series is the "Spellsinger" series by Alan Dean Foster. The first three anyway. After that it, like many other series (Xanth comes to mind), gets old in a hurry.
Michael Dirda: See, I just can't read books like these, or Piers Anthony. Cookie cutter stuff. But maybe I'm being overly elitist.
Washington, D.C.:
I have a question about first editions. I generally try to wait until things come out in paperback, but for some authors I just can't wait. I recently loaned my first edition of Margaret Atwood's Robber Bride to a friend, who returned it without the paper cover. She did find it and return it to me unscathed. Is there any reason to think that this first edition is currently worth more than later printings? Or is it likely to be at some point?
Michael Dirda: American firsts aren't likely to be wroth much; canadian firsts would be, since collectors like to follow the flag. As it is, Robber is such a recent book that it's not going to have much value for a long time, if ever. There are too many copies around.
Bonn, Germany:
You mentioned Chesterton's Father Brown stories last week. As it happened, some of the stories were on the radio this week -- my chance to get acquainted. "Yes," he said; "it must be very hard work to be a gentleman; but, do you know, I have sometimes thought that it may be almost as laborious to be a waiter." Nice stuff!
By the way, did you know that Frances Chesterton, G.K.'s wife, wrote the poem "Here is the little door" which Howells turned into a heartstoppingly beautiful Christmas carol?
Michael Dirda: I didn't know about the Carol. But yes, CHesterton's paradoxes are wonderful: A thing worth doing is worth doing badly.
Seattle, Wash.:
The other good used bookstore in Hyde Park (Chicago) is O'Gara and Wilson's across from Powell's and next to the Medici restaurant.
Fagan's is good for anthropology. And on Clark and Wellington (?) there used to be a rather odd bookstore with tons of books in the aisles, ridiculously low prices and some treasures to be found if you're willing to dig through the less than treasurable.
Michael Dirda: thanks
Vienna, Va.:
Michael,
Have you read much theology, either ancient or modern? Do you have any favorites?
Michael Dirda: Have I read much theology? You're talking to a former grad student in medieval literature, with an emphasis on patristics who once read 4,000 pages of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob, a commentary on the book of Job. IFavorite has to be Augustine--one of the greatest and most influential minds of all time.
Washington, D.C. Used Bookstores:
There's a pretty good one near Eastern Market, on C Street. I think it's called Capitol Hill Books. It's small and cluttered, but defintely worth a look.
Michael Dirda: Oh yes. thanks.
Concord, N.C.:
I have just finished Orhan Pamuk's My Name is Red, and thought it a wonderful novel. Any opinion on the novel or Pamuk?
Michael Dirda: Only that I've meant to read him.
Swim-two-birds, again:
"Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen."
Point taken. I should have specified his later fiction. He's still an interesting essayist (though I haven't caught up with WB at the DQ yet) (and why does that title remind me of "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"?).
Michael Dirda: southern stuff.
Washington, D.C. :
Baltimore has a fine used book store -- Kelmscott on West 25th Street. Also, the Second Story Annex in Rockville...
Michael Dirda: yes
Chicago, Ill.:
Of course the unofficial bookstore of the University of Chicago is the one to go to. The Seminary Co-op is the largest academic bookstore in America. After living near it and its sister store 57th Street books I have been disappointed by nearly every other bookstore in America. Two wonderful bookstores not be missed although they are not used booksellers.
Michael Dirda: thanks
Washington, D.C.:
Comments on Outlander: When you are someone whose favorite books are by AS Byatt and Marquez, as two examples, it is a bit embarrassing to admit you got sucked into Outlander. But I did. Just had to know what would happen next. Not fabulous but entertaining.
But, for an EXCELLENT writer of historical fiction I would recommend Sharon Kay Penman. Start with Here Be Dragons. The writing is good and the research is astonishing. (Who said truth is stranger then fiction?) Also, the author is signing her new book at Ollson's sometime this spring.
Michael Dirda: Ok. I'll look into her work.
Washington, D.C.:
There are good used book stores in Georgetown?!
Michael Dirda: Booked Up; Bartleby's; but these are primo books at comparable prices.
Charlottesville, Va.:
I second the recommendation of T.H. White's 'Once & Future King' series, having just re-read it myself over Thanksgiving (very comforting at this juncture in history, really) -- and am getting ready to re-read The Lord of the Rings, et. al., for the same reasons. Nothing like childhood favorites in times of stress.
Michael Dirda: thanks
Crofton, Md.:
I liked Left Hand of Darkness very much. Then I read the Dispossessed which I liked better. Her Always Coming Home was a challenge to say the least.
Michael Dirda: Beware of books that come with musical cassettes--such is my motto.
SciFiGirl:
I'm not a huge Stephen King fan (except for the Stand), but the Gunslinger series is an interesting fantasy series. I listend to the tapes as I stripped wall paper and painted my condo.
Michael Dirda: Yes, good suggestion.
Charlottesville, Va.:
Also, regarding the mention of Powell's in Portland -- I highly recommend their on-line site for used books. I've been delighted with selection, speed, quality, etc. I try there first before ABE.
Michael Dirda: REally? Doesn't Powell'scontribute to ABE or MBX etc?
Baltimore, Md.:
I'm sadly boycotting the used bookstore in my neighborhood because my friend tried ot sell a box of books in good condition (maybe 20 or so) and was provided with a $3 credit on paperbacks, $5 on hardcovers. Is this typical? He declined, but now they can't seem to locate his books and some on the shelf look suspiciosly like his own.
Michael Dirda: Bookshops tend to offer according to the desirablity of the books. Common ones aren't going to command high prices. A first of The Bluest Eye would be something else. STill, they shouldn't have lost the books--though things cna be confusing in a bookstore sometime.
Crofton, Md.:
Michael, I'm reading the Big Meaulnes Dennis
Drabelle's pick for Fewbruary also called
the Lost Domain. Hope this is the right one.
Are there others that Fournier wrote?
Michael Dirda: Not reallyh. He died in World War I. Did Denny mention that Fournier once taught french to a young T.S. Eliot?
Washington, D.C.:
Do you have an opinion on GV Desani's "All About H. Hatterr"? I am in the middle of the book, and have never read anything like it. It has to be the most under-rated book of all time. It makes Salman Rushdie's pyrotechnics seem lame. Please comment.
Michael Dirda: Love the book. Wrote a long piece on it when it was reissued some 10 or 15 years ago, with a subsequent novel called Hali (quite different). You should try Flann O'Brien or Gilbert Sorrentino if you like Desani's humor and verbal highjinks.
Washington, D.C. :
Idle Time Books on 18th Street in Adams Morgan isn't bad. And Kulturas (I and II) on Connecticut Avenue have some good stuff, albeit pricey.
Michael Dirda: Oh yes, I'd forgotten about them too. My problem is I don't tend to go to bookshops downtown much any more.
Washington, D.C. :
Now Charlottesville is a terrific used-book town.
Michael Dirda: Yes.
Washington, D.C.:
Michael,
Do you and J. Yardley ever want to review the same book? Who gets first choice in such cases?
Curious minds...
Michael Dirda: Sometimes. Usually the one who asks first. But this is rarer than you might think. Our tastes only overlap in a few areas.
Crofton, Md.:
What is your opinion on James Joyce. I'm reading Finnegan's Wake with the help of William York Tyndall's book. It really is extraordinary.
Have you read Andre Dubus?
Michael Dirda: That's Finnegans Wake. Well, what can I say? yes, it is extraordinary: after all, it's all about the abnihilisation of the etym.
Virginia:
After a day spent trying to salvage an incoherent piece of drivel, I'm wondering: Are there any well-known authors (past or present) who were more the products of good editing than any real writing skill? Anyone who is notorious for turning in sloppy, unskilled writing that then must be saved by an editor?
Michael Dirda: Yes, and several work right at this newspaper or did work. But I'm not naming names. Some authors like Stephen King seemed to produce better books when they listened to their editors in their younger days.
Cambridge, Mass.:
Been reading a bunch of Ross Thomas lately. "Chinaman's Chance" is my current favorite. Witty, tough and twisty as hell. Your thoughts?
Michael Dirda: I revere the memory of Ross Thomas, a wonderful kind man and a terrific writer. CHinaman's Chane is one of his best, though I have some problems with its ending.
Alexandria, Va.:
L. Ron Hubbard was the reclusive leader of a secretive religious sect.
Isn't it likely that the Scientology sect wrote all those recent L. Ron Hubbard novels and then attributed the books' authorship to the sect's leader?
After all, Hubbard never toured to promote the books or furnished evidence that he wrote them.
Michael Dirda: Who knows? L. Ron died a few years back anyway. BUt he did write those early books, several of which are pretty good in their pulpish way. E.g> FInal Blackout.
Virginia:
What do you think of Ambrose and his plagiarism?
Maybe all the books in the library of Congress should be scanned by inmates in jails.
washingtonpost.com:
New Allegations Against Historian (AP, Jan. 10, 2002)
Michael Dirda: I don't know what I think yet.
Story Hill, Milwaukee, Wis.:
Thanks for all the Chicago tips. Everyone is correct about Milwaukee being a good used book city. Rennaissance even has an outlet in the airport (isn't that a great idea!). Dedicated book hunters should also include Madison on their trip to Dairyland. A large number of good stores.
Michael Dirda: thanks
Washington, D.C.:
Michael -- A related question on editing: how much editing do you folks do on the reviews that "outside" reviewers do for Book World?
Michael Dirda: I believe in editing as lightly as possible. Clarity comes first, then grace, then personality--though all are, of course, interlaced together.
Rockville, Md.:
There have been a number of Capitol Hill types that have published mystery novels over the last dozen or so years, foremost is Margaret Truman, but also one of the Roosevelt sons, Ron Nesson, several senators, etc. Do they really write these books, or is there a mystery ghost factory that gets names to put on books of variable quality?
Michael Dirda: Varies. some write them, others hire ghosts.
Seattle, Wash.:
Have you ever read Wilton Barnhardt's novel "Gospel"? If you have, what did you think of it? It's the story of a University of Chicago theology professor in search of a lost gospel. Having disappeared and taken the University's credit card with him, the chair of the department sends a rather mousy graduate student to look for him. The two of them end up traveling through Ireland, Italy, Israel, the Sudan, Greece and Mt. Athos and the American south. Very much a graduate student's novel in that it is chock-a-block full with arcane bits of religious historical trivia. Narrative chapters alternate with a "translation" of chapters from this lost gospel. A rather enjoyable read although the ending is a tad weak given what comes before.
Do you have any favorite "lost manuscript" stories. Name of the Rose and Aspern Papers come to mind as being rather good. Thanks
Michael Dirda: You might try Lempriere's Dictionary,by Lawrence Norfolk. Also some M.R. James and Lovecraft stories have crumbling or lost manuscripts of hideous power.
Washington, D.C.:
Who are your favorite satirists? I'm partial to Joseph Heller, but would like to explore others.
Michael Dirda: Voltaire.
Alexandria, Va.:
What's your take on the old morality of literature debate? Should we look for moral content in fiction, a la Leavis (and James Wood, in a different way)? Or are you with Nabokov and Martin Amis -- we should "read with our backs," "the telltale tingle of the shoulderblades" and all that?
Michael Dirda: I'm with Nabokov and Amis. I don't care about morality in ficiton; I care about words and esthetic pleasure. But I did say earlier that I was shallow.
Vienna, Va.:
Any opinions on Robert Creeley?
Michael Dirda: Some neat poems; interesting career. Never read a lot of him.
Bethesda, Md.:
Have you read Driving Mr. Albert by Michael Paterniti? If so, what did you think? I think it was reviewed in Book World but wanted your opinion.
Michael Dirda: My friend Curt Suplee liked it in Book world, but I didn't read it. My sense is htat it was a fun book, but not one I needed to read. And if I wanted fun, I like mine to be a little zanier. But I could be selling the book short since I never read it.
Charlottesville, Va.:
yes, it does -- but it's likely to have most, or all, of what I'm looking for, all in one place. Or at least it has so far -- so it's more one-stop shopping.
Michael Dirda: Well, a lot of people recommend c-ville for used books. So the next time any of you are driving in virginia. ..
And that brings us to the end of this week's session. See you next week for more Dirda on Books. Till thursday at 2--keep reading!
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