A big "fuck you" goes out to litbrit, The Minstrel Boy and David at Quaker Agitator, all of whom dragged me into this kicking and screaming.
I guess I should be flattered that someone would think I'm literary. I don't think I've read a book of fiction since the 1980s. My current reading is pretty much limited to the New York Times and the liner notes from CDs. However, if I apply myself I can probably fake my way through it.
Here goes:
1. One book that has changed your life: “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society” by Peter McWilliams. This book changed my life by really simplifying it. I learned to stop agonizing over right vs. wrong. If two consensual adults want to do it, and it harms no one else, it’s none of my fucking business.
2. One book you have read more than once: God, this is tough. It’s enough for me to read a book once! I may have read “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan more than once. And I’d be very surprised if I didn’t read “Does It Matter: Essays on Man’s Relation to Materiality” by Alan Watts at least twice. In fact I’d like to read that one again now that I have it out on the desk.
3. One book you would want on a Desert Island: Well now. That question is tough because I have no way of knowing what the conditions are going to be on this island. Will I have shelter? Will I have my partner or be totally alone on this island? If I’m alone and going to be there forever, I’d probably want “The Norton Anthology of Literature By Women.” With more than 2,400 pages, that would keep me occupied awhile. I might also want my World Atlas just so I can see the places I can no longer visit.
On 2nd thought, screw those; I'd rather have this one.
4. One book that made you laugh: “Napalm & Silly Putty” by George Carlin. Who wouldn’t laugh at lines like this: “Why was brown excluded from the rainbow? And where did indigo come from? I was taught there were three primary colors and three secondary colors. What’s with this indigo shit?
5. One book you wish you had written: “Flowers and Their Messages” by The Mother. It’s basically like a dictionary of over 800 flowers and their spiritual significance. “Trumpet bush: Higher Mind. Its superiority consists in its capacity to open the door to the Divine Light.”
6. One book you wish had never been written: Probably the one that hasn't been written, if it ever is: President George W. Bush's Memoirs.
7. One book that made you cry: “The House of Mirth” by Edith Wharton. She is just so eloquent – her writing is such beautiful art.
8. One book you are currently reading: "Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness" by Robert Thurman (Uma's daddy!).
9. One book you've been meaning to read: “The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light – Mythology, Sexuality & the Origins of Culture” by William Irwin Thompson. This was a textbook in my History of Women in Witchcraft class I took as an elective history course back in the mid-80s. At the time I found the book to be just too deep for me.
10. One book you wish everybody would read: “Close to the Knives – A Memoir of Disintegration” by David Wojnarowicz. As William S. Burroughs said, “Pick up his book and listen.”
11. Now tag five people . . No way. I don’t even know 5 people. How about the first 5 people who show up here who haven’t already participated. Just leave your names in the comments. There is one I'd like to name: Holly Capote -- a writer herself, so that would be interesting!
WHEW! Now that I've finished this and have all these books out on my desk, I feel pretty damn good. I was kidding about the "fuck you" comment. I haven't had a "homework assignment" in eons and it's good to get yourself stretched a bit occasionally. This was a tiring exercise and I feel like the guy below in the photo of the day!
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