He was clumsy at almost everything that required any sort of physical exertion; litheness was an unattainable pursuit. Goddamn genes. Yet, there he stood, at the edge of what he was told was a 50 meter drop. Nausea set in. It wasn’t too late to back out; but what would he tell them?
“Hey Earl, [...]

Over the last few years, churches have become something of a curiosity to me: places where you go to see other people wallow in their guilt and delusions. It’s especially weird considering I used to be an altar boy. Not the abused kind.
Realizing that the last time I visited a church was over a year [...]

Carefully unkempt twenty somethings with guitars standing next to bright red and blue boxes; another new indie band promoting cheerful nihilism. Methodically flipping through the pages once every two minutes, I thought to myself about what a creep I was being.
From the corner of my eye I watched her purse her [...]

Epiphanies are dime a dozen; even while packing stuff into boxes. Nomadic exasperation perhaps. I’ve realized I have just a single pair of jeans; that too, one that hasn’t been washed in a couple of months and has been worn more times than it was designed for. All my t-shirts have insignias of marginally obscure [...]

Once in a while, you read a book that is an entirely intimate and personal experience. It’s extremely gratifying but unnerving to read about a protagonist who shares your traits, quirks and personal philosophy. This was one such book for me.
This Book Will Save Your Life is a satire of affluence and it’s pitfalls. Richard [...]

Yale: I mean we’re just people. We’re just human beings, you know? You think you’re God.
Isaac Davis: I… I gotta model myself after someone.
-Manhattan ( 1979,Woody Allen)

Ever since I can remember, I’ve never been satisfied with who I was. I’ve always pretended to be somebody with quirky tastes and admirable eccentricities. But then, that is [...]

Consciousness is a terrible curse. I think, I feel, I suffer.

I woke up this morning with a strong urge to write a short piece on Charlie Kaufman; screenwriter extraordinaire. (This is a prelude, a practice exercise if you will for another essay on Kaufman I’ll be writing soon for…academic (sic) purposes.)
Charlie Kaufman for [...]

Time, time, time, see whats become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter 
                                  -Simon & Garfunkel

 
http://www.amazon.com/Everyman-Philip-Roth/dp/061873516X
Philip Roth’s writings remind me of some of Ethan Canin’s best works. Depressing and uplifting at the same time. It’s a very personal work yet eminently relateble.
The story (if you can call it that) begins at the unnamed protagonist’s (everyman if you may)  funeral and ends at his death. The book explores memories (mostly of regret) [...]

Thanks to Sify Broadband Services and their incompetence, my internet connection at home is still not up. The good thing is that I’ve finally gotten time to get back to a few books.
A Devil’s Chaplain by Richard Dawkins

“What a book a devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low and horridly cruel works [...]