I recently read Anne Lammot’s essay “Shitty First Drafts,” from her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. It was one of the more helpful essays about writing I’ve read. (It’s in a few places online if you look for it.) I’d love to read the whole book sometime.
As I’ve been applying for jobs, I’ve been going back over old résumés of mine that are in the bowels of my computer. In the process, I’ve stumbled upon a lot of random stuff I’ve written over the years. Best of all, some of it seems workable! I may actually start writing for pleasure again, yay!
Speaking of doing things for pleasure, I’m currently in the middle of four books and I started a fifth one yesterday.
I’ve read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer once before and I really like it, so I’m re-reading it. (It always seems like a good summer book.) Christopher McCandless seems like he was a super interesting and complex guy, and while I’ve never idealized him, at times I can relate to his idealism and his yearning to lead a simple life. Jon Krakauer is a good journalistic writer, too.
In the same vein, I’ve also started (barely) The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant. I know people who have loved it, but I haven’t gotten very far yet. (Maybe because I’m reading four other books.)
The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet is a quiet, amazing book. It documents the summers Blanchet spent with her children sailing around Vancouver Island, B.C. It would be an amazing story no matter when it took place, but the fact that Blanchet and her children took these trips in the 1920s and 1930s (when much of the island was extremely unpopulated and desolate,) is, in the truest sense of the word, awesome.
Steve Dublancia started his blog, Waiter Rant, in 2004, and he used it to document his time as a waiter in various New York restaurants. He remained anonymous for years, but shortly after he published the book version of his blog in 2008, he revealed his identity. His essays are often funny and full of astute observations about his customers, co-workers and the world in general (before working as a waiter, Dublancia attended seminary before dropping out and worked at a mental health hospital,) but they can be a bit self-congratulatory as well. However, anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant can relate to and appreciate his essays.
Finally, I picked up a copy of Steve Martin’s autobiography Born Standing Up. I’ve loved Steve Martin for most of my life, but when I read his novel Shopgirl when I was in high school, I was like “oh, okay, he gets it.” I’m not very far into Born Standing Up but I’m enjoying it and Martin’s writing is excellent.
What are your summer books? Any good recommendations? I realized all the books I’m reading are non-fiction or based on true events, but I really love good fiction, too. (After all, I spent four years of my life studying it!)
