This book keeps with the theme lately of reading lesser-known books by well-known authors. I read Pattern Recognition by William Gibson previously. David Foster Wallace is of course best known for Infinite Jest.
It's an odd premise to describe. A late-1970s “wasteoid” looks back on his transition to becoming an IRS accountant. That greatly simplifies what is actually a very profound book about enthusiasm, life's purpose, understanding our parents, and the transition to adulthood. It's a short book and written in a conversational stream-of-consciousness style. In fact, it struck me as funny that the book is called Something to Do with Paying Attention, but the narrator constantly gets side-tracked and goes off on tangents. It makes the writing feel very real as different memories often spawn other memories before realizing we've lost our train of thought and getting back on track.
This is a hard book to describe. It's the first book by Gibson that I've read; I haven't read the more well-known Neuromancer. I've tried several times to describe it to my wife, but it always comes out as a weird amalgam of plot details.
Cayce Pollard suffers from an allergy to certain brands that makes her indispensable in the advertising world as a taste-maker and advisor. In her personal life, she is obsessed with snippets of online video that have become a viral sensation on message boards. This is early 2000s internet, and the book reflects the sort of optimistic and trusting environment that permeated online. The book delves into her search for the creator of the footage and plays out like a mystery/spy novel, where everyone has an angle and Cayce is trying to sort out the truth.
I have a curious ritual lately when I start a new book. I have a tray of bookmarks, nothing fancy, just the disposable kind you get at bookstores, libraries and events. I try to pick one up whenever I visit a new independent bookstore. Each one is different. Some have funny illustrations or quotes. They're tiny works of art.
Each time I start a new book, I look through them for a bookmark that matches the theme of the book or maybe the mood I'm in when starting the book. It's a small joy to rifle through and pick out a new bookmark to mark the beginning of a new literary journey!
I'm staring at the blank page of a new writing journey. I've had this domain name for a long time, but I always just had it forward to my business page. In the back of my mind, I always thought it should be something more personal.
When I was in college, a family member bought me a subscription to Sacred Journey. The magazine ended many years ago, but it was a monthly interfaith magazine that brought together articles from across different faith traditions. Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American, Muslim, Judaism, Christianity; they were all there, one right after the other. It was a fascinating glimpse into some of the similarities and differences that weave together the different faiths of the world.
