a literary blog
When it comes to exercise, I’m a Mark Twain kind of guy. At his 70th birthday party, feted by 170 people in the Red Room at Delmonico’s in New York City, Twain said, “I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot be any benefit when you are tired; I was always tired” (The New York Times, Dec. 6, 1905). [Read more…] about Loathsome, tiresome exercise
For the past few years, the university has been doing a “common reads” program wherein a committee picks out a Serious Book for everyone to read and discuss, and possibly for faculty to squeeze into their courses somehow. Usually I score a free copy of these books, but this year I missed out — a rare thing where me and freebies are concerned. Being a Team Player, I went to Amazon to see if I could buy a cheap Kindle edition. As best I could remember, this year’s book was called “Submission” or “The Submission” or “The Submissive.” Let me tell you, when it comes to novel titles, a definite article or a couple letters at the end of a noun make a big difference! For a few minutes, as I read the reviews of two novels called “Submission” and a trilogy called “The Submissive,” I was thinking, hot damn, we’re getting somewhere now. They weren’t the kind of books I normally read, mind you, but like I said, I’m a Team Player.
Well, it turns out the real common reads book is “The Submission,” which appears appropriately Serious and not the least bit pornographic.
I plan to get to it right after I finish the trilogy.