I'm Trying To Read More

People Know That Pain Is Part Of Our Nature, That It Cannot Be Avoided And That It Should Not Be Avoided. But Capitalism In This Country Is Focused On The Idea 1) That Life Can And Should Be Absolutely Beautiful; 2) That Beauty Can Be Defined According To An Ironclad Objective Standard; 3) That Beauty Can Be Held Onto Forever If Only You Do The Right Things Perfectly Enough; And 4) That It Can Be Purchased.

I Believe That God Locates Himself At The Spot Where You Recognize Your Own Fallibility....and The Paradox Of It All Has Been That Whenever I Give Up I Seem To Do Better.

The Great Recession Is Not Imaginary, And The Effects Loom Large. There Was An Article In The Nyt About The Galloping Death Rate Among White Men In Middle Age. Higher Than Among Any Other Demographic, Etc. Mostly Death By Drugs, Alcohol, Or Suicide. Many Of Them Rural. My Feeling Is That It's Many People Who Haven't Been Able To Get Back Into The Work Force. Reg Morse Is An Example Of The Problem.

Have I Mentioned That I Expect Death Around Every Turn, That Every Blue Sky Has A Safe Sailing Out Of It, That Every Bus Runs Me Over, That Every Low, Mean Syllable Uttered In My Direction Seems To Intimate The Violence Of Murder, That Every Family Seems Like An Opportunity For Ruin And Every Marriage A Ceremony Into Which Calamity Will Fall And Hearts Will Be Broken And Lives Destroyed And People Branded By The Mortifications Of Love?

So While It Is True That I Find Really Dark Stuff Funny Sometimes, It's Also True That As A Writer Of Books I Want To Have The Whole Range Of Human Emotions.