RECOMMENDED READING: T.C. BOYLE’S ‘GOING DOWN’

Recommended reading for writers?

Common advice is to read everything, whatever that means.

Do I read everything? Everything in a bookstore, or library?

No, I read for inspiration, I read for cause, and my cause is writing.

Back in the day, mid-70’s, I came into some unexpected money due to an Army accounting error.

(I was in the Army at the time.)

Nearly $1000 in mid-70’s dollars.

If I had the purchasing power of a mid-70’s grand today I’d buy a Gibson Jumbo acoustic guitar.

Back then I could have had four or five of them, but the guitar bug hadn’t bit hard enough.

With a plan to ‘Read Everything’ I bought the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics course held in a downtown Philadelphia hotel ballroom.

It was a commitment to education because I’d leave the Army, enroll at UofO in Eugene as an English major, and read like a mad man.

Eventually I calmed down for better comprehension.

I took English major classes, ignored university requirements, then dropped out and moved to NYC. How many writers do that?

I stopped in Delaware along the way for a broken engagement to a nice lady. Hey, Anne.

I Read In Order To Better Write, And I Need It

Last night I read ‘Going Down’ by T.C. Boyle.

It’s on my recommended reading list for other writers because it’s two stories in one seamless tale.

Think about that and give it a try. There’s an echo of Kilgore Trout from Kurt Vonnegut books.

It’s about relationships, that much I’ll say.

A man adjusts to his new normal at home while reading a book from his college kid’s collection when real life interrupts him.

What is more important, real life, or reading life? That’s the question.

Is there a difference when your attention is needed elsewhere with fifteen pages to go and you’re on edge to find out ‘what happened?’

You ought to know the difference, got to know the difference.

Recommended Reading For The Boyle Difference

How often do you take a hit and keep going?

Everyday?

It should be every damn day if you’re paying attention. It’s a knock down drag out world.

Eventually you wonder if it’s only you taking hits since everyone else is moving along quite happily.

But, that’s not how things work.

The movie ‘The Descendants’ has an opening line about Hawaii and how people think things are so different there. Cancer isn’t as bad, heart disease is more mild.

George Clooney’s character clears things up.

T.C. Boyle does the same work, clearing things up.

No matter how bad things get, they could and do get worse.

A recommended reading post on boomerpdx aims to comfort.

If you’re reading this from a hospital bed in an ICU unit with arms and hands full of needles and tubes, your probably miserable and worried. I know I was.

But, and it’s a big but, you’re not on fire.

Too dramatic? Of course.

Now see yourself in your favorite chair near a nice light with Boyles latest work.

Are you there? Can you see Tom flicking a lighter in the corner?

Do you want to see him flicking a lighter?

Yes, you do.

After reading, keep up with the author on twitter.

It’s a warming follow with rewards from an experienced teacher.