Put Down The ...

I'm reading a book that is difficult to put down. You know the kind. The ones that you're still reading at 3 am because you just want to finish that page, well one more chapter, and then damn you're almost done anyway so you might as well just finish it.

There are a few authors I like whose books always generate this response from me. When I get my hands on Thomas Pynchon's new book this month, not much is going to get done for a while (and since it's supposed to be 1,000+ pages, we could be talking next spring.)

There are exactly two authors who I like a lot and can't read very often. The problem is I get to the end of their work and become very depressed. It's not that the story is depressing. It's more like envy. I read their books as a youth and I wanted to write books just like the ones they wrote, but knoweing I never would. I'll have to go back and re-read some Vonnegut and Harlan Ellison but I don't think my reaction will change much.

The book I'm reading now is by Spider Robinson. It's a more recent book, published in 2000, and reads like a primer to the characters of his Callahan series, all of whom go on Spider's florida vacation. But the bottom line is it's a fun read and I haven't read much else since I started it.

Not even my own work. Damn, I think he might be author number three.