"Immersion in the life of the world, a willingness to be inhabited by and to speak for others, including those beyond the realm of the human, these are the practices not just of the bodhisattva but of the writer." --Jane Hirshfield

Monday, March 22, 2010

On Not Quitting Your Day Job

Although the NEA reports that "full-time writers and authors" earn a median annual salary over $50,000, it's a bit hard to believe, unless they are talking about corporate and technical "writers." Check out the comments to this NY Times blog entry, a couple of published authors have something to say.

The NEA report is here.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Bizarre Book Observation of the Day


At the library: The new Ray Carver bio has arrived (Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life) per my order -- but I had to wipe the cover off! It had unidentified yucky stuff all over it, and a distinct plate-ring. Shocking! To think that the same person who would read such a book would also defile it. I mean, come on, it's brand new and expensive. How inconsiderate can someone be? I'm going to start it asap, altho I am a little afraid now to look inside at the pages. *I hate when there is gross stuff in library books* So much for tax dollars at work -- I, personally, would never lend my books to a slob. I guess I feel that library books are communal property, so in some sense "my" book *was* lent to a slob.

I am going to try to read The Elegance of the Hedgehog first -- it's not renewable because someone has requested it, and even tho I have no idea who -- the same slob? -- I feel conscience-bound to hurry up. This volume has also been defiled -- now I remember why I buy so many books. This one has water damage. Is nothing sacred?

I love my library and I am not the only one in my house who does. Sachi enjoys our visits very much and goes directly to where the dog biscuits are kept, sitting patiently until someone can attend to him. He has so favorably impressed one of the librarians that she brought him a bag of rib bones. They were delicious, according to all evidence. (They disappeared.) If he were a human child, I'm sure that a treat of that magnitude would be a great strategy for getting him to love books. As he is a young canine, I am not sure where the karma will lead. Maybe he'll cease the occasional ear-splitting yip of protest while I am browsing the shelves and the $.25 bin.