Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Man Without A Country *

For no particular reason I was kind of feelin' down today. For those of you who know me (which is none of you) you are probably thinking "what do you mean you're down? Aren't you always down?" No, I'm usually Surly but today I was feelin' down. So I went to the only place I know I'll be treaded somewhat like a human being. No, not the IHOP.

The Library.

While I was there I was trying to draw up some roughs for a project that's due in a few days but I was hitting a wall mentally and wasn't able to focus on the project. Why? Because I was down! I thought I just explained that! So I then went to wandering the library for inspiration. What I found were two books The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Kurt Vonnegut's A Man Without a Country. I took a pass on Conrad. I've already been reading some heavy stuff lately and I wanted to read something fun again and just like meeting a old childhood friend I see Kurt Vonnegut. Yeah, I said "childhood" friend. I was smarter when I was younger and in my early teens Kurt was one of my favorite authors. Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five are still some of my favorite reads. Besides it was the title itself what drew me in instantly.

A Man Without a Country.

This is a saying I have used to self describe myself in my mind lately and all of a sudden I see a book written by one of my most favorite authors using this very same title. It was serendipitous!
So I start reading and after the first three pages I was hooked and better yet I was feeling better. So I checked it out and went to get some comfort food at DZ Akins and got a hamburger and and mint oreo shake. Holy SHIT! Its no wonder chicks eat chocolate and ice cream when they are depressed that shit actually works. I just usually just eat cooked animal fresh when I need comfort. So along with the chocolate shake and Kurt which I finished both in one sitting within an hour I suddenly felt better. Do yourself a favor and go read A Man Without a Country. Its funny and will probably make you feel better like it did me. Its a really quick read (141 pages) practically the length of a long winded magazine article. You won't regret it. Reading it I realized that Kurt died just over a year ago. I'm glad I read one of his last written works.

"Kurt is in heaven now"

Read the book and that will make more sense.

Well, gotta get back to work. Wait,is Lost on tonight? Fuck it. I'm gonna watch that shit. I gotta bust out the rabbit ears.


-E

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

All right, with that glowing endorsement I'll have to read it. I don't think I've read any of his stuff which is probably both ridiculous and remarkable considering how much I read.