The narrator in John Fante’s The Road to Los Angeles kept reminding me of Ignatius J. Riley in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. But without the heart. Both characters are really incapable of functioning in the world. Both live at the bottom of society, relying on the good graces of their mother for support. Both are convinced of their own genius and not … Continue reading The Road to Los Angeles by John Fante
C.J. and I visited Los Angeles this past week to see the James Kerry Marshall retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the same show we saw last summer in Chicago. We’ve become big fans of Mr. Marshall’s work. It was a mad-cap three-day trip–drive down, day in L.A. and drive home–but we managed to visit three bookstores while we were there. We stayed in … Continue reading Sunday Ramble: Travels, Art and Jane Austen Challenge
I was in Los Angeles last week for the AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) convention last week which was a lot of fun. I attended three days worth of panels on writing and publishing, got more useful material for my classroom than I expected, and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of quality literary journals on display in the exhibit hall. I knew … Continue reading L.A. Literary Match-Up: Skylight Books vs. The Last Bookstore.
May Contain Spoilers 