During the winter break, I’ll actually have time to read some things for pleasure, and you can bet I will be packing in as much as I can. First, I’m going to be re-reading Absalom, Absalom! (though I am genuinely excited about it, the exclamation point is officially part of the title, which is why I italicized it) by our old friend Mr. Faulkner. When that’s done, I have some perusing of an English 102 textbook to do in preparation for the class I’m teaching next semester and some other decidedly nerdy stuff: Lakoff and Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By, Donald Davidson’s Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation, and How Novels Think by Nancy Armstrong.
If there’s time after that, I might just read Knockemstiff, the collection of short stories by Donald Ray Pollack. I’d also like to read the new Zadie Smith novel, NW, and Inventing Wine by Paul Lukacs (those last two are on my wish list if you are thinking of buying me something… ahem, Mom).
And guess what? If you still don’t have your copies of Zen, Mississippi and the Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter, you might could still obtain them before Christmas if you act quickly.
M. David Hornbuckle 