The top shelf of my desk holds a row of tiny books. There's a miniature edition of nursery rhymes, a guide to Japanese gardening, a flip book of Eadward Muybridge photos (the bird flies or a man jumps, depending which way you flip the book's pages). You'll even find Nancy Drew's very brief Guide to Life.
Last spring, when I was in San Francisco, I bought a set of tiny books from a street vendor, Thom Schimer. Lately, I've been reading Kevin Spenst's collection, Fast Fictions. I always love it when I experience synchronicity in what I'm reading. That happened in 'A Story Both Big and Small'. The story makes reference to November, 1972, then closes by referring to a date 36 years after that -- in other words, now.[N.B. bad math -- that would be one year from now -- will have to re-read the story next November]
The stories are all over the place, but prompted me to insert stickies in many different spots throughout the book -- bits of language that jumped off the page and made me want to read them again. But for sheer imagination power, Spenst is at his best in 'What the Soup Told Me To Do'.
He's reading again Sunday (the 25th) at Bibliophile on Commercial Drive. The event begins at 5 p.m.
1 comment:
thanks for the mention on your blog, i actually didn't stumble across it until now, i shall do my best to keep you updated on any future readings and a documentary about my fifty readings around town which should screen in march,
happy new year !!
kevin
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