Eating Words, Loving Friends

There are very few things I love more in life than good books and good friends. In fact, these things will sustain me for a very long time. During the past couple of weeks, my friends have been very active in my life and I'm humbled by the amount of love they've shown me. But, I'm also grateful for the books I've befriended and their authors, whose work means the world to me. As a writer, I appreciate what is required to produce a good book. As a writing teacher, I deeply appreciate the investment of time and skill demanded each time a writer sits before an empty computer screen. Writing is truly one of the most difficult things one can do.

When it comes to reading, I devour books, eating them page by page. I swallow commas whole, without chewing. And, metaphors. Well, I relish metaphors, nibbling at the edges until I get to the center. Yes, enjoying a good book is much like tasting a good dish that has layers of flavors.

When I was studying for my Master's Degree, I read voraciously. I read and read and read books about my topic: History in Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, an account of the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in the United States, following the Mexican-American War.

Cather's book is based on the real lives of two Jesuit priests who were brought to the  New Mexico Territory (after it became part of the United States) to build an archdiocese in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and their efforts to assimilate indigenous peoples living in the area. My premise (or thesis) was that Cather had written a work of fiction about historical events, in order to explore notions of racism, expansionism, warfare and manifest destiny in ways that would make it easier for  her readers to grasp their consequences.

To gather enough information to support my premise, I read thirty or forty more books about Cather as a writer, as well as several interviews conducted with her, books written by literary critics, and other historical works about the period. I read and read and read. In fact, my list of sources was about thirteen pages in length.

That amount of reading may sound daunting, but I read even more while studying for my doctorate degree. I don't think I can tell you how many books I read, but I read a lot of them and read them very fast. I was on a fast-track for completing my Ph.D., and was the first one to finish my studies in my class of cohorts. It took me a little over three years and the last year was spent doing intense research (I conducted a case study on six professional writers) and writing. During that year  I also taught three journalism courses and advised a college literary journal and radio station. My husband and I barely saw each other during that time.

The majority of my reading was done to prepare for comprehensive examinations--a set of tests each doctoral candidate must take, and pass, successfully. I read books about composition theory, cognitition and language, language acquistion, composition pedagogy, as well as books about my area of specialization, Narrative Theory and Research. I knew when I entered the program that I'd probably have to read about 150-200 books to prepare and (counting all the books I read for my classes), I probably read at least that many. I read and read and read, my friend.

Several years later, I read, on average, about six different books at a time. Since I teach, I'm always reading a textbook (my least favorite genre to read).  In addition, I read poetry everyday. Currently, I'm reading two novels, Zadie Smith's On Beauty and Alice Mc Dermott's After This, as well as Carlos Fuentes' collection of short stories, On Families. Am also re-reading a book for my book club that's published online, seventeen student narratives, and re-reading a couple of religious texts.

I'm a bit of a reading snob, who believes that all readers have the right to walk away from a book that's not entertaining or interesting (unless it's required reading, of course). I have high expectations of authors and find myself judging their work as I read, much like I'm reading a student's written work. One book that really bothered me as I read it was Jonathan Franzen's, The Corrections. This was an Oprah favorite read and everyone I knew was reading it, so I bought it too. But, about fifty pages into the book, I grew bored reading about American middle-class angst and put it down.

One of my favorite books is Italo Calvino's If on a Dark Winter's Night a Traveler, which, on the surface, is a mystery story. However, it's really a book about story telling, and very experimental in nature. Calvino creates a narrator who speaks (figuratively, of course) to the reader, telling him/her to get settled in a comfortable chair with a drink before beginning to read. It's quite engaging to have a narrator speak to you as you read. A great technique.

I encourage students to become reading snobs, too. I want them to expect interesting stories. They should expect to be brought into the story by wonderful imagery, an interesting plot line, fascinating characters, and moving passages that are beautifully crafted.

My mother used to tell me that it takes the same amount of time and energy to write a good book as a bad one. But, I don't agree. Good writing takes forever. This is one thing I want my students to know.