The Moxie Boy wants you to drink Moxie!
Moxie is a distinctly different soft drink that was once more popular than Coca-Cola, or Pepsi. Now, it’s an iconic regional soft drink with a cult-like fan base and a festival in its honor.
For the uninitiated, the Moxie Festival occurs the second weekend in July, just like it has been now for the past 30 years. The place is Lisbon Falls, the town where I grew up and still live across the Androscoggin River from. Continue reading
David Foster Wallace’s final book, “The Pale King.”
My last “big books” post was at the end of March when I covered Richard Russo’s memoir. I intended to do one of these each month, as my reading, even at this year’s slightly less robust pace, has yielded intriguing reads in April and May.
Actually, what I intended for April was a review of David Foster Wallace’s, The Pale King, which I finished reading near the end of the month. This was Wallace’s final book, published posthumously, from the remains of a manuscript he left behind. Continue reading
Richard Russo’s latest book, “Elsewhere,” a memoir.
My choices in reading tend towards nonfiction. Given a choice of reading a novel or a nonfiction tome on sociology, history, urban planning, et al, I’m going to choose the latter nine out of 10 times. If I want something a bit lighter, I’ll opt for essays, or even a biography.
Writers that manage to do both, especially that small group that do both well, garner my attention. Some of those writers I’ve written about here and in some other blogs of mine; David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, and Barbara Kingsolver are three that quickly come to mind. I’ll add a fourth to that list in Richard Russo, now that he’s released a memoir. Continue reading
Why read? That seems to be the question at hand since I’m once more at the end of a calendar year with another assortment of books read over the course of the past 12 months. With a list like this comes some sort of requirement to justify the time I invested in making my way through these books. Hence, I report back to you, dear reader.
The rediscovery of reading transformed my life back in 1997. I say “rediscovery” because like so many, I’d found other second rate substitutes for books and reading in the course of leaving school and entering the realm of work. Now I’ve come back to an even more essential task—reading broadly. I wish a few more of you would begin wrestling with this task. Continue reading
I wrote a post the other day about knowing what you’re good at. I’m planning to follow that up with another post about doing things that you are passionate about.
I know a bit about following my passion. I’ve done that with my writing. Continue reading
A comment on my Facebook page reminded me of the journey I’m on, and how it began. The commenter referenced the title of a book by M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled: The New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth. Continue reading
The subject of writing a book came up during a conversation I had yesterday. During the course of meeting with someone about the possibility of partnering on future projects, my friend mentioned that she’d love to write a book. I mentioned that she should. Continue reading
Readers of my other blog, Digital Doorway, know that I love books and reading. Last year, I read more than 30 books.
My mother is the one who taught me that books matter, and that reading is important, walking me down to Lisbon Falls Community Library in June, 1970. School was out for the summer and she wanted to enroll me in the library’s summer reading program. I read a book a week for 10 weeks. I’ve been in love with reading ever since.
In addition to books and reading, libraries are also places forever associated for me with quiet spaces, a place of escape—and if I may say this without sounding overly dramatic—libraries offer an oasis from the barrage and busyness that has become everyday life in America. Of course, not all libraries are created equal. While researching my first book, When Towns Had Teams, my winter mornings at Portland Public Library might find me sitting next to a homeless man, coughing like he had TB, while alternately farting, never thinking twice that others around him might be trying to get some work done. I did find this annoying at times, but it was another reminder of libraries’ uniquely democratic qualities as public spaces. Continue reading