Hey, looky here. Esquire.com asked me to write something for their feature called “Last Line.” They ask writers to go look at the last line that they’ve written—a journal entry, a work in progress, whatever—and talk about it, and about whatever occurs to them in so doing. It’s an interesting idea, because it gets people to talk about stuff they’re still in the middle of writing—a lot of “last lines” will get edited out further down the road—as opposed to stuff they have finished. I don’t usually like to talk about stuff while it’s still half-formed, but what the heck. So I did it. It was a multi-step process, as I wrote my initial response, and then the editor asked me to expand on something I mentioned in passing, about living outside the US. I did that, and then did some more, and she liked it all and wanted to keep it. In fact that’s the slant they ended up giving to the whole piece.
You can read the article here:
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/last-line/lastline112007
The other articles in the series are also interesting.
In entirely unrelated news, here is Musharraf’s response to Sky News when they asked him, a couple days back, if he had thought of resigning:
“But should it be given up now and we will have better Pakistan, a stabler Pakistan and we could have very good elections, without me? Very good, maybe I take that decision, okay?”
I think the guy’s starting to have a breakdown. (Starting?)
Imran Khan is still in jail; Asma Jehangir and Benazir are still free. Some prisoners have been released, while others remain in jail, and most of the TV stations are back. But, those which have refused to agree to the new broadcasting rules are still off the air, and a number of protests at this are taking place around the country.
Coming soon: My new book cover. And don’t forget to take the poll at the bottom of this page!
2 comments:
Dear David, I've been trying to find you on the internet and here we are at last. I've just finished your novel FALLEN and, I hesitate to use such strong language, but it's one of the most crushingly beautiful novels I've ever read, and I do read novels.
Thank you. I found you first when John Wilson, editor of BOOKS & CULTURE, recommended SAMSON. His description intrigued me so I read it. It made me think of Buechner's SON OF LAUGHTER. I liked it plenty so I went out to the nearest bookstore and purchased your other two. PRESERVATIONIST went first, then FALLEN. I'm cooking an Italian meal of Sicilian Sauce & Meatballs with my fiance (not very Turkey-ish of us, but so be it) and in between courses I finished the story of Adam, Eve, Able and Cain. I need to now start over and savor the backwards forwards again.
I told Phaedra that I'm of a mind to go out and buy fifty copies of FALLEN to give away. I could say more superlatives, but I'll stop here.
I'm glad I found you. I've wanted to say thank you for the past month. I do look forward to your next.
For what it's worth I grew up in Guatemala, moved around the States, undergrad at UT Austin (where I currently live), grad in Vancouver, Canada, and am headed to Scotland for Ph.D. next year.
Happy Thanksgiving.
David, thanks a lot. I've been having trouble accessing this blog, which is why I haven't answered before. But your comments mean a lot to me. Thanks.
Post a Comment