I’m watching “The Swimmer,” in which Burt Lancaster decides to swim home by cutting through people’s property and dipping in their pools. Obviously, it takes place in Southern California. Someone asks him why he’s doing it, and he says “the author of the short story believes the act carried great symbolism about prosperity and rootlessness.” Well, he might as well have. The story was written by John Cheever, and I recall reading all his stories out of duty when they were assembled in a big red book with a C on the cover.
Or so I recall. Googling . . . . Yes. I associate this book with a particular time and period and set of pretensions, which of course I have outgrown and replaced with subtler pretensions that I inhabit with ease, because I’m not trying to be anything any more. Back then I was trying to be That Smart Literary Kid, and that required hauling around Cheever’s Bible and reading it in public...
Read it all here
It feels good to know Lileks keeps on writing. Thanks for posting this, floranista.
ReplyDeleteSeconded Solus. I haven't checked in on Lileks for ages, there is something warmly familiar and comfortable about his style and gentle good naturedness.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I felt too, reading his post. I'm glad you both liked it as well.
ReplyDeletethere is something warmly familiar and comfortable about his style and gentle good naturedness.
ReplyDeleteLike slipping on a worn pair of slippers. Thanks florrie!