In quite a lot of books, the narrator is a camera; he just observes and let other characters do the entertaining heavy lifting. I wanted to have a Nathan Zuckerman-kinda protagonist, who sets out and does all kinds of stupid stuff himself, is funny, is weird, is misguided, is in his way quite brave and adventurous. He does a lot of things I would not dare to do myself.
Joost de Vries’ The Republic
As the scholars of The Republic delve into Hitler studies, the specialized branches of research sprout increasingly weird. How about a specialty in Hitlerian pornography, or the sub-trend of Chilean naming of their sons “Hitler”, and how about a trip to Chile to interview them? Or a study of a fashion in Hitler moustaches?
Four from Solitary
How much one can learn from inebriates! Lonely in the city of my birth, that kissing monster from adolescence plays lip roulette again, then vanishes into the dark.
Trigger
I can’t explain to you how miserable I find this place, which pretty much suits where I’m at—I’m just a worn out, middle-aged cop with nothing better to do than drink myself stupid.
The Skeptic’s Apocalyptic Back Scratcher; Po’ Boys; I Would Tap That; Elusive Quarry; About a Rocket
To scratch is to admit feeling,fingernails peeling, revealing sensation that no Zeno or Kant,Hegel or Lacan can recant,