>> Did you know Roger Ebert’s a friend of Bill? In his latest journal entry, Roger talks about how he came to join AA, and how doing so helped him:
The problem with using will power, for me, was that it lasted only until my will persuaded me I could take another drink. At about this time I was reading The Art of Eating, by M. F. K. Fisher, who wrote: “One martini is just right. Two martinis are too many. Three martinis are never enough.” The problem with making resolutions is that you’re sober when you make the first one, have had a drink when you make the second one, and so on.
>> In case you’re one of the losers who are NOT Infinite Summer-ing right now: Here’s what David Foster Wallace has to say about turning 30 — and AA:
I get the feeling that a lot of us, privileged Americans, as we enter our early 30s, have to find a way to put away childish things and confront stuff about spirituality and values. Probably the AA model isn’t the only way to do it, but it seems to me to be one of the more vigorous.
W/r/t DFW, I highly recommend reading — after you’ve at least started reading Infinite Jest — the post-suicide DFW features from The New Yorker and Rolling Stone, with the main difference between the two being that TNY contends DFW didn’t give any anti-depressant a long enough chance near the end, while RS contends no anti-depressant worked.
I also recommend Infinite Detox, though I’m a bit concerned that blogger hasn’t updated in a few days….
Photo by yasmapaz & ace_heart
I called in sick 3 days in a row back in 2001 to read Infinite Jest. The book was just like the killer video. I could barely tear myself away to pee and eat food. I had dreams about the characters for weeks. The ending, I have to say, made me want to kill DFW. Oh well. Too late now.
Comment by Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — September 12, 2009 @ 3:43 am
Dude — You can ready while peeing! :P
Comment by Siel — September 17, 2009 @ 5:54 pm