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[suckmykissss]

can you suggest a book for me to read?

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[garlickbytes]

confederacy of dunces by john kennedy toole
a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers

[suckmykissss]

how was 'staggering genius,' by the way? i felt like it was overhyped, and therefore i gave it probably less credit than deserved.

and what's the toole about?

[coggs]

I'm with you on Staggering Genius, but if you want a good read pick up Mcsweeney's Issue #15. The first story in there is probably one of the most haunting, beautiful short stories I have ever read.

[suckmykissss]

i'm unfamiliar with mcsweeney's. what is it?

[suckmykissss]

i also just super respect the genre of short story. it's so difficult to construct a convincing and original progression in only a few pages. brevity is so hard; i could never write anything compelling in a short story.

[coggs]

Agreed--there's some masterful about having people get attached to a character in such a short period of time, and I know I could never do it.

And Mcsweeneys is a quarterly magazine edited by Dave Eggers, who's short stories a like a lot as well (he recently published na anthology called How We Are Hungry that you could check out).

Here is the issue I was talking about.

[suckmykissss]

oh great, thanks!

[garlickbytes]

toole chronicles the riotously lackadaisical search for employment by a revoltingly obese, overmothered obstinate new orleans native with a masters in medieval philosophy. (he ends up peddling weenies from a streetcart and not very efficiently either, inevitably.) the rest of the dramatis personae is just as sidesplitting stellar. it's the epic comedy. if not for the humor, read it for the searingly eloquent insults. since when have you dubbed someone "mongoloid, esq."?

i'll admit staggering genius probably has been hyped, though i for one am glad i haven't missed out on the phantasmagorically fluid moments. let's just say...i've given my prose more rein than ever before since i finished 'staggering.'

MCSWEENEYS = ♥