Reader Read: Session 1, Part 2

Reader Read: Session 1, Part 2

by Jacob Malewitz

Maybe not. Maybe you have little respect for horror and want to delve into some science fiction land made by the mad Philip K. Dick, the wondrous fantasy books of Ray Bradbury, or the modern classics by Dan Simmons.

I still see you shaking your head. Is this all just an exercise? Is he wasting all our time? Read the classic biographies next. They are a step above. Readers read biographies of authors because they show something about our condition. Readers read of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, F. Scott Fitzgerald, maybe Hentry James, maybe John O’Hara, because they are big names. Yes, they are. And it’s fun to jump into the mind of a novelist. Always so much fun. It’s worth every penny.

Sure you can go to the movies and have a blast. I respect the power of a film too. I leave out much. If you want to go into the realm of what if, reading newspapers really won’t answer your desires. I suggest reading something with its own movable power. You need not love Stephen King to read horror—actually some of his books are bad. If you reading Clive Barker you may just end up ashamed for doing so. But you can do more. You can go for the literary works of someone like Virginia Woolf. The modern classics of Paul Auster.

I guess it’s all an opinion. I am drifting when I write. Something changes on the page as I see into this serious game. Every book has influenced me. Why not find a good book to set the mood?