Here's Looking At You, Hugo
The best and worst thing about writing is the hope. Writers hope for success passionately, blindly, like little kids on Christmas. Hope is never dormant, and it’s always right around the corner. But sprinting to that corner is dangerous. Often, failure trips us up. But writers are dreamers, and we’re determined. We have a stomach for suffering. We hope beyond hope. Just like those lucky scribes that recently were awarded fellowships by the NEA. Congrats! Now let’s move on and avoid any bitterness. Writers can find hopeful/less counsel from other writers. A new biography of Brazilian author Clarice Lispector is reviewed by the Economist. Interviews are equally informative, and sprinkled with words of optimism. Jump over to Book Forum for a talk with A.S. Byatt. Some people set their sights low, like Failure Magazine. It’s appropriate, then, that they review books about America’s fall from grace. Iceland has a national literacy rate of 99.9%. If that’s not hopeful we don’t know what is. Finally, a Swiss writer you’ve never read has died. While this is not good news, Hugo Loetscher lived a long, full life, which is the most any of us can hope for. – Kevin Murphy
