duck-shaped pain

1. Landscape in Sight -- John Brinkerhoff Jackson

Reason: Book is printed on very heavy, slick paper. The pages slip out of my hands when I try to keep it open. Although it is a relatively small book, the weight of all its pages combined makes it hard to hold up. Has one of those really thick spines that refuses to crack, making it impossible to read on a hard surface.

2. Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth -- William Bryant Logan

Reason: Printed in brown ink. Cannot get past the phrase "ecstatic skin."

3. The Zen of Cooking -- Lucille Naimer

Reason: Author writes more about her sister than about cooking. Awkward size that just seems wrong.

4. The Phantom Empire: Movies in the Mind of the Twentieth Century -- Geoffrey O'Brien

Reason: Previous owner adhered a large decal to book's cover and then peeled it off, leaving little bits of adhesive detritus behind. Whenever I try to read it, I trace the little adhesive bits with my fingers, which distracts me from the text.

5. California: The Great Exception -- Carey McWilliams

Reason: The paper the book is printed on feels scratchy, and its edges irritate my fingertips.

6. Mythologies -- Roland Barthes

Reason: My copy smells like moldy bread.

7. Zen and Japanese Culture -- D.T. Suzuki

Reason: In order to read it, I should read all the books I bought before it first. In order to read those, I need to move the boxes and other chaff that are between me and them. As long as I'm doing that, I might as well clean up my entire office, since it needs to be cleaned so badly. But in order to do that, I need trash bags, and I don't have any. So I need to go to the store, and when I get there, I buy food for dinner, but no trash bags. So I can eat dinner, but I can never get around to reading this book.

8. Ecology of Fear -- Mike Davis

Reason: I can always find something else to do.

[1] Out of many, many possibilities in the "unread" pile.

previous | next