Book Number Five
I was going to devote an entry to Andrew Sullivan's dustup with Philip Nobile over the burning question of whether or not Abraham Lincoln was gay, but in a sure sign that I'm not an active blogger anymore, that story is two weeks old, and also, I don't have the creative interest. In the old days, I probably would have created a fake controversy involving John Adams and cross-dressing, but these days, I don't want to write such things unless someone is paying.
Since no one is paying, I therefore announce that I've completed Book Number Five in my 50-Book Challenge. That book is Fat City, by Leonard Gardner, the story of two down-and-out amateur boxers in Stockton, California, set in the late 1950s. There's a bit of a plot involving fights and wives and girlfriends, but the book is mostly atmosphere and character. Several of Gardner's set pieces rank among the most beautiful I've ever read. He treats the struggles of these men with gravity, while making sure never to sentimentalize them just because they're down-and-out. They're poor, certainly, but one is a drunk and the other is jealous and possessive to the point of near-psychosis. But he also doesn't condescend, and gives these guys noble qualities while not getting overpoetic. The book's honesty is almost painful, but honest writing is also powerful writing. The fact that Gardner could craft a beautiful sentence and paragraph and could write crisp, realistic dialogue gives Fat City extra heft. This is a lost classic that deserves wider recognition. Denis Johnson did his best in this essay in Salon, back when Salon was free and we were young and happy.
Read Fat City. This is the first mandatory book I've finished this year.