This quotation has followed me ever since studying A Passage to India in Victor Cowie’s 20th Century literature class at the University of Manitoba in the 70s. Some students changed classes when they discovered we would only be studying half-a-dozen texts and Kurt Vonnegut was not one of them. I stayed and I’m glad I did. It was from Cowie’s passionate and illuminating lectures that I learned to read and think. This served me well in my other classes, and now as a book reviewer. The phrase also makes an appearance in my first real short story called “A.” just written this summer. One of the characters has the phrase tattooed on his penis. I don’t.
Connection is still what I’m after, here in this new media, which befuddles and amuses me with its messiness, chaos, lack of discernment, and noise. It’s hard to know where to begin, except as always with the word and the alphabet. I want to connect here, on this site, in these “pages,” but what I want most of all is to connect readers to my writing, and there’s plenty, some which has never seen the light of day, as well as four published poetry collections, two unpublished manuscripts and a poetry collection in progress. Please buy the books from an independent bookseller if you can, but as they may be hard to find, you can use the McNally Robinson Bookseller on-line store. Even my out-of-print books are there on consignment.
Vicipedia is a work-in-progress compendium of my interests and opinions. Services highlight a list of literary work I do for money. The other features of this site are a Book of the Month, a review exclusive to this site located in the Articles & Reviews section, where I also offer links to reviews I have written that appear elsewhere. V will include the name of every book I purchase, and those sent to me by publishers for review. From those books I will publish a recommended list. I am looking for volunteer guest reviewers or recommenders for a Guest Book of the Month. Please contact me at [email protected] if you’re interested.