MY TAKE ON READING DIFFERS FROM Pat Conroy who wrote in ‘The Prince of Tides’: “People who like to read are always a little f**ked up.” I’m not saying we disagree; I just come at it from a different angle. It seems to me that reading, which I do every day, is what helps me maintain an edge of sanity in this otherwise insane world. All one has to do in order to recognize how absurd life is in its basic, common, everyday B.S. craziness is watch the daily news. The loudest newsmakers are the ones who are the most bonkers, the ones bouncing off the walls of their own inadequacy and desire for power. So I escape into a good book. It may be fiction, a genre which has the benefit of not being an imminent threat to human life. Or non-fiction, such as a memoir or a travelogue that takes one to a place one might not ever otherwise see. Especially now that I have been incapable of keeping myself away from checking on the news of the day, I find that I need some counterpoint to make sure that my mind doesn’t overindulge upon the dystopian prospects of our times. So, if Conroy’s right, and reading makes me “a little f**ked up,” then the good news is that I’m not as bad off as I would have been without it.
**NOTICE** On Saturday, March 4, 2023, Turner Classic Movies channel is showing two of the most wonderful comedies ever filmed: at 5:45 PM, Some Like It Hot; and at 10:15 PM, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.