story: Joan of Arc Sits Naked in Her Dorm Room
author: Rachel Engelman
year: 2018
where: Abu Dhabi, airport apron, sitting inside one of those bulging A380-800s.
note: author is a current UT Austin/Michener MFA student
a line: “He is very politic and always asks Joan about her classes, or the book she is reading, or the fish she keeps in a wine decanter.”
story: The Sirens
author: Maria Dermoût
year: 1963
where: Above the Prada store, South Amsterdam
note: Wow, what an amazing protagonist and fairytale-like story. A dream.
a line: “The woman did not buy the proa because she loved the sea. She did not love the sea. She was afraid of the sea.”
story: Young Titans
author: Nescio
year: 1915
where: Amsterdam
note: reminds me of Kerouac
a line: “It was a strange time. And when I think about it, I realize that that time must still be happening now, it will last as long as there are young men of nineteen or twenty running around. It’s only for us that the time is long since past.”
story: Live Life King-Sized
author: Hester Kaplan
year: 1998
where: JFK, Etihad lounge
note: recording hiatus, apologies
a line: “I sent Jensen another beer, which he received with a verdictless shrug, and I turned on the ceiling fan to blow the death smell of Henry Blaze out to sea .”
story: The Hermit’s Story
author: Rick Bass
year: 1998
where: Burjeel cafe, English breakfast tea
note: read twice
a line: “A cold snap comes in October, freezes a skin of ice over the lake — it’s got to be a shallow one, almost a marsh.”
story: One Day A Week
author: Mohammad Al Murr
year: 2008
where: Reem Island after the blackout
note: I can only say ‘Rashidiya’ like the metro man
a line: “Five days a week she passed in a torment of anticipation.”
story:The Best Girlfriend You Never Had
author: Pam Houston
year: 1999
where: home, wooden kitchen table
note: such long sentences
a line: “I pointed myself west down the endless two lanes of Highway 50 — The Loneliest Road in America say the signs that rise out of the desert on either side of it — all the way across Utah and Nevada to this white shining city on the bay.”
