The Wormlips Literary Society

I had a traumatic evening. When I went to enter this post, my blog locked me out, telling me it suspected me of inappropriate or possibly illegal activity. It’s ugly when even your own blog turns on you.

Three anxious hours later, during which I was unable to touch a single thing I’ve ever done here, all was well. For the one or two techie people among you, here’s what happened. Thank you, Michael Hampton, for correcting your Bad Behavior.

Yo-Nenny and I are starting a club. It’s about books. First we talk about books we want to read. That’s fun. Then we pick the book. That’s fun too. Then I buy us each a copy; not as much fun. Then we start reading them, which will be great, at least until the book gets too bendy from use. And then, several pages later, we decide if we want to continue our club, and if we do, does that mean we have to finish the book.

We’re starting with Swann’s Way, which I haven’t read for thirty years, and she, never. In tandem we’ll read Proust’s Way by Roger Shattuck.

My friend Larry is planning a new radio series about Proust, which will consist of a reading of the seven volumes of In Search of Lost Time in their entirety, in French and in English, which will take almost as long as it’ll take Eleni and me to get to the madeleine scene. Beyond that, he’ll have interviews with Proust scholars, an exploration of the history and culture of the era, and all kinds of other cool stuff. He’s done a brief audio promo, not yet for public release, that’s worth listening to. Bard College will sponsor the programs.

Larry retired from radio last year; that’s why he’s doing this little project.