Little Known Fact #4

When Faulkner first went to MGM to work as a screenwriter in 1932, he volunteered to Story Department chief Samuel Marx to write not feature films but two types of movies he claimed he was most familiar with: newsreels and Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Supreme Sentences

I started reading last night. Yes, the sentences are LOOONNNNNGGGG, but they are also LUSCIOUS.

Faulkner's sentences are like they were crafted by The Eternal.

Delicious.

It's books like this that make me swear I'll never read any smut or lame chick lit again. But I will.

Little Known Fact #3

Faulkner felt tremendous guilt over the death of his brother Dean: he had sold the airplane to Dean, and he had encouraged him in his flying. At the time of Dean's death, Faulkner was writing Absalom, Absalom! (The central mystery, if you don't already know, concerns the murder of one brother by another brother.)

My book finally came - hardback! I had no idea I was getting hardback. Most people I know treasure hardback books and prefer them, but I do not. I think they are gangly and heavy and hard to manage. Likewise, I no longer have a penchant for keeping books long after I have read them. I don't have room for a proper library, so I don't see the point in storing and hoarding them. Unless they are true favorites I'll read again and again, I pass them on or sell them at The Dusty Bookshelf, or, better, Half Price Books.

It's a busy weekend, but I am hoping to have time to get started reading on Sunday.

Little Known Fact #2

Have you bought your book yet? I decided to purchase rather than borrow one, so I can write in it. Going after work today to get it. I feel guilty because I am in the middle of two other books now, but I think I'm going to abandon them so I can get a headstart on Faulkner.

Do you write in your books? If so, what? Why?


And, some trivia:

In 1932 Faulkner went dove hunting with Howard Hawks and a friend of his, an actor named Clark Gable. Hawks began talking with Faulkner about books, during which Gable remained silent. Finally, Gable asked Faulkner who he thought were the best living writers. After a moment, Faulkner answered, "Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Thomas Mann, John Dos Passos, and myself."

Gable paused for a moment and said, "Oh, do you write?"

"Yes, Mr. Gable," Faulkner said. "What do you do?"