Poor Scoot

Brilliant! Nora Ephron profiled in The Guardian. Kundera on the art of the novel. Deanna McFadden writes around town-- with an interview with Ben McNally. Beryl Bainbridge on writing. Martin Levin on book lists, and more here.

I will speculate about why we love them-- lists in general, I mean. They give the illusion of containment and control, and for a brief instant, all is manageable. The universe is catalogueable, navigable. To-do lists particularly illustrate the power we grant words; if it is written, it will get done. Book lists provide our sprawling to-be-read piles with an armature, and this is assuring. We don't need to do anything with lists though, really. Their very existence is their object, and beyond that they are scrap. Therefore, no one needs to worry Sirs. List away and live free.

Middlemarch continues. I had to trade in my copy for another, however, as the small print was making me go blind.

And you do have to worry about a grown man called Scooter. Unless, of course, he is a muppet.

Short short story contest here in The Guardian. Fun.