I finally finished SATANTANGO #satantangotogether
What a slog through the mud and rain this was for me.
I started to think about Franzen's brilliant essay MR DIFFICULT where he compares Status Novels and Contract Novels.

i guess pere geriot

mes amis / mis amigos, i'm off to madrid for a week and along with A HEART SO WHITE which I'll reread for the 5th time, I'm bringing ben lerner's LEAVING THE ATOCHA STATION.

let me know if you have any madrid bookstore / tapas bar recs. it's been 26 years since i was last there!

yeah, we might have to cobble together the different books in english.

I'm spacing out my readings of these volumes and so far, it's like christmas in the middle of year.

ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME II by SOLVEJ BALLE

Short Story Project's Spring Performance: "Stylites Anonymous" on Stage Directed by Olivia Facini, based on Maureen McGranaghan's award-winning short story.

our own together-slow-reads' @mcgranaghan.bsky.social has a short story coming to life next Friday April 24 at P&T Knitwear in NYC!

www.eventbrite.com/e/short-stor...

lucky jim is one of my favorite novels

Happy birthday #KingsleyAmis

ouais. je lis lentement en francais, malheureusement.

If you’re asking for places to donate or aids to support in Minnesota, this website is a really good compilation of mutual aids, rent aid, food/supply donation and more! 👇

The Oyster Diaries by Nancy Lemann When I learned of his transgression I threw myself into Dante and Shakespeare, seeking to understand the world that I had failed to see.

discovering nancy lemann thanks to @meginj.bsky.social !

www.theparisreview.org/fiction/8308...

the satantango is over

hahahah. if my life is a novel, yes yes yes.

confession: i haven't finished yet.

last day!
Day 44, Apr 13, Mon - p266 “It’s all in my imagination…” to THE END
#satantangotogether

Day 43, Apr 12, Sun - START CH1 The Circle Closes p259 to “He lost confidence at this point.”
#satantangotogether

Day 42, Apr 11, Sat - p256 “Having dealt so brutally…” to END OF CH2 p258
#satantangotogether

strange is a polite way to put it.

Hungary's Viktor Orbán concedes defeat, ending 16 years in power Hungarian voters turned out in the greatest numbers since the 1990s to turn away from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing populist Fidesz party.

just the beginning. winter is coming.
www.npr.org/2026/04/12/n...

thank you, this seems like a great idea. knock off 4 of them. #balzactogether

Day 41, Apr 10, Fri - START CH2 Nothing but Work and Worries p251 to p256 “Sexually immature.”
#satantangotogether

Day 40, Apr 9, Thur - p243 “—because his ears were ringing…” to END OF CH3
#satantangotogether

Day 39, Apr 8, Wed - p236 “Shut up…” to p243 “As you can see, it has all turned out for the best…”
#satantangotogether

Day 38, Apr 7, Tues - START CH3 The Perspective, As Seen From the Back p229 to p236 “Stabbing each other?”
#satantangotogether

Tradwife movement ‘attracts men who are hostile to women’ The strongest predictor of support for women staying at home and deferring to their husband is not, as researchers expected, chivalry but ‘hostile sexism’

"Among young American men, the strongest predictor of support for the tradwife lifestyle was not gallantry but hostility towards women"

Apparently this is not what researchers "expected". Which makes one wonder: had these researchers thought about it for 30 seconds?
www.thetimes.com/life-style/s...

Day 37, Apr 6, Mon - p223 “The bald man leaned closer.” to END OF CH4 p227
#satantangotogether

exactly where my head is
#satantangotogether

oh, i can't do all of balzac

Ben Lerner’s Big Feelings The acclaimed writer of cerebral autofiction returns with his strangest and most moving novel yet.

Love seeing the fantabulous Ben Lerner being accused of “autofiction.” Just kidding. :) But also, seriously— this is a great piece by Kevin, and autofiction isn’t as new or novel as we like to think.

www.vulture.com/article/ben-...

I wrote a novel using AI. Writers must accept artificial intelligence -but we are as valuable as ever| Stephen Marche The Guardian The, GuardianOpinions

You wrote a novel using AI? Cool. It's like that time I ran a marathon using a Ford Focus.