I've been told by a couple of readers that I've slacked as of late and that I have not recommended new readings. This shocked me; not the realisation that I had not recommended books but that someone had actually noticed. I suppose it was one of those cases whereby The Book shone by its absence.
But of course I have been reading; books about writing, creating, knitting, about changing careers, about fashion and about cooking. Only last week I was perusing shelves and found an inexplicable pull towards something new and totally uncharted. Say, Russian poetry or decorating French style. Which made me wonder why we are so obsessed with emulating French style when there are so many people trying to emulate English style. Grass always greener and all that.
And so I do have a recommended reading, but it is not a book, it is an article that filled me with joy because it unravels along the same tracks as my PhD research. Heck, it even mentions Dr Wertham and I do exactly the same. From The Times Literary Supplement: The Rise Of Fan Fiction And Comic Book Culture. It is time for the detractors of popular culture to wake up and smell the ink.
