in which the book keeps up its end
- A chapter from Autobiography of a Book, as told to Glenn Ingersoll
CW: Language
Write write write. Write write write.
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write
Does it lose its meaning after awhile? Not at all!
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write
Perhaps my text should consist of one word. If every word is the same then why make myself
extra work?
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write
write write write
But is that the right word? Perhaps this is better:
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
It does have the virtue of being uncomplicated. And it seems to reflect my topic better than the
equally factual but more impersonal task-oriented word I used to fill up a paragraph or three.
But, if spelled out in a font that makes it merely a line, it might be hard to see. As a word. Even
an ornate version of the letter could cause difficulties. Though it is a word, it also is a letter and
an awfully plain one. We could go with a version of the first person guaranteed to avoid
confusion, thus:
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me
Remind you of an opera singer warming up? What do you think of the upper case M and lower
case e? … mE … me … ME … The third looks too much like an eye chart. The second too
humble. Some have even gone for an i when referring to themselves. Whether this is humility,
rebelliousness, or an unsatisfied hunger for the tittle, I couldn’t say. The first choice, the mE, is it
too eccentric? Affected? Or was Me the first choice? I was thinking it the default, no choice
having yet been made as no alternatives had been anticipated.
galvanic
Your word of the day. Galvanic. galVanic. gAlvAnic. galvanIc. If I were the artistic type I could
draw a picture in typography. Then no matter what the word(s) say what they picture will
produce the meaning. You could print the word red in red ink. You could print the word red in
blue ink. You could use the word red as your material for constructing a picture of a stern-
visaged politician. Would you be implying something about his political ideology? His
physiognomy?
I’m not much of an avant-gardist. Aren’t I more in the middle guard? And, now that I consider
this, I’ll have to admit I’m more one of the guarded. I’m mid-guarded. Halfway between the ass-
guarded and the avant-garded.
Mine is the middle way. Surrounded on all sides. Well positioned for never being first, never
being last. Bang in the center of the bell curve. Common. Average. Normal.
I thought about naming what it is you do:
read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read
read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read
read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read
But it does look awful like a command. I’ll leave the commands to the guards.
Glenn Ingersoll works for the Berkeley Public Library where he hosts Clearly Meant, a reading & interview series. His first book is the multi-volume prose-poem-epic 'Thousand' (Mel C. Thompson Publishing) . He keeps two blogs, LoveSettlement and Dare I Read. Excerpts from Autobiography of a Book have appeared in Hawai’i Pacific Review and Inverse Journal (as fiction) and Caveat Lector (as essay).