Wow, am I behind. There are reasons! Will be heading to New York this week for the third time in a month, also smashed in ten days in Panama, and a wound about which the less said the better, so we'll leave it at: I had a tube hanging out of me for five days. All better now, but for the Chloroquine I am still taking once a week to ward off malaria. I don't like this drug; it makes you nauseous, but worse -- and I only figured this out eight days in -- it gives you nightmares. I have, in the past ten days, dreamed of being raped, murdering a child, having to save my child from a horrific fate, and -- over and over -- having to save people from the apocalypse and/or various untenable and terrifying to life and limb situations. There are also the little annoyances, like dreaming of my husband telling me, he's just signed on with Match.com. Suffice to say, each night is fraught; I need some sleep.
But sleeplessness does give one time to read, and much of it has been very, very good. A lovely new discovery, via my friend Kate Coe, is Charles McCarry, whose "The Miernik Dossier" is espionage at its best and much more. I am so very tempted to print here the section titled, "66. From Miernik's Diary," to show you not merely tremendous writing but tremendous thinking, but it needs context. I highly recommend the book.
Also just catching up with Michael Totten's two-part interview with Christopher Hitchens, a lunch I also attended. Hitchens asked me a question, regarding the book I am writing, that proved valuable, which was, "Did she think the children would be going to heaven?"
I've heard about the nightmare side effect from the drug, but haven't actually been affected by it myself. I'm sorry to hear that you are. It beats malaria, though, at least. So there's that.
Posted by: Michael J. Totten | January 27, 2010 at 02:59 PM
Speaking of great books, I want to put in a plug for Richard Russo. I've read through his books the past few months, and all I can say is: Wow. Just finished Nobody's Fool, which might be the best of the lot.
Posted by: Zev | January 29, 2010 at 07:53 AM
Photos made it look like you had more fun than that.
Posted by: Porter | February 01, 2010 at 04:02 AM