An American Book Recommendation

I'd love to tell you that we spent the day hiking in the Rockies, breaking for a picnic with a herd of elk, and then watching fireworks. Actually, though, the day started and ended like this:

Slay me now. Those feet. The fly-away fur bits on her head. Just like her skunk.

G high-stepped it to the movie theater and watched Independence Day. On Independence Day. Insert emoji eye roll here. We did our patriotic duty by (1) reading the Declaration of Independence together, and (2) eating burgers and watermelon for dinner, followed by a walk around the neighborhood and work in the Louisiana swampland that is our back yard. And we started the prelim work on the next big vacay. Nothing says I heart America like planning to leave it for an extended time. Ha ha. JK.

I present to you one of the best books I read in 2016, Notes from No Man's Land: American Essays by Eula Biss.

Because I'm thrown into the world of English and Literature due to my grad program and my writing consultant work, I'm privy to all kinds of poetry and essay recommendations. Some of my friends went to an AWP conference in LA in the spring, and came back raving about Eula Biss. I'd never heard of her before and now I can't recommend her enough. I read this book of essays shortly before our vacation and I couldn't put it down. Her essays are a collection of observations about life in America. For example, she writes about the history of telephone poles, how so many people were against the eye sore but wanted the connectivity that came with telegraphs and increasingly with telephones. However, all over the south people began conducting lynchings from them. Her juxtaposition of increased communication and deadly bigotry is artistic and thought-provoking and creative. I basically inhaled this book and need to read it again so that I can slow down and appreciate it. Her writing is lyrical and very thoughtful. I'm working on her latest book right now but am distracted by some books set in Africa.

Hope you had a Happy 4th of July! I'm thankful to live in a country that encourages freedom of speech and ideas, even when those may be critical of the government itself. I'm thankful to live in a country that allows freedom of press and doesn't ban or censor books. I'd be up a creek.