|
navigation
current
archives
links page
profile
|
|
whoa...
June 29, 2010
I haven't got a clue what happened today, but this is the first time in a few weeks that I was hit by the whole "tidal wave of fatigue and drowsiness" thing. I was cruising along at work this morning, just doing my thing, and�pow. Right in the middle of a meeting, I felt like I was going to conk out. I managed to struggle through, but I spent the rest of the day in a kind of a fog. Still feel fuzzy.
I'd just started to read "Finding Oz", when I decided I really didn't want to. I don't like the author�he' sort of self-promoting and pushy. And what I've read so far is completely speculative. It seems to be just the author guessing at Baum's motivations and influences, and without even the benefit of decent biography. If I hadn't already read about Baum's life in other books, I would be hard-pressed to educate myself using this as my text.
And Schwartz doesn't stop with projecting is theories onto the man himself�I gave up at the point where he's speculating on how young Maud Gage (the future Mrs. L. Frank Baum) must have felt as a coed at Cornell. He cites no direct sources�nothing from Maud herself, or even any quotes from people she spoke to about her time there. Maybe, at some point in my reading, I would be interested in the writer's pet theories, but
One thing I can say, after reading Loncraine's book and this one; I would really like to read a biography of Maud. And one of her fascinating mother, Matilda.
Reading: Hobby--"The Outdoor Girls at the Hostess House, Or, Doing Their Best for the Soldiers" by "Laura Lee Hope" (Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward), c. 1919
General--"The Cracker Factory", by Joyce Rebeta-Burditt
Surfing:
Listening: Phish, Neil Young, Vampire Weekend, Buffalo Springfield
At Random:
click here
|
|