Literary

Peach​ ​Picks

by / Nov. 8, 2017 12am EST

IN PRINT:
South​ ​and​ ​West:​ ​From​ ​a ​Notebook​​ ​​by​​ ​​Joan​ ​Didion

Alfred​ ​A.​ ​Knopf​ ​/​ ​2017​ ​/​ ​memoir

South​ ​and​ ​Wes​t,​ ​the​ ​latest​ ​from​ ​Joan​ ​Didion,​ ​comprises ​excerpts​ ​from​ ​her​ ​previously unpublished​ ​notebooks.​ ​Written​ ​for​ ​the​ ​most​ ​part​ ​in​ ​the​ ​summer​ ​1970,​ ​Didion​ ​traveled​ ​through Louisiana,​ ​Mississippi​ ​and​ ​Alabama​ ​with​ ​her​ ​late​ ​husband​ ​John​ ​Gregory​ ​Dunne,​ ​and​ ​recorded conversations​ ​with​ ​people​ ​who​ ​all​ ​share​ ​a​ ​certain​ ​racist​ ​nostalgia​ ​for​ ​the​ ​past.​ ​“The​ ​Civil​ ​War was​ ​yesterday,”​ ​Didion​ ​writes,​ ​“but​ ​1960​ ​is​ ​spoken​ ​of​ ​as​ ​if​ ​it​ ​were​ ​about​ ​three​ ​hundred​ ​years ago.”​ ​What​ ​is​ ​remarkable​ ​about​ ​this​ ​slim​ ​volume​ ​is​ ​that​ ​Joan​ ​Didion​ ​somewhat​ ​clairvoyantly anticipated​ ​this​ ​preoccupation​ ​with​ ​race,​ ​class,​ ​and​ ​heritage​ ​rearing​ ​its​ ​ugly​ ​head​ ​in​ ​a​ ​future America.​ ​“I​ ​had​ ​only​ ​some​ ​dim​ ​and​ ​unformed​ ​sense,”​ ​she​ ​writes,​ ​“a​ ​sense​ ​which​ ​struck​ ​me​ ​now and​ ​then,​ ​and​ ​which​ ​I​ ​could​ ​not​ ​explain​ ​coherently,​ ​that​ ​for​ ​some​ ​years​ ​the​ ​South​ ​and particularly​ ​the​ ​Gulf​ ​Coast​ ​had​ ​been​ ​for​ ​America​ ​what​ ​people​ ​were​ ​still​ ​saying​ ​California​ ​was, and​ ​what​ ​California​ ​seemed​ ​to​ ​me​ ​not​ ​to​ ​be:​ ​the​ ​future,​ ​the​ ​secret​ ​source​ ​of​ ​malevolent​ ​and benevolent​ ​energy,​ ​the​ ​psychic​ ​center.”

IN​ ​PRINT​:
Afterglow:​ ​A​ ​Dog​ ​Memoir​​ ​by​ ​Eileen​ ​Myles

Grove​ ​Press​ ​/​ ​2017​ ​/​ ​memoir

You​ ​do​ ​not​ ​have​ ​to​ ​be​ ​a​ ​dog​ ​lover​ ​per​ ​se,​ ​or​ ​have​ ​a​ ​crush​ ​on​ ​literary​ ​icon​ ​Eileen​ ​Myles​ ​to appreciate​ ​​Afterglow​,​ ​which,​ ​yes,​ ​is​ ​technically​ ​a​ ​book​ ​about​ ​a​ ​dead​ ​pit​ ​bull​ ​named​ ​Rosie. Every​ ​chapter​ ​is​ ​a​ ​new​ ​experiment​ ​in​ ​genre,​ ​with​ ​unexpected​ ​shifts​ ​in​ ​narrative​ ​voice​ ​and​ ​layers of​ ​consciousness.​ ​The​ ​fifth​ ​chapter,​ ​for​ ​example,​ ​is​ ​a​ ​screenplay​ ​of​ ​a​ ​puppet​ ​talk​ ​show​ ​featuring Rosie​ ​as​ ​a​ ​guest,​ ​complete​ ​with​ ​perfectly​ ​bizarre​ ​camera​ ​directions;​ ​we​ ​turn​ ​to​ ​our​ ​studio audience​ ​and​ ​“​behind​ ​them​ ​are​ ​hundreds​ ​and​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​puppets​ ​going​ ​back​ ​endlessly​ ​into the​ ​horizon​ ​which​ ​becomes​ ​mountains​ ​and​ ​hills​ ​also​ ​covered​ ​with​ ​puppets,​ ​all​ ​the​ ​puppets​ ​in the​ ​world.”​​ ​The​ ​10th​ ​chapter,​ ​“My​ ​Father​ ​Came​ ​Again​ ​as​ ​a​ ​Dog,”​ ​reads​ ​like​ ​an​ ​early​ ​creation myth.​ ​Dog​ ​is​ ​God,​ ​everything​ ​started​ ​with​ ​watery​ ​chaos​ —​​that​ ​kind​ ​of​ ​thing.​ ​It’s​ ​funny​ ​but​ ​it’s never​ ​just​ ​a​ ​joke.​ ​Myles​ ​is​ ​sincerely​ ​evoking​ ​something​ ​spiritual​ ​here.​ ​Spiritual​ ​in​ ​the​ ​way​ ​that grief​ ​allows​ ​us​ ​to​ ​ascribe​ ​meaning​ ​to​ ​very​ ​ordinary​ ​things​ ​(like​ ​a​ ​plaid​ ​LL​ ​Bean​ ​dog​ ​bed).


“Peach Picks” is a new column of literary news and recommendations written by the editors of Peach Mag, an online literary magazine based in Buffalo, New York. For inquiries, contact the editors at peachmgzn@gmail.com.

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