secrets

I think books should have secrets, like people do. I think they
should be there as a bonus for the sensitive reader or there as a
kind of subliminal quavering.  ~John Updike from a Paris Review Interview

you can read the full interview here.

happy birthday mama toni!

At 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 18th of February, 1931, I will take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings. Please forgive me. I loved you all.

(signed) Robert Smith,

Ins. agent

from The Song of Solomon

there was an updike quote about books having secrets in the paris review. this is why i love toni morrison. her books are full of secrets. the opening of Song of Solomon is amazing even if you don’t know that Robert Smith, Ins. agent, makes his flight on her birthday. but if you do know it, even years later, how satisfying. her books are full of such secrets and all the lovelier for them. there is so much i could say about mama toni, but for now i’ll leave it at happy birthday.