"Give me a sweater made from your smell and whispers"

3 posts in 3 days, I’m on a roll/need a life. The real reason I’m writing so much is because I have an exam coming up (it’s tomorrow actually) and I’ve just seen the exam paper for the first time. It’s American Cinema and even though I went to most of my lectures for this class, enjoyed it and found it really interesting, there’s no way I will be able to write two essays on any of the films we studied. Instead, I’ll tell you all about one of my favourite books. Sure, there’s always August. ;)

It’s called "Grab Onto Me Tightly As If I Knew The Way". I'm pretty sure I ranted at Ciara about how I sent the author, Bryan Charles, a message on myspace back in 4th year, telling him how CLASS his book was and he replied to me and I was so excited. Sorry Ciara.

I don't know if you can buy the book in Ireland. I got it on Amazon because I liked the artwork on the cover. It arrived by post and thus, I owned my first floppy paperback. I wish all paperbacks were floppy. Here they are more cardboardy if you ask me, except for the green Penguin Classic ones, they’re quite floppy. If anyone is reading this from the States, are ALL your paperbacks floppy? I'd love to know.

 

It was difficult to show the floppyness of the actual book itself on the camera.
You'd have to hold it and see for yourself.

Anyways, I absolutely adore this book. It's really funny and it's just beautifully written. Everyone should read it. After you do, visit Bryan Charles' Myspace page. He has put up pictures of some of the places he describes in the book and it's reeeeally interesting to see them in real life after you've imagined them to look completely different in your head.

Here's one of my favourite parts. I have many favourite parts. Seriously, own it. Or borrow it.

“ I want you like this, I swear I do, and I want you to peel back the layers of time and show me the past and smack me around but in a playful way like lovers and hit me again, punch, reach out and claw, stick your fingers in my mouth, peel back the layers of my face to the person I am or whoever I want to be and punch me, baby, with hands like pale birds diving away from earthworm scars and your eyes, holy shit, your eyes lit up like groovy blue storms, everything electric, your heart beating into your tongue and your tongue inside my mouth and speak to me please using only your tongue, write the words in my mouth with it, I want you I swear to peel back the sky and show me all that’s come before us and who we will be and all we will inevitably eventually lose.”  

Last I heard Bryan Charles was working on a book about Pavement! What a cool person. I'd like to be friends with him.

I'm going to regret this at 2 o clock tomozzle when I'm sitting in an exam hall watching everyone write reams around me. 

M