To Bail or Not to Bail on a Book

Every writer needs to read. A lot. All the successful ones say the same thing: Read promiscuously. Which is all well and good. Those in writing programs are assigned stacks of books that may or may not wind up being relevant. Some books we love, some we don’t. At the time, it’s assumed even tedious books will have a beneficial effect — perhaps showing us what to avoid.

But what about when you’re free and clear of all that? All serious writers continue devouring books — it’s how we’re built. Books — reading, in general — is our secret, nourishing narcotic. I keep at least three books going at any one time: nightstand, bathroom and car. Yes, my car. I don’t read in traffic but I will never be caught without a book, whether it’s in a restaurant, coffee shop, waiting in reception. To be caught without a book is pretty much my worst nightmare.

Unless that book sucks. Then I’m really in trouble. One does what one can to preempt bad books: reading reviews, jacket blurbs, perhaps the first few pages. But every once in a while a bad book slips through, doesn’t it? Denis Johnson once mentioned in an interview how he seldom ever finishes a book — the author loses him, shakes his confidence in the book. Johnson said (paraphrasing here) “If I make it a hundred pages into a book it’s a masterpiece.” He said his interior editor is too strong — “I want to help.”

I’m not so dismissive. I’ll honestly hang in there until the bitter end for most books. I’m no Denis Johnson, for one thing. I have a lot to learn. That’s part of it. I always hope to be surprised. That’s what happened with A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I was almost ready to bail, but around page fifty, I began to see what Walker Percy was talking about in his preface, that this book was pretty damn amazing.

Reasons to bail:

1. Preciousness, sentimentality, melodrama.
2. Overwriting, too many pointless digressions and run-on sentences.
3. Pretentious Prose.
4. Transparent Plot.
5. Ideological Differences.

This last one is easy to preempt, but occasionally an author’s prejudice, political agenda or even outright misogyny will suddenly become all-too-clear midway through a book. That’s a good reason to hit “eject.” We’ve all heard the complaints about Ayn Rand’s work. But I feel it’s important for me to read (or attempt to read) one of her novels before I join the detractors. Someday.

I can count the books I’ve abandoned on one hand. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace was one. I may revisit it, and I like his other writing. But that particular one? Too many footnotes for me! Not that I have anything against footnotes, per se. Adroit usage of footnotes is certainly possible. For example, Dave Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius employs them very effectively.

I’ve never met anyone who has finished or claims to understand Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce.

Who recommends a book to me has a lot to do with it. Some people I trust implicitly. I had a mentor in my MFA Program at Antioch (Jim Krusoe) and anything he suggests to me is ordered that day. His suggestions rarely mystify, but it’s happened. He suggested Mary Swan’s short story collection The Deep and, I’ll confess, I was relieved to reach the end. But because Jim suggested it I know I’ll give it another try someday.

Which brings up a great point: sometimes it’s not the book. It’s me. Perhaps I wasn’t mature enough to appreciate The Deep. I’m reading The Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges right now and all I can say is it found me at the right time. Ten or twenty years ago? I would’ve probably bailed. I wouldn’t have had the patience required. I’m actually enjoying it very much. The fact Roberto Bolaño said (again, paraphrasing) he could easily spend his entire life “sitting under a table talking to Borges” might have something to do with it. Or was it “sitting under a table reading Borges”? Either way, it influenced the way I approached Borges’ Collected Fictions. I sometimes feel Bolaño’s ghost looking over my shoulder as I read, saying, “Isn’t this fantastic?!” To which I say, “Si!”

Another reason I’m reluctant to bail on a book is simple pride. I’ve kept a list of every book I’ve read since 1990. That’s a handy thing to have, by the way. You’d surprised how many times I’ve appended this list or portions of it to an application or as a way to gain access/credibility with a mentor. I strive to have a good-looking list at the end of each year. I always post it on my Facebook page both as a way influence my friends and followers and, I’ll admit, a sort of boast.

But it’s not just a numbers game; I use that list to go back and revisit certain books, to refresh my memory. Some books need to be reread every few years, like Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov or Women in their Beds by Gina Berriault.

Do I skim the bad books? Rarely. If I’m not going to read carefully, what’s the point? I can speed-read and my retention is very good. But it’s always a sad process. I’d much rather savor each word, each sentence. That’s what I’m in it for. Speed-reading is something I did for assigned books in school. I’m in the habit of note-taking when reading; I use a buck-slip as a bookmark and write down page numbers and a word or two that grabs me. Unless the book sucks — then I’ll speed-read it in one sitting, all the time eyeing that next book, the good one, in my queue.

I asked Jim Krusoe if he ever bailed on books. He said, “All the time.” I imagine the answer is the same from all successful writers. I know I need to be a little less polite, less tolerant of bad writing. After all, there are a lot of great books out there and life is short.

Here are the books I read in 2013. Only one of them truly sucked (and I’m not saying which one):

1. The Holden Age of Hollywood—Phil Brody
2. Dear Life: Short Stories (story collection)—Alice Munro
3. Slouching Towards Bethlehem—Joan Didion
4. As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and other stories (story collection)—Alistair MacLeod
5. The Topless Tower—Silvina Ocampo
6. Bullfighting (story collection)—Roddy Doyle
7. Money: A Suicide Note—Martin Amis
8. Life A User’s Manual—Georges Perec
9. The Notebook—Agota Kristof
10. The Dog of the South—Charles Portis
11. The Proof—Agota Kristof
12. The Third Lie—Agota Kristof
13. Jacob von Gunten—Robert Walser
14. Crimes in Southern Indiana (story collection)—Frank Bill
15. Last Evenings on Earth (story collection)—Roberto Bolaño
16. Black Dahlia & White Rose (story collection)—Joyce Carol Oates
17. Blood Line (story collection)—David Quammen
18. The Jook—Gary Phillips
19. Cowboys—Gary Phillips
20. Chronicle in Stone—Ismail Kadare
21. Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona (story collection)—Ryan Harty
22. The Return (story collection)—Robert Bolaño
23. Red Cavalry (story collection)—Isaac Babel
24. Fitting Ends (story collection)—Dan Chaon
25. The Deep (story collection)—Mary Swan
26. Stolen Pleasures (story collection)—Gina Berriault
27. Volcano and Miracle—Gustaw Herling
28. Tenth of December (story collection)—George Saunders
29. All That Is—James Salter
30. The Fun Parts (story collection)—Sam Lipsyte
31. Nothing Gold Can Stay (story collection)—Ron Rash
32. Stoner—John Williams
33. Lolita—Vladimir Nabakov
34. The Buddha of Suburbia—Hanif Kureishi
35. The Iliad of Homer—Richmond Lattimore translation
36. Under the Volcano—Malcolm Lowry
37. Middle Men (story collection)—Jim Gavin
38. Geographies of Home—Loida Maritza Perez
39. Cat’s Eye—Margaret Atwood
40. The Color Master (story collection)—Aimee Bender
41. The Question of Bruno (story collection)—Aleksandar Hemon
42. The Street of Crocodiles (story collection)—Bruno Schulz
43. All Quiet on the Western Front—Erich Maria Remarque
44. The Education of Henry Adams—Henry Adams
45. Drowning Lessons (story collection)—Peter Selgin
46. 179 ways to Save a Novel—Peter Selgin
47. The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup—Susan Orlean
48. Strait is the Gate—Andre Gide
49. Batting for Castro (story collection)—Jim Shepard
50. No One Belongs Here More Than You (story collection)—Miranda July
51. Mathew Brady: Portraits of a Nation (biography)—Robert Wilson
52. The House of Seven Gables—Nathaniel Hawthorne
53. The March—E.L. Doctorow
54. The River Swimmer (story collection)—Jim Harrison
55. Photo by Brady—Jennifer Armstrong
56. We Live in Water (story collection)—Jess Walter
57. We Wanted to be Writers: Love, Life and Literature at The Iowa Writers’ Workshop—             Eric Olsen & Glenn Schaeffer
58. The Red Badge of Courage—Stephen Crane
59. Wench—Dolen Perkins-Valdez
60. Love and Obstacles (story collection)—Aleksandar Hemon
61. Franz Kakfa: The Complete Stories
62. See Then Now—Jamaica Kincaid

Robert Morgan Fisher’s fiction has appeared in The Huffington Post, Psychopomp, The Spry Literary Journal, 34th Parallel, The Snake Nation Review, The Seattle Review, Spindrift, Bluerailroad and other publications. He’s also written for TV, radio and film. Robert holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and teaches in their online program. He often writes companion songs to his short stories. Both his music and fiction have won many awards. Robert also voices audiobooks.