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Art on Fire
"Art on Fire" is the apparent biography of subversive painter Francesca deSilva, the founding foremother of "pseudorealism," who lived hard and died young. But in the tradition of Vladimir Nabokov's acclaimed novel "Pale Fire," it's a fiction from start to finish. It opens with Francesca's early life. We learn about her childhood love, the chess genius Lisa Sinsong, as well as her rivalry with her brilliant sister Isabella, who publishes an acclaimed volume of poetry at the age of twelve. She compensates for the failings of her less than attentive parents by turning to her grandmother who is loyal and adoring until she learns Francesca is a lesbian, when she rejects her. Francesca flees to a ramshackle cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, working weekends at the flea market. She breaks into the gloomy basement of a house, where she begins her life as a painter. Much to her confusion and even dismay, fame comes quickly.
Interspersed with Francesca's narrative are thirteen critical "essays" on the paintings of Francesca deSilva by critics, academics, and psychologists--essays that are razor-sharp satires on art, lesbian life, and the academic world, puncturing pretentiousness with every paragraph. "Art on Fire" is a darkly comic, pitch-perfect, and fearless satire on the very art of biography itself.
"Art on Fire" is the latest winner of the Bywater Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the Heekin Foundation Award, the Dana Awards, and the Story Oaks Prize. It was mistakenly awarded the nonfiction prize in the Amherst Book and Plow Competition.
Interspersed with Francesca's narrative are thirteen critical "essays" on the paintings of Francesca deSilva by critics, academics, and psychologists--essays that are razor-sharp satires on art, lesbian life, and the academic world, puncturing pretentiousness with every paragraph. "Art on Fire" is a darkly comic, pitch-perfect, and fearless satire on the very art of biography itself.
"Art on Fire" is the latest winner of the Bywater Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the Heekin Foundation Award, the Dana Awards, and the Story Oaks Prize. It was mistakenly awarded the nonfiction prize in the Amherst Book and Plow Competition.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 15 reviews
June 1, 2019
This... I would be lying if I'd said that I've ever read a story like this one—this story has delved into the deepest part of me, wrenching my heart and mind, starving me of sleep and productivity during my waking hours until I couldn't think of anything else except the welfare of the characters. This amazing author gave me a frank and unapologetic portrayal of the human condition through Francesca deSilva's eyes. I couldn't get enough of the vivid descriptions of Francesca's paintings and I enjoyed the thought-provoking critiques as well. I loved every word of this story and I can certainly say that this book is high on my list of beloved re-reads!
June 1, 2013
I'm very fond of biographies, and although I knew from the start this wasn't a real one, I loved every page of it.
I'm prepared to say I've never read anything quite like this - it's a very cleverly written story about a young girl in a dysfunctional family and her development into a painter, into a grown-up.
Enough told!
I just loved the descriptions of the paintings, and my only complaint is that THEY ARE NOT REAL!!!
This is one of the very few novels which, coming to the end, I want to start from the beginning again!
I'm prepared to say I've never read anything quite like this - it's a very cleverly written story about a young girl in a dysfunctional family and her development into a painter, into a grown-up.
Enough told!
I just loved the descriptions of the paintings, and my only complaint is that THEY ARE NOT REAL!!!
This is one of the very few novels which, coming to the end, I want to start from the beginning again!
December 24, 2012
Credible Fiction: The Intriguing Life and Career of Francesca de Silva
Hilary Sloin has struck gold with this extraordinarily readable quasi biography that succeeds on so many levels - many of which are unique to the literary plate. Sloin has created a story about a girl, Francesca de Silva, who has struggled from early childhood with sibling rivalry (her mentally ill and intelligent wonder child sister Isabella writes poetry and has her work published at age 12!), with inconsequential and subjugating parenting, with a beautifully close relationship with a loving grandmother who is her Gilead until she discovers Francesca is lesbian (her love is Lisa Sinsong, a chess genius) and casts her out of her safe refuge. Francesca is left without family ties and seeks solace in living alone in a cabin in Massachusetts where while working days in a flea market she discovers that by night her attempts are creating art are surprisingly successful.
From there we follow the life and love of an artist in a most interesting manner. Sloin interjects short chapters devoted to critiques of Francesca's paintings - a solid and very thoughtful way to explore the psyche of an artist. The author in an interview explains the book best: `I fell in love first with Isabella, the protagonist's mentally ill and acutely intelligent sister. Isabella is so much smarter and wittier than I have ever proved to be and, of course, this fascinates me. How can I create a character who surpasses me by leaps and bounds? Soon I fell in love with Francesca, too, but that was for entirely different reasons: I had created my dream lover: a cowboy in girl's clothing, the one who cannot be possessed, who oozes with the need to express herself but cannot. And again, I was fascinated because to this day I am still not sure whether Francesca's paintings were any good or whether, as some of the critics in the book postulated, she was simply in the right place at the right time, an icon of pop culture. I fell in love with Evelyn Horowitz, Francesca and Isabella's terribly human grandmother, because she is basically my grandmother and every time I read the chapters where she appears I cry, missing my own Gram all over again. And then there is Lisa Sinsong, who bears all the tragedy and much of the poetry of the story, who is victim to family legacy in a way that seemed to me to be inevitable in this particular book. How could I not love and want to save her? I was able to write Art on Fire because it held my attention. It made me laugh and cry as I was writing it.'
It is difficult to believe this is Hilary Sloin's debut novel, so thoughtfully constructed it is and so intensely readable. This reader was so convinced that Francesca de Silva was a real painter until combing history of art books and even wikipedia proved otherwise that Sloin caught me thoroughly. Highly recommended.
Grady Harp
Hilary Sloin has struck gold with this extraordinarily readable quasi biography that succeeds on so many levels - many of which are unique to the literary plate. Sloin has created a story about a girl, Francesca de Silva, who has struggled from early childhood with sibling rivalry (her mentally ill and intelligent wonder child sister Isabella writes poetry and has her work published at age 12!), with inconsequential and subjugating parenting, with a beautifully close relationship with a loving grandmother who is her Gilead until she discovers Francesca is lesbian (her love is Lisa Sinsong, a chess genius) and casts her out of her safe refuge. Francesca is left without family ties and seeks solace in living alone in a cabin in Massachusetts where while working days in a flea market she discovers that by night her attempts are creating art are surprisingly successful.
From there we follow the life and love of an artist in a most interesting manner. Sloin interjects short chapters devoted to critiques of Francesca's paintings - a solid and very thoughtful way to explore the psyche of an artist. The author in an interview explains the book best: `I fell in love first with Isabella, the protagonist's mentally ill and acutely intelligent sister. Isabella is so much smarter and wittier than I have ever proved to be and, of course, this fascinates me. How can I create a character who surpasses me by leaps and bounds? Soon I fell in love with Francesca, too, but that was for entirely different reasons: I had created my dream lover: a cowboy in girl's clothing, the one who cannot be possessed, who oozes with the need to express herself but cannot. And again, I was fascinated because to this day I am still not sure whether Francesca's paintings were any good or whether, as some of the critics in the book postulated, she was simply in the right place at the right time, an icon of pop culture. I fell in love with Evelyn Horowitz, Francesca and Isabella's terribly human grandmother, because she is basically my grandmother and every time I read the chapters where she appears I cry, missing my own Gram all over again. And then there is Lisa Sinsong, who bears all the tragedy and much of the poetry of the story, who is victim to family legacy in a way that seemed to me to be inevitable in this particular book. How could I not love and want to save her? I was able to write Art on Fire because it held my attention. It made me laugh and cry as I was writing it.'
It is difficult to believe this is Hilary Sloin's debut novel, so thoughtfully constructed it is and so intensely readable. This reader was so convinced that Francesca de Silva was a real painter until combing history of art books and even wikipedia proved otherwise that Sloin caught me thoroughly. Highly recommended.
Grady Harp
September 28, 2019
I nearly passed by this book because the synopsis seemed so dry. The novel is anything but. It’s presented as a fictionalized biography of Francesca deSilva, a lesbian artist, and most chapters are preceded by descriptions of her paintings and “excerpts” from critiques of those paintings, carefully footnoted and annotated. Sloin’s technique is so effective that, as noted here on Goodreads, the book mistakenly won the nonfiction prize at the Amherst Book and Plow Competition.
Still sound boring? Many of the fictional critiques on the fictional paintings of the fictional artist are richly funny in their pomposity. Furthermore, the contrast between biography and critique helps us see that as the critics bandy about their arty-farty terms, and try to link deSilva’s paintings to the events of her life, they are far wide of the true meaning of her work. In a pseudo-realistic biography of the “foremother of the pseudo-realist movement,” truth is a slippery concept.
The novel focuses on the artist’s coming of age and on her family, especially the so-called genius of a sister whom her mother dotes on. However, there are enough passages from the parents’ point of view that the novel is certainly not just for young adults. Another reason it engaged me is that Francesca is all dyke and makes her way boldly and independently through the world, including painting not just “outside the academy” but with no interest whatsoever in the academy.
For a novel that so successfully dresses up in nonfiction drag, a few events in the story were a strain on credence, such as what Francesca’s parents and grandmother didn’t do when she went to Cape Cod. (Trying not to write a spoiler here.) Also, it’s a much darker story than I can reveal here. Read the book for yourself. It will be well worth your while.
Still sound boring? Many of the fictional critiques on the fictional paintings of the fictional artist are richly funny in their pomposity. Furthermore, the contrast between biography and critique helps us see that as the critics bandy about their arty-farty terms, and try to link deSilva’s paintings to the events of her life, they are far wide of the true meaning of her work. In a pseudo-realistic biography of the “foremother of the pseudo-realist movement,” truth is a slippery concept.
The novel focuses on the artist’s coming of age and on her family, especially the so-called genius of a sister whom her mother dotes on. However, there are enough passages from the parents’ point of view that the novel is certainly not just for young adults. Another reason it engaged me is that Francesca is all dyke and makes her way boldly and independently through the world, including painting not just “outside the academy” but with no interest whatsoever in the academy.
For a novel that so successfully dresses up in nonfiction drag, a few events in the story were a strain on credence, such as what Francesca’s parents and grandmother didn’t do when she went to Cape Cod. (Trying not to write a spoiler here.) Also, it’s a much darker story than I can reveal here. Read the book for yourself. It will be well worth your while.
April 5, 2013
I loved this book, quite passionately. I will read it again. Soon.
May 5, 2013
Comparisons are odious, of course, but sometimes they're necessary or just plain fun. My book group read "The Last Nude" by Ellis Avery a few months ago, and I recently picked up "Art on Fire" by Hilary Sloin.
"The Last Nude" is a well-written novel about a female painter in the 20th century who becomes very successful and has a love affair with a woman who is the subject of many of her famous paintings.
"Art on Fire" is a well-written novel about a female painter in the 20th century who becomes very successful and has a love affair with a woman who is the subject of many of her famous paintings.
"The Last Nude" and "Art on Fire" were both published this year, which is interesting, considering how similar they are. The differences between the books, though, are even more interesting. They are both fiction, but "The Last Nude" is a fictionalized story of a real artist. Avery Ellis describes the creation of real paintings, and you can find photos of some of them on the internet, which is fun to do when you're reading the book. "Art on Fire" is pure fiction. It also describes many of the artist's paintings so realistically that I feel as though I've seen them, but no search of the Internet is going to find them. One of these books reportedly won a non-fiction book award, and it's not the one you might think.
"Art on Fire" is pure fiction. Hilary Sloin writes it as if it's a biography, though, complete with scholarly articles and dozens of footnotes. It's a convincing biography. If it had been written ten or fifteen years ago, I'd have believed for the rest of my life that Francesca deSilva was a revolationary lesbian artist. I'd have wanted to own one of her painting, probably "Emergency Room." Instead, since it's 2013, by the time I'd read the first ten footnotes, I'd gone to my computer to look up the paintings being described, just like I'd done with "The Last Nude." That's when I learned that the paintings didn't exist, Francesa deSilva didn't exist, and the whole thing was made up by Hilary Sloin.
How delightful! The entire book is a trick, a game, almost a puzzle. I try to imagine the fun Hilary Sloin must have had writing the whole thing. I hope she had fun, because it couldn't have been easy. The footnotes and articles about the paintings are so convincingly scholarly that you'll be tempted to skip them. Don't. They're fun. They add tidbits about the characters, the story, and sometimes just reflect the pomposity or idiocy of the scholars making the comments.
I'm not the only one who was fooled by the biographical nature of the book. Apparently, "Art on Fire" won an award from the Amherst Book and Plow Competition for non-fiction books. Reviews from Lambda Literary tell the story, like the joke here is on Amherst. Maybe it is, but I have to add a note of skepticism here. I checked on-line for the Amhert Book and Plow Competition, and I can't find it. In fact, the only place I can find it mentioned in response to my Google search is in the reports that "Art on Fire" won the award. Given the sleight of hand Hilary Sloin used in writing the book in the first place, I can't help but wonder. Is the joke on Lambda Literary? Is Hilary Sloin still tricking us? Is there any evidence that the book won an award for non-fiction, other than Hilary Sloin's own reports?
I don't really care if the story of the award is true or not. I almost hope it's false. It would add another layer to the joke, and since I was able to figure it out pretty early on in reading the book, it doesn't bother me. I feel like Hilary Sloin let me in on the joke and I got to enjoy it all along.
About the story, though. I haven't talked about the story! It is a love story, yes, and it ends tragically. I don't normally enjoy books that don't end happily, but I enjoyed this one. Is it possible to live happily ever after if you die at the age of 28? (I'm not giving anything away. The beans are spilled on page 1.) It didn't end happily ever after, not really, but I felt as satisfied with the ending as if it had. The artist, Francesca deSilva, is very likeable. I rooted for her, though what I rooted for most was that she continue to be authentically herself, which she did. So I was happy.
"The Last Nude" is an excellent book, but if I had to pick my favorite of the two, I pick "Art on Fire."
"The Last Nude" is a well-written novel about a female painter in the 20th century who becomes very successful and has a love affair with a woman who is the subject of many of her famous paintings.
"Art on Fire" is a well-written novel about a female painter in the 20th century who becomes very successful and has a love affair with a woman who is the subject of many of her famous paintings.
"The Last Nude" and "Art on Fire" were both published this year, which is interesting, considering how similar they are. The differences between the books, though, are even more interesting. They are both fiction, but "The Last Nude" is a fictionalized story of a real artist. Avery Ellis describes the creation of real paintings, and you can find photos of some of them on the internet, which is fun to do when you're reading the book. "Art on Fire" is pure fiction. It also describes many of the artist's paintings so realistically that I feel as though I've seen them, but no search of the Internet is going to find them. One of these books reportedly won a non-fiction book award, and it's not the one you might think.
"Art on Fire" is pure fiction. Hilary Sloin writes it as if it's a biography, though, complete with scholarly articles and dozens of footnotes. It's a convincing biography. If it had been written ten or fifteen years ago, I'd have believed for the rest of my life that Francesca deSilva was a revolationary lesbian artist. I'd have wanted to own one of her painting, probably "Emergency Room." Instead, since it's 2013, by the time I'd read the first ten footnotes, I'd gone to my computer to look up the paintings being described, just like I'd done with "The Last Nude." That's when I learned that the paintings didn't exist, Francesa deSilva didn't exist, and the whole thing was made up by Hilary Sloin.
How delightful! The entire book is a trick, a game, almost a puzzle. I try to imagine the fun Hilary Sloin must have had writing the whole thing. I hope she had fun, because it couldn't have been easy. The footnotes and articles about the paintings are so convincingly scholarly that you'll be tempted to skip them. Don't. They're fun. They add tidbits about the characters, the story, and sometimes just reflect the pomposity or idiocy of the scholars making the comments.
I'm not the only one who was fooled by the biographical nature of the book. Apparently, "Art on Fire" won an award from the Amherst Book and Plow Competition for non-fiction books. Reviews from Lambda Literary tell the story, like the joke here is on Amherst. Maybe it is, but I have to add a note of skepticism here. I checked on-line for the Amhert Book and Plow Competition, and I can't find it. In fact, the only place I can find it mentioned in response to my Google search is in the reports that "Art on Fire" won the award. Given the sleight of hand Hilary Sloin used in writing the book in the first place, I can't help but wonder. Is the joke on Lambda Literary? Is Hilary Sloin still tricking us? Is there any evidence that the book won an award for non-fiction, other than Hilary Sloin's own reports?
I don't really care if the story of the award is true or not. I almost hope it's false. It would add another layer to the joke, and since I was able to figure it out pretty early on in reading the book, it doesn't bother me. I feel like Hilary Sloin let me in on the joke and I got to enjoy it all along.
About the story, though. I haven't talked about the story! It is a love story, yes, and it ends tragically. I don't normally enjoy books that don't end happily, but I enjoyed this one. Is it possible to live happily ever after if you die at the age of 28? (I'm not giving anything away. The beans are spilled on page 1.) It didn't end happily ever after, not really, but I felt as satisfied with the ending as if it had. The artist, Francesca deSilva, is very likeable. I rooted for her, though what I rooted for most was that she continue to be authentically herself, which she did. So I was happy.
"The Last Nude" is an excellent book, but if I had to pick my favorite of the two, I pick "Art on Fire."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2013
If you like invention, turning convention on its ear, if you've ever enjoyed a footnote or wanted to make one up, if the lives of tortured artists have ever cheered you, you will love this book. It's a hoot and a half -- smart, engaging, well-writ. Try it.
July 8, 2014
I loved Art on Fire. I loved the titles and descriptions of the paintings, and the footnotes! I did study art as an undergraduate, so I may be somewhat biased in my enthusiasm for the book. I plan to buy more copies to share with some of my friends.
January 8, 2013
See my review at Lambda Literary:
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews...
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews...
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June 4, 2023Art on Fire - Hilary Sloin
What if we are not aiming to reach our potential but rather escape it, and therefore, accidentally, we find our truth?
Art on Fire is a fictional biography of subversive painter Francesca deSilva, the founding foremother of "pseudorealism," who lived hard and died young. But in the tradition of Vladimir Nabokov's acclaimed novel Pale Fire, Art of Fire is fiction from start to finish. It opens with Francesca's early life. We learn about chess genius Lisa Sinsong—her childhood love—and Francesca’s rivalry with her brilliant sister Isabella, who publishes an acclaimed volume of poetry at the age of twelve. Francesca compensates for the failings of her less than attentive parents by turning to her grandmother who is loyal and adoring until she rejects Francesca when she learns that Francesca is a lesbian.
Francesca flees to a ramshackle cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, working weekends at the flea market. She breaks into the gloomy basement of a vacant house where she begins her life as a painter. Much to her confusion, and even dismay, fame comes quickly. Interspersed with the narrative of Francesca's life are thirteen "essays" written by critics, academics, and psychologists about the paintings of Francesca deSilva—essays that are razor-sharp satires about art, lesbian life, and the academic world. They puncture pretentiousness with every paragraph.
The blurb states that the story is darkly comic, and while there are intensely sharp and pointed observations that poke fun at the art world, the heartache in the story affected me deeply. I cried at the poignancy and unbearable sadness in so many of the events. Because I went into this book without reading the blurb, so I fully believed it to be the biography of a real artist who lived and loved and sought legitimacy. I even Googled Francesca afterwards, only to discover that she didn’t exist at all. I was bereft because I desperately wanted Francesca to live. I clung to the final footnote because it delivers a possibility of hope.
Bipolar disorder and depression permeate the novel. I didn’t know this going in. Sloin has either personal experience with, or has so thoroughly researched the intricacies of, bipolar disorder and depression that my little mental illness heart gasped at the exactitude of the prose surrounding this topic. (Edit: I now know more about Hilary Sloin and urge you to research this author’s personal demons.)
And it is an exactitude. In the beginning, the writing is ethereal, an offering for Isabella, Francesca’s gifted yet mentally ill sister. Then the writing builds a strength that forms Francesca’s foundation; the layers as she becomes who she thinks she could be. She orbits her own short life like a slightly off-kilter planet. The people important to her drift into her space, until they leave, quietly or dramatically, which tears at Francesca’s heart.
People such as Isabella. Their relationship is fraught, pulled and stretched with elastic-like necessity. People such as Lisa Sinsong who is Francesca’s only love; their chemistry tested by family expectations and the weight of legacy. There is a heartbreaking moment when the weight becomes too much to bear.
Art on Fire is a fearless satire on the art, the genre, of biography. The art is not only Francesca’s paintings. It is Francesca herself. She is the art that is aflame; igniting her passion to escape the mundane. To read Art on Fire is to yearn for someone’s life to unfold, to wish them a path of fulfilment. It is an astonishing novel.
What if we are not aiming to reach our potential but rather escape it, and therefore, accidentally, we find our truth?
Art on Fire is a fictional biography of subversive painter Francesca deSilva, the founding foremother of "pseudorealism," who lived hard and died young. But in the tradition of Vladimir Nabokov's acclaimed novel Pale Fire, Art of Fire is fiction from start to finish. It opens with Francesca's early life. We learn about chess genius Lisa Sinsong—her childhood love—and Francesca’s rivalry with her brilliant sister Isabella, who publishes an acclaimed volume of poetry at the age of twelve. Francesca compensates for the failings of her less than attentive parents by turning to her grandmother who is loyal and adoring until she rejects Francesca when she learns that Francesca is a lesbian.
Francesca flees to a ramshackle cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, working weekends at the flea market. She breaks into the gloomy basement of a vacant house where she begins her life as a painter. Much to her confusion, and even dismay, fame comes quickly. Interspersed with the narrative of Francesca's life are thirteen "essays" written by critics, academics, and psychologists about the paintings of Francesca deSilva—essays that are razor-sharp satires about art, lesbian life, and the academic world. They puncture pretentiousness with every paragraph.
The blurb states that the story is darkly comic, and while there are intensely sharp and pointed observations that poke fun at the art world, the heartache in the story affected me deeply. I cried at the poignancy and unbearable sadness in so many of the events. Because I went into this book without reading the blurb, so I fully believed it to be the biography of a real artist who lived and loved and sought legitimacy. I even Googled Francesca afterwards, only to discover that she didn’t exist at all. I was bereft because I desperately wanted Francesca to live. I clung to the final footnote because it delivers a possibility of hope.
Bipolar disorder and depression permeate the novel. I didn’t know this going in. Sloin has either personal experience with, or has so thoroughly researched the intricacies of, bipolar disorder and depression that my little mental illness heart gasped at the exactitude of the prose surrounding this topic. (Edit: I now know more about Hilary Sloin and urge you to research this author’s personal demons.)
And it is an exactitude. In the beginning, the writing is ethereal, an offering for Isabella, Francesca’s gifted yet mentally ill sister. Then the writing builds a strength that forms Francesca’s foundation; the layers as she becomes who she thinks she could be. She orbits her own short life like a slightly off-kilter planet. The people important to her drift into her space, until they leave, quietly or dramatically, which tears at Francesca’s heart.
People such as Isabella. Their relationship is fraught, pulled and stretched with elastic-like necessity. People such as Lisa Sinsong who is Francesca’s only love; their chemistry tested by family expectations and the weight of legacy. There is a heartbreaking moment when the weight becomes too much to bear.
Art on Fire is a fearless satire on the art, the genre, of biography. The art is not only Francesca’s paintings. It is Francesca herself. She is the art that is aflame; igniting her passion to escape the mundane. To read Art on Fire is to yearn for someone’s life to unfold, to wish them a path of fulfilment. It is an astonishing novel.
June 7, 2015
A whip-smart novel delivered with sass, imagination and style.
February 11, 2026
5 stars. This book fucking hurts! My goodness. This book just feels so hopeless and depressing but I loved every painful moment of it. There’s a lot to take in but wow. The writing is exquisite, the plot is intriguing and heartbreaking and the characters feel so human and like real people. Francesca and her sister Isabella are just two troubled souls but they couldn’t be more different if they tried. I honestly don’t want to say too much about this book because it is such an experience and I feel like it’s best to go in completely blind.
That ending though! What the fuck? I loved it. It says so much and I had to sit and stare at the wall for a few minutes when I read it. This book is a wild ride and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s fantastic.
Content Warning:
That ending though! What the fuck? I loved it. It says so much and I had to sit and stare at the wall for a few minutes when I read it. This book is a wild ride and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s fantastic.
Content Warning:
July 20, 2020
I enjoyed this so much that I want to re-read it, but I have to give it back to my friend. :)
I was reminded of The Mezzanaine by Nicholson Baker, due to Sloin's creative footnoting. There's a whole story just within those tiny lines, and it's hysterical. There were plenty of amusing lines that made me pause, just to write them down.
(Not a spoiler)
"Yearning was untidy. It was like leaking, leaving behind a trail of things you need but could not manage to hold on to." (208)
I was reminded of The Mezzanaine by Nicholson Baker, due to Sloin's creative footnoting. There's a whole story just within those tiny lines, and it's hysterical. There were plenty of amusing lines that made me pause, just to write them down.
(Not a spoiler)
"Yearning was untidy. It was like leaking, leaving behind a trail of things you need but could not manage to hold on to." (208)
December 11, 2020
Brilliant
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