reading a small collection of essays by Jonathan Lethem. I read one of his novels, the name escapes. it was a merger of scifi and noir detective, futuristic Raymond Chandler. alas I remember nothing more than that, tho I think I liked it. in my (and Lethem's) defense, that was a time when I was chain reading fiction, and the impressions kinda blur. Lethem's essays obsess about such as Jack Kirby, Philip K Dick and John Wayne's movie The Searchers. it's fun to follow his literate goofiness along those trails. which indeed is what charmed me about Stephanie Young's recent post, not that goofy is the right descriptor in her case. I did follow Kirby a bit, back in the day, but I never rose to brandish the Comix banner. so called underground comix is another thing, I really liked R Crumb, S Clay Wilson and a few others of those ilk, but the cosmic soap operas of Marvel/DC were too commerically bred for me. Lethem's great with The Searchers, a movie that takes a certain obsessiveness to appreciate. John Ford's films all seem to bobble between a sort of authentic look at historic times and the most ham-fisted of Hollywood crap. you can't just say a movie of his is one thing, for the other will intrude upon your assumption. which I suppose is just another example of what happens to pure American products. in this sense, The Searchers could be Wayne/Ford's ultimate film. as to Dick, I don't know if I've ever read his work, and I don't know why. I like these crank it out types, less so the Stephen King types who (speaking specifically of King) are also a little to mercantile for my taste. one summer I read, shit, 13 King novels. almost all of them were too long ('Salem's Lot being an exception). his works are plausibly not too long, if your escapist impetus is strong. I was reading King I won't say thoughtfully but at least aware technically, and I was kinda in a rush, readingwise (hence my vagueness about Lethem's novel), so I languished when King tread water, which he consistently did. he knows his book should be 500 pages long, so that's what he supplies. King's a professional not just in getting the words onto paper, but in marketing (I mean, credit to the whole SK machine), whereas Dick was a sweatin' hack. but in hackitude he flourished. an idea arises, he writes a story, he mails it out. piston pump. I'm assuming all this. Lethem is careful to reiterate that Dick's writing isn't always of the best. it's the energy, don't you see. the obsession, which Lethem possesses too. I had ought to read another Lethem novel, see what he can do for me. there's a point in way too many contemporary novels when a sitch evolves and must run its course. ick. then the novelist starts reading the rulebook. then what I liked about the book, say the character simply in life, disappears in the hype of finishing the novel's course. or I guess to say, I like aimless novels. the way James wanders around in thick reflection and dependent clauses until he looks at his watch and finishes in a 3 page rush. those 3 pages are a nod to completion, it is the previous meander that is the thing we want to hold. so that's that, I guess.