new year is all about life, that sweet inebriation

Well, hi and welcome back...for now. Changes afoot, but more of that next week.

Estelle has reviewed Michael Ondaatje's Running In The Family at 3000 Books, making me add it to my reads list.

Though it can be classed as a memoir, Ondaatje alludes to his process of storying the material:

'I must confess that the book is not a history but a portrait or "gesture"'. If it is to be termed as such, then this book is a gesture of grace and colour; a promise to bear, carry and perform history as if drunk on memory.'

At the Second Pass, I found a bunch of reviews collected by John Williams of the new memoir by Patti Smith about her early life in New York with Robert Mapplethorpe, Just Kids. Another for the list.

Some more biography, this time online in the form of reminiscence from Martin Edmond - in his solitude he taunts us with reveries of days gone by. There is a series of these posts scattered through the blog. Enjoy.