By Roy Peter Clark
What I’m Reading Now
As a reader and a writer, I have a circular pattern. If I am writing a lot – as I am now during the pandemic – I don’t read as much. It’s not healthy to be sitting too much, so if I am sitting to write, I am not inclined to recline too much in my reading. I also don’t want to be unduly influenced by other writers, or intimidated by them.
One solution for me is to read for shorter periods of time, and to dip into several books at the same time. Here is what I have been up to lately:
“The Nickel Boys,” a novel by Colson Whitehead that won the Pulitzer Prize. It is based on the work of journalists who exposed the terrible corruption of a boys reform school in the Panhandle. Has a great beginning: “Even in death the boys were trouble.”
“The Life and Times of Little Richard,” an oral history edited by Charles White. I bought this book in Atlanta for one dollar and read it cover to cover after the recent death of my music hero Little Richard. America is a country forever torn between Puritanical and prurient sensibilities. No one embodied that conflict more than Richard.
“The Big Fella,” a rich biography of Babe Ruth by Jane Leavy. People in St. Pete do not realize the influence of Ruth on this city, going back to the spring training days of the 1920s. One of the most recognizable celebrities in the world helped put St. Pete on the map.
“The Plague,” by Albert Camus. Goes without explanation.