Dirda on Books

Prize-winning columnist Michael Dirda takes your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.

Each week Dirda's name appears -- in unmistakably big letters -- on page 15 of The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a hefty literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be turning out one of his idiosyncratic essays or rediscovering some minor Victorian classic. Although he earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda has somehow managed to retain a myopic 12-year-old's passion for reading. Heparticularly enjoys comic novels, intellectual history, locked-room mysteries, innovative fiction of all sorts.

These days, Dirda says he still spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth, listening to music (Glenn Gould, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, The Tallis Scholars), and daydreaming ("my only real hobby"). He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer, working. His most recent books include "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments" (Indiana hardcover, 2000; Norton paperback, 2003) and his self-portrait of the reader as a young man, "An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland" (Norton, 2003). In the fall of 2004 Norton will bring out a new collection of his essays and reviews. He is currently working on several other book projects, all shrouded in themost complete secrecy.

Dirda joined The Post in 1978, having grown up in the working-class steel town of Lorain, Ohio and graduated with highest honors in English from Oberlin College. His favorite writers are Stendhal, Chekhov, Jane Austen, Montaigne, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, Nabokov, John Dickson Carr, Joseph Mitchell, P.G. Wodehouse and Jack Vance. He thinks the greatest novel of all time is either Murasaki Shikubu's "The Tale of Genji" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu." In a just world he would own Watteau's painting "The Embarkation for Cythera." He is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, The Ghost Story Society, and The Wodehouse Society. He enjoys teaching and was once a visiting professor in the Honors College at the University of Central Florida, which he misses to this day.

____________________

Michael Dirda: Sorry to be late--tell you all in a minute. But first a question of two. Anyway welcome to Dirda on Books at this special time, coming to you from the Post's own Book World section.

_______________________

New Orleans, La.: Just started reading Nicholl's bio of DaVinci and it is fascinating.

Recently read Schama's "Embarrassment of Riches," a very thorough account of Dutch culture in the 15th through 17th centuries. While I was mainly interested in the influences on that golden age of artistic expression, the book's treatment of the Netherlands' "water culture" proved to be particularly timely to my city's current plight.

Michael Dirda: Many thanks. Both are good books. As you may know, I'm a great admirer of Nicholl's The Reckoning, about the death of Christopher Marlowe. His first book, The Achemical Marriage, is about estoeric lore in the renaissance. Schama is, of course, an astonishing writer and historian.

_______________________

Charm City, Md: Michael -- Thanks for the extensive quotes from the new book of Lytton Strachey's letters. Prompted by your review, my copy is in the mail, perhaps even waiting for me to start on tonight. It makes me think that getting new and much desired books has gotten a lot easier than the time when as a college student on a tight budget I took the bus from Annapolis to D.C. to buy Quentin Bell's new biography of Virginia Woolf. I still remember the excitment of seeing it on the shelf and hurrying back to the Greyhound bus station so I could start reading. Is it just that the books we read and want to read when we are younger make a deeper impression than the books we read and want to read in our middle age?

Michael Dirda: Grahame Greene says at the beginning of his essay, The Lost Childhood, that it's only in our earliest days that reading truly makes a major difference in our lives. Indeed, I've always felt that books provided kids with images of the people they would like to be, or might aspire to be. The Strachey is a lot of fun.

_______________________

Academia: Dear Michael (and others),

I've just started working in academia, and am interested in reading novels about academia, or set in the academic world (for example, I enjoyed The Emperor of Ocean Park). Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks!

Michael Dirda: I've got a list of them in my Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life, coming in march from holt. You might try these three to start: Randall Jarrell, Pictures from an Institution, David Lodge, Small World, and Francine Prose, Blue Angel.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Have you paid any attention to the breaking story about the best-seller "A Million Little Pieces"? This book has been consistently presented by its author as a true, non-fictional account of his recovery from a formerly sordid life of unspeakably out-of-control addiction, and the author gained great fame by being selected by Oprah, and repeating his assertions about the book's truth on her show. Now there are apparently credible reports emerging that the author's accounts of jail time and other verifiable incidents cannot, in fact, be verified and appear to be entirely fictional.

I've read his book, and it possesses a certain raw power that derives from its purported personal authority. However, much of it has a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction quality to it that collapses into melodrama if it's just fiction.

Michael Dirda: Yes, this is an interesting point. I've never quite understood why it matters so much, but one needs to know where to place a book. When I learned that much of Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines was, essentially, fictional, it turned a very good travel book into a so-so novel. Autobiographies, in particular, nearly always announce somewhere near the beginning what's called "the autobiographical pact," ie. that they will be telling the truth insofar as they know it. Readers somehow need this assurance. But, as I say, I don't fully understand why. Something psychological, I suspect, and not just esthetic.

_______________________

New York, NY: I will be traveling to Berlin. Can you recommend a good book, either non-fiction or fiction, to heighten my enthusiasm.

Michael Dirda: Christopher Isherwood's The Berlin Stories. Len Deighton's cold-war thriller, Funeral in Berlin. Or, if you're a real reader, Alfred Doblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz.

_______________________

Publish or Perish: As I read yet again about another celebrity who is penning a children's book I want to scream. Why are these people not satisfied with their professions of choice? They are talented and established, and in many cases hugely successful musicians, actors, politicians, comedians. Is it really just about the money? Or is it about the glory? Does 'published author' next to one's name somehow provide validation that the title of mere musician, actor, politician, or comedian does not? As a struggling writer, I have defended the publishing industry to friends and colleagues who are in the same boat as I. They bemoan the glut of celebrity tomes. So what to do when you read the latest publishing news: Ted Kennedy as children's book writer. Do we (non celebs) even have a chance? Are we, working writers, so inept or are these celebrities just incredibly gifted multitaskers? Arrgh! If you're not a celebrity what does it take to get published around here? Thanks for letting me vent!! Love your chats.

Michael Dirda: I agree with you. And I feel much the same--I know this is sacrilege--about doctors who write novels (of which there are more than a few). It reeks of hubris, of over-achievement. I know, I know, many great writers trained in medicine. Still. . .

You have to remember that the book industry, more and more, is primarily a way for people and corporations to make money. Not a lot of money, usually, but still. So the publishers have to think about marketability. It helps if you're already famous, or have won an award, or are just startlingly good-looking--people will want to have you on their radio and tv shows, etc. Books will be sold. Money made.

Still, if you write a really good book, editors like to bring out titles that win awards, and they will want your work.

_______________________

Genre fiction: Two takes on this. There's a difference between entertainment and culture. Both can be fun, both can be escapes, both are worthy endeavors. We know that entertainment is going after smaller goals - reliable fun, not breathtaking or lifechanging. Genre fiction is entertainment (for the most part), not 'culture'.

Also consider that genre fiction is like comfort food. You can't eat pate de fois gras or puffer-fish sushi every day, or drink vintage Burgandy with every meal. But you can eat mashed potatoes 3 times a week, and read a couple chapters of a mystery every night before you go to bed.

It's a difference between comfort and small pleasures, which you can enjoy without devoting lots of attention to them (genre fiction) vs. breathtaking and mind-expanding experiences which require a lot of mental effort (literary fiction). Of course, sometimes meatloaf can be gourmet food, just like "The Left Hand of Darkness" qualifies as truly great literature.

Michael Dirda: These are all good points, but I'm shocked to learn that I shouldn't be drinking Burgundy with every meal. Another illusion shattered.

Genres are real, but genres are also imposed by publishers and booksellers. A genre book is assured of a certain sale; a mainstream book might get many more readers, or many fewer. It's a risk.

Also, some people do aim to write strictly commercial books, though usually trying to do the best work they can. But artists can emerge from any genre, any background: It's a matter of ambition, talent and luck.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Michael, wasn't the discussion today supposed to be about genre books v. literary books?

Michael Dirda: Yes. But I field the questions in the order I come to them on my list.

_______________________

Michael Dirda: A pause for a moment: It's gloomy and gray here in DC, which is how I feel. A friend I know is undergoing a difficult time, emotionally and physically, and I wish I could be of help but can't; my wife was mugged and her purse stolen; the car was in a fender bender; my kids. . . well, enough of this litany of woe.

Right after the chat I'll be traveling to New York for the annual Baker Street Irregulars banquet--three days of talks, drinking and eating. It's usually a lot of fun, though my heart isn't quite in it just now. Still, I'm looking forward to a quiet three or so hours on the train, when I can lose myself in a book. And when I return I'm going to lose myself in a lot of work. School will be starting soon at McDaniel College.

Anyway, next week we'll be back at the usual time of 2 on Wednesday.

Back to questoins.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: On the question of genre versus literary fiction I have a few thoughts. First, isn't literary fiction a genre just as much as SF or mystery? Book stores and reviews certainly seem to treat it such. Second, two of the best books I've read recently would probably be regarded as genre books, but really seem to reach beyond those limits - "Mystic River" by Dennis Lehane (shelved as mystery), and "Light" by M. John Harrison (shelved as SF). Why don't these qualify as literary fiction? I think they compare well with (for example) Murakami's literary fiction "Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" and "Wild Sheep Chase," both of which could be shelved as SF but are not.There seems to be a lot of snobbery in deciding what is literary and what is genre - why don't people just read and enjoy, starting with the titles above!

Michael Dirda: Excellent advice and good points.

About Murakami et al. More and more writers under 40 are using genre fiction--especially fantasy, sf and mystery--as a way of revitalizing the novel. There's been a return to story and plot--witness a couple of McSweeney's anthologies--and authors like Jonathan Lethem and Michael Chabon don't hide their allegiance and fondness for science fiction and pulp culture. Meanwhile, Neil Gaiman--a "comic book" writer--emerges as a major literary figure, with fine work in short story, novel, film, etc. I do think that the best writers don't transcend the genres so much as use them for their own purposes.

_______________________

Austin, Tex: I have yet to start the new novel, "Arthur and George" by British writer Julian Barnes. I have read nothing but high praise about it, but was taken aback by Kakutani's scathing review of it in the New York Times earlier this week. Have you read it, and if so, what's your opinion?

Michael Dirda: I have a review in this Sunday's book world. I enjoyed it a great deal, but don't think it a major work or anything like that. I don't read other people's reviews of books I write about, so don't know what Kakutani said. Maybe she doesn't really like to read.

_______________________

Bring on the Genre!: Dear, brilliant Dirda,

Let me remind you of your promise to discuss genre literature today. Let us hear your sordid confessions of enjoying a Nora Roberts once upon a time, or your secret addiction to Aubrey/Maturin, or your never to be whispered outside this chat fondness for Louis L'amour. Bring it on!

Michael Dirda: Okay. Georgette Heyer is a wonderful writer, and I love regency romance. Aubrey-Maturin reminds me of Austen, but also, sometimes, of Proust. I've written with obvious fondness about Bernard Cornell's Sharpe novels and George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman. The longest critical pieces I've ever written--7-10,000 words each--have been on John Dickson Carr, master of the locked room mystery; Jack Vance, arguably the greatest living fantasy writer; the witty academic mysteries of Edmund Crispin. I've written about Arthur Conan Doyle's supernatural fiction and praised H.P. Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany and M.R. James in The Weekly Standard. I wrote the introduction to Dunsany's Jorkens stories, volume 3. I wrote the afterword to Signet's Journey to the Center of the Earth. I love ghost stories and P.G. Wodehouse and Max Schulman, crator of Dobie Gillis and . . . Well, enough.

_______________________

Munich, Germany: The review of Olga Grushin's novel, "The Dream Life of Sukhanov", was quite interesting. It certainly reminded me of Nabakov because of the fact that that Grushin wrote the novel in English and not her mother tongue, Russian.

What other notable authors have written masterpieces, not in their mother tongues? Joseph Conrad comes to mind.

Michael Dirda: Samuel Beckett is the leading contemporary example. He said he chose French because it made it harder for him to write his books.

_______________________

Annapolis, Md.: I just finished a book that I would like to recommend: "In Lucia's Eyes" by Arthur Japin (reviewed in Book World by Ron Charles a few weeks ago). The basic premise is that Lucia, who is the narrator, was Casanova's first love--not lover--before he embarked on his life of debauchery. It is a literary historical romance and very enjoyable.

Michael Dirda: Yes, you can trust that Charles guy; he's a good reviewer and a good colleague.

_______________________

Holmes, New York: Dear Mike,what is your favorite sherlock holmes short story? who would you hire s. holmes ,fr. brown, or nero wolfe to solve a mystery or...?Happy New Year.

Michael Dirda: Hmm. A hard call on the Holmes stories. Of the novels The Hound would be my choice. Of the short stories. . . It's probably The Speckled Band, The Final Problem, or the every charming Blue Carbuncle.

_______________________

Oklahoma City, Okla: I enjoyed your aside last week about your burning desire to be James Coburn in "The Magnificent Seven." During my years as a younf newspaper reporter in the 1970s, I had an occasion to cover a minor in-flight airline emergency that required the plane to land here -- and Mr. Coburn was a passenger. In inerviewed him and found him to be a true gentleman and a genuninely nice man -- and he was carrying a book, though I don't recall the title.

Michael Dirda: What a good story. Yes, Coburn stole The magnificent Seven from McQueen and Brynner.

_______________________

Millburn, NJ: Now that we are into the NFL playoffs, I was wondering if you can recommend any good books about football. Baseball has so many great books, both fiction and nonfiction, while there seem to be a shortage of football tomes.

Michael Dirda: Paper Lion, by George Plimpton. The books of Dan Jenkins.

_______________________

On the Road, USA: For the Atlantic City, NJ chatter who last week was seeking American road literature: I recommend Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. Dry in parts but very eloquent in others; he really captures the color of the back roads of rural America. This book inspired me to take a similar back-roads cross country odyssey the summer after I graduated from college.

Michael Dirda: Many thanks.

_______________________

Reston, Va.: Michael,

In last week's chat, you mentioned the James Coburn character in Magnificent Seven. -"Do you remember the James Coburn character in The Magnificent Seven? He's always been rather a model to me."]Surely you meant the Robert Vaughn character as your hero? He was the cowardly gunfighter who re-holstered his guns before breaking in on the bad guys, just to test himself.

Michael Dirda: No, Coburn was always testing himself against himself, with gun or knife. He possesses a serenity, a mastery, an unflappable calm. It is he, among other great moments, who first picks up his guns, determined to ride back to the village: "Nobody takes my guns away from me." Vaughn needed to prove to himself that he wasn't a coward.

_______________________

Barrington, RI: Reporting back to you and the group a little on Cape Breton literature. Found a delightful book called, "An Underlying Reverance. Stories of Cape Breton" edited by James O. Taylor. Contains a lovely selection of stories from many leading CB authors. I particularly liked Sheldon Currie's "The Glace Bay Miner's Museum" and Joan Clark's "God's Country." Highly recommended. From the Cape Breton University Press.

Also, any thoughts on Ernest Hebert, author of the "Darby" series (5 books) set in New Hampshire? Compared to Faulkner and Davies (perhaps in quality, as well as in subject-a local setting of immense imaginative wealth). Recently wrote _The Old American_, a historical novel which garnered good reviews.

Michael Dirda: Thanks for the leads. I don't know Hebert's work.

_______________________

McLean, Va.: Mr. Dirda: I've been thinking about the question that was raised last week regarding literature vs. genre books. You've made the point before that categorizing fiction into genres is a convenient device for publishers, booksellers, and even readers. It's all about money and the bottom line. This marketing device is sometimes seen as a judgement on the overall merits of a book in that a book that is tagged as sci-fi, horror, romance, adventure, or mystery--and shelved with other like books in a bookstore--is often viewed as less worthy than all of those books in the general literature section. I've certainly been guilty of this myself.

Truthfully, tho, if many of the books we now view as classics were published today, where would they be shelved using current conventions? Austen and Mitchell would be with the romances, most of Twain would be with the adventure or even children's books, Doyle would be with the mysteries, Poe would be with the horror (or maybe mystery) books next to King, Wells and Verne would be in the sci fi section, and Dickens might be with the mysteries. There are probably better examples, but these are the ones that occur to me right off the bat.

(People might be inclined to dismiss overexposed, popular writers like Grisham, but didn't Dickens fall into that same category in his day? Would Austen today be mocked as chick lit or beach reading?)

My long-winded point is that "genre literature" doesn't automatically fall into the mindless entertainment category. Genre literature can be just as well-written and thought-provoking as other forms of literature. So--don't jump to a negative conclusion when you see someone reading manga, mysteries, or sci fi on the subway. I'm always just happy that people are reading regardless of whether it's poetry, People magazine, or the Washington Post.

Thanks to you and your chatter from last week's discussion for an interesting thought to consider!

Michael Dirda: Good points. I've spent my career urging people to read outside the genres and beyond the best seller list.

Before the 20th century, the notion of genres in fiction were less rigid. Novels would be realistic; romances, in the original sense, could be almost anything.

_______________________

Takoma Park, Md.: Genre vs literary fiction:

I have to agree with the person who cited comfort food as an analogy. I live with someone who devours mysteries (sometimes two a day), focusing on particular types and authors. She re-reads regularly. She has a few other genre authors (Terry Pratchett for one) who are on the In List.

She gets much more reliable pleasure from her reading than I do from my literary fiction and science-nonfiction. But I believe that my pleasures, when I hit a good literary novel, are deeper and fresher than hers.

It's three decent comfort books vs two lousy and one terrific literary book.

You pays yer money (or time, really) and you takes yer choice.

Michael Dirda: Yes. But surely some of her genre books are better than others? And some, like Pratchett, may be regarded as breaking out of the categories? Still, that's where genre fiction hooks you--it's reliable, you know what you're going to get.

_______________________

For the love of Genre, Maryland: Good Afternoon, I'm having some sparks of thought about my favorite genre novelists. What do you think, Mr. Dirda?

Tepper, radical speculation on women in society

Heinlein, early and late: social theory, exploration of taboo in later books

Card, high space adventure + moral introspection +mormonism

Martin & Jordan: exploration of human condition through intricately plotted political sf.

Bujold: strong theme writer, more human condition

Elliott's Jaran novels: social theory, women, society, marriage, less emphasis on oppression than Tepper

Peter Hamilton: limits of technology to improve human condition. Importance of reason. Speculation on cultural separation.

John Barnes: More culture speculation

Pratt: social satire, sometimes at its very best.

Gabaldon: Historical perspective, meditations on social and personal contracts

Austen: social theory, human interaction

Heyer: Because I love her. Humor, well-drawn characters illuminating tension between social duty and personal desire.

O'Brien & Forester: Alas for the beating of O'Brien, repeatedly administered by the Post! High-seas adventure, plus very sharp character construction.

Michael Dirda: Interesting list, and comments. I've only read about half the people on it, but would agree in those instances.

_______________________

Greenbelt, Md.: Michael, Sorry to hear of your woos. How can you try and snap yourself out of it? It sounds like you could use a nice cup of hot tea and a book that's completely your choosing, which is likely not possible. However, let's pretend. If you could read anything at all that you wanted to soothe your spirits, what would it be and where? In front of a fireplace? In your bed under the covers? Hopefully, such fantasy will allow for a few seconds of respite from your bad day. Take care of yourself.

Michael Dirda: Let's see. If I'm going to wish, can't I just wish to be 14 again, settling down with a volume of Sherlock Holmes?

For pleasure, if I could manage any pleasure, I'd read John Dickson Carr's Murder in the Submarine Zone, Michael Innes's Stop-Press, and Love on a Branch Line, by John Hadfield.

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Genre books that transcend genre?

Isn't this just a way of saying that really really good genre books get the honorary title of nearly-literary books?

Maybe there's a literary-novel genre or genres, and they're not recognized because there is more variation within the "genre", and they aren't as reliably successful as good mystery, horror, sea yarn, etc.

Michael Dirda: Nearly literary sounds demeaning; I think they are literary. And, as posters have reminded us, it goes both ways: Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian is a cowboy story, albeit a very bloody spaghetti-western style cowboy story.

_______________________

Germantown, Md.: Your answer to the celebrity author question reminded me of Cory Doctorow remarks on writing today. If you didn't know, he basically gives his books away free on the Internet, or you can buy a real book if you like. He supports himself by selling some books, of course, but also by _speaking_ about his writing and other topics. He says it's a shame that you have to be a good, presentable, speaker to be a successful writer nowadays, but that's life. His take is that we lost a lot of good actors and actresses when we went to talkies, too, but you can't stop the march of time.

Well, he's also a pretty good writer, as you know.

Michael Dirda: Many thanks. I'm a pretty good speaker too, but I don't seem to be making any serious money from it.

_______________________

Washington, DC: Just a quick thanks for encouraging us to expand our horizons. In the last month I've read Maltese Falcon and Stars My Destination, two books I would never have picked up on my own. They were both delightful. I'm now in the middle of At Swim-Two-Birds and find it very funny, though a bit difficult. Thanks again!

Michael Dirda: There are longueurs in the Flann O'Brien novel; you might check out his newspaper columns, The Best of Myles.

_______________________

Rockville, Md: OK to the point.

I liked Science Fiction when it was not very popular with the elite. My quote was "This can not be science fiction. It is good."

Is Harry Potter genre? Or a different sort of cat? I rather like the new translations. (Beowulf or Gilgamesh or the others.) Are they literature? Or scholarship?

Michael Dirda: Potter is genre. The B and G translations are literature, not scholarship. They are a little too free to be thought of as scholarly.

_______________________

Courthouse, Va.: Hi Michael, Happy New Year. Since we've started on a historical note, I have two questions about historical pieces. One: I'm interested in reading a good book on the French Revolution, something I know little about. Also, second, I'm interested in reading a history of food--or something along those lines. Already read Salt and Cod by Kurlansky. If you could make any recommendations, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

washingtonpost.com: re: history of food, look at "Spice: The History of a Temptation" by Jack Turner and "From Hardtack to Home Fries : An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals" by Barbara Haber.

Michael Dirda: Thanks, Kim--I presume--for the food leads. You might also look at the works of Margaret Visser, Much Depends on Dinner, and perhaps M.F.K. Fisher's books.

As for the Revolution: Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution is a magnificent, wrong-headed work of literature and history. Simon Schama's Citizens is critical of the Revolutoinary spirit. And Claude Manceron has written a multivolume study of the years before and during the Rev.

_______________________

Clarification: I don't think anyone "look down" on someone reading manga or sci fi. Not at all. But I think it's interesting to think about what each type of book offers. It's not snobbery; it's curiosity.

Michael Dirda: Oh, I don't know. I still find it hard to take most manga seriously, and I admire comics and graphic novels.

_______________________

Genre Fiction: I wholeheartedly agree with the earlier chatter about the pleasures of genre fiction---like comfort food. That's the perfect analogy. Literary fiction and genre fiction offer distinct gifts. And I think it's -okay- if we admit that literary fiction may offer gifts that may be more rare or precious. (This is the person who posed the question last week, by the way, so I'm probably repeating myself a little.)

I love mysteries, and they are a little repetitive. Then I thought of Ian McEwan and how his novels are kind of repetitive too; his plots and style are recognizably his own. BUT I think the insights he provides within the context of those plots and that style are not repetitive, and the plots are recognizably "McEwanesque" but not really repetitive. The scene in Amsterdam (I think) where one character is writing an orchestral work in the park and has to choose between following the melody that he is just about to grasp and responding to the cries of a woman who is being attacked is so memorable---I still think about it in a way that I think about few scenes from mysteries.

I also like Jennifer Crusie novels (modern romance novels), and she's a good writer. But would I read her if it weren't for the sex scenes? No!

On the other hand, 20 years from now if I could choose to re-read Amsterdam versus Busman's Honeymoon, The Clocks, or Faking It, I might choose the genre fiction. Truth be told, wouldn't all of us rather watch Hitchcock than Orson Wells?

Michael Dirda: I don'tthink Hitchcock and Orson Welles are that different, but I take your point. I do think that as we grow older, we start to return more and more to the books we loved when young--and they are often genre books or even trash. Noel Coward read E.Nesbit children's sotries on his death bed.

They do provide, as you say, comfort.

_______________________

50 miles of bad road: High Noon, eh? Well, at least you didn't forsake us. I have to buy an Oxford literature companion to complete my man-of-letters makeover. Are they indespensible and should I get English or American (i.e does the English incl. all English language writers)? thanks.

Michael Dirda: Drabble's Oxford companion to English touches on foreign writers, but is primary British. The American is just America, for the most part. You need them both. But if you look around used bookstores, it's relatively easy to find older editions for a few dollars. And they're jsut as good, for all but the most contemporary figures.

_______________________

Maryland: Does it make any difference in what order the Dido Twite books by Joan Aiken are read? I asked librarians at two different libraries, and they didn't know. They gave me a list of 12 -- they called them The Wolves Chronicles. I started off with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (which, incidentally, does not have Dido in it) which seems to be the first.

Michael Dirda: Yes, I always mention that Dido first appears in the second Black Hearts in Battersea. If possible, you should read them in order, because the story does develop over time.

_______________________

Michael Dirda: And that, friends, is it for this week's session of DOB. Now, I must go rush, with heavy suitcase, to catch a train. Good reading till next Wednesay. May we all feel better soon.

Next week: Wednesday at 2.

_______________________

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.