Writing, reading, and all that jazz

Can I just say I love this man? The more books I read by this man, the more I am led to believe he is my gay soulmate. I started reading "Sellevision" a few days ago, which I was surprised to find myself picking up because it's his only fiction novel. Me having a tendency toward book/genre snobbishness, I wasn't sure I'd like the one fictitious work more than his nonfiction/memoir-style books (It is the only book I had not yet read by him, to date). But au contraire. I love this man. I think when God developed the quirky part of our brains that make both Augusten and I weird in that idiosyncratic and witty kind of way.....God took cells from the same 'collective' brain, thus connecting Augusten and I in some bizarre bookish, writerly kind of way with our similar sense of humor. Or so I like to think.

Even though I like to read ALOT and CAN read fast....doesn't mean I do so that often. So I know I really like an author when I can't put a book down and finish it within a day or two of opening the book to page 1. Augusten Burroughs just has this amazing knack for bringing his eccentric characters to life. He can describe their most minute characteristics, while at the same time mocking them from that third person point of view. Hilarious. It's writers like him that make me want to write my own funny, or strange but true, stories all the more.

Yesterday I strolled over to the Borders on Clark and Diversey in my neighborhood to browse around. As if I don't have enough books (!!), but I ended up getting a Chuck Palahniuk book of nonfiction essays called "Stranger Than Fiction" (no, it's not the same as the movie with the same title). I had only read one of his books a few years back, "Diary" I think. It was ok, but I wasn't totally enthralled with his fictive work. I was drawn to STF though because I saw it was a collection of random, bizarre essays. It had me brainstorming about the kind of book I'd want to write someday. I have a hard time narrowing down one specific topic...obviously, as demonstrated by various topics I blog about. I thought, "Aha, essays! Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? That's perfect!!!" I can have different chapters for different topics, but they will all be considered 'essays' (or for the ones that are too amusing for a serious title like 'essays' could be titled....'anecdotes'). That way, I could throw in some autobiographical stories from childhood, the horrible teen angst years, and a decade of random twentysomething experiences that would likely take up the majority of 'good material' (aka people watching stories, tales from the counselor's office, random travel/adventure anecdotes, experiences of working in a bookstore, dating foibles, family drama, life in the city, my insights into human nature/mental health.....and the list goes on and on).

Yes, yes. It's all coming to me now. This will be a great second career for Katie. And one of the very first 'dedication' pages will read: "For Augusten, thanks for the warped and crazy inspiration"