“How well do you really know your old high school friends?
I’m finding out now my old buddy is a creature of strange habits. Twice a day, Rausch does eighty push-ups and eighty sit-ups. He wears extremely tight, silky t-shirts. He picks his teeth with a pocketknife after meals and cleans his toes while he watches TV. He never seems to fully exhale. I imagine he has oxygen in his lungs from 1990.”
— Jess Walter
We Live in Water, a collection of stories
Has this happened to you — you read an excellent book, then race to find everything the author has written?
It’s a thrill, really, to find a book that you enjoy so much you don’t want it to end but also enjoy it so much you dash through with a fever of appreciation. Several years ago, I sped through Beautiful Ruins, a novel by Jess Walter, then proceeded to read through his others. In my fervor, I somehow missed We Live in Water, a 2013 gem of short stories set mostly in Spokane, Washington (the author’s hometown) and packed with struggling Pacific Northwest characters.
As usual, Walter’s prose shines with authentic people with real voice, giving each moment equal measures of wit, grit, grace and understanding.
I’ve done this with other writers — read one of their books and then promptly raced out to read their whole collection — including Carol Shields, Jean Thompson, Francine Prose, Sue Miller, Gail Godwin, Junot Díaz, Kaui Hart Hemmings, Jeffrey Eugenides . . .
How about you? What writers do you savor and can’t wait to read more?
* Note: Love this line is technically Love this passage, but I lean toward alliteration and rarely let truth get in the way of snap, crackle, pop.