{"id":146719620,"date":"2024-07-19T12:31:19","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=146719620"},"modified":"2024-07-19T12:31:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:31:19","slug":"friday-links-we-all-want-to-belong-to-a-witch-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=146719620","title":{"rendered":"Friday Links: We All Want To Belong To A Witch Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cShe said things like, \u2018everyone wants to belong to a witch,\u2019 and \u2018a name is a carnivorous animal.\u2019\u201d – Josh Bell, The Houseboat Veronica <\/h2>

There\u2019s a lot to be said for maturing as a reader. Certain books you feel like you HAVE to read for some reason\u2014historical legend, critical acclaim, everyone\u2019s talking about it, whatever. We all know the type of dudes who push Infinite Jest<\/em> too hard, the type of sophomore English teachers who say Ethan Frome<\/em> is the greatest book in USian letters, the Bradley Coopers of the world walking around with dog-eared copies of <\/a>Lolita<\/a><\/em> in their jacket pockets<\/a>. When I was in college, I thought the kind of book I\u2019m reading this week was the kind of book I had to write to be respected as an original thinker and boundary-pushing writer (notice I didn\u2019t say best-selling). I read these types of books until reading itself wasn\u2019t fun anymore. Then I read some books I liked, and now, coming back to a more challenging book is actually a hell of a lot of fun. <\/p>

What I\u2019ve Been Reading This Week: <\/strong><\/p>

A book that\u2019s still something I want to imitate. A witch<\/em> story set on a houseboat<\/em> I mean come on, right up yr man the shipwrecked sailor\u2019s alley. A book that reminds me a little of Joyelle McSweeney\u2019s Nylund, The Sarcographer<\/em>, Salvador Plascencia\u2019s The People of Paper<\/em>, or Shane Jones\u2019s Light Boxes<\/em>\u2014all books I need to give a second look. A book described on its cover as \u201cmythopoetic\u201d and sure, I barely know what that word means, but we\u2019ll use it here, it tracks. I\u2019m talking, of course, about The Houseboat Veronica by Josh Bell.<\/p>

\"The<\/figure>

This is the story of a witch, the black-haired woman\u2014who is the captain of the titular houseboat\u2014and her ward, a boy named Orphan Thing, whom she dresses in pink shorts and for whom she has built a masturbation booth in the galley of the boat. Orphan Thing used to have a brother\u2014possibly a twin\u2014but he was a malcontent, which Orphan Thing told the black-haired woman, who then murdered the brother. What are the black-haired woman and Orphan Thing doing on the houseboat Veronica<\/em>? What are their goals? Unclear, besides fishing and surviving and sex. How did the world get this way? We\u2019re told less than the opening of Fury Road<\/em>. Yet this moody, fragmented, atmospheric writing is compelling. If<\/em> this is a post apocalypse (big IF, imo, it really reads more like a fairy tale and the \u201cpost apocalyptic\u201d tag is on the cover for marketing), then think The Road, but perverted and with witches. On a boat. You\u2019re telling me you wouldn\u2019t read that? I had a great time.<\/p>

It\u2019s hard to know what to do with CWs in this book. The world is a strange, sideways, fairy tale world, where voluntary imprisonment is a thing, hanging gardens are built in train cars and feature dance floors with hand job stands (yes you read that right), and people long to belong to a witch. There is child prostitution, but it\u2019s not presented as this huge horrific tragedy. It\u2019s presented as kind of the way the world is. Orphan Thing treats it less like he\u2019s a trafficking victim and more like one of Hemingway\u2019s Nick Adams stories where young Nick talks about that being one of the scary realities of riding the rails. Murder is ritualized and expected. Idk, is any of this worse than the witch eating Hansel and Gretel? Do we expect witches to treat children well? <\/p>

LINKS!<\/strong><\/p>

Last summer, I said I would get into regularly watching the WNBA. I try to go to at least one Sky game every summer, and have since Elena Delle Donne was anchoring the pivot. The problem I keep running into is 1) it\u2019s summer, who wants to watch that much TV? and 2) after monopolizing the TV for two straight months to watch NBA playoffs, I feel bad asking Mal if I can watch more basketball<\/em> when we could, like, sit on the porch or play Mario Party<\/em> or watch Deep Blue Sea<\/em> again. But I\u2019ve watched a couple games this year, and it\u2019s a good time to do so\u2014lotta talent in the league right now. It\u2019s too late to say you got into the WNBA before it was cool, but better late than never. <\/p>

\"Usa<\/figure>

  • Washington Post<\/em> reported it first, but they\u2019re owned by Jeff Bezos, so here\u2019s The Guardian<\/a><\/em> reporting on the WNBA\u2019s $200 million per season TV deal<\/a>. Media deals and collective bargaining agreements and all the business-y stuff is boring and not in line with my celebrate-sports-as-art deal, but I love seeing the league reach this height. It would be great if these women could sign real pro sports contracts, instead of playing for what a middle manager at Groupon would make and having to go to Russia or China in the offseason. This is good basketball, and this sort of monetary recognition is long overdue. <\/p><\/li>

  • Oh hey look Chennedy Carter scored 34 the other night, against the best player in the league, A\u2019ja Wilson. Let\u2019s watch:<\/p>