The News from Manhattan: Friday, June 26, 2020

I’m a man who’s writing a book,

I’m head bottle-washer and cook.

And I have faith

September 8th

The book comes out, so have a look.

An exciting day, editing galleys and I’m down to the last twenty pages. The end is in sight. An author has to be a tough critic, especially an old one because people tend to be terribly polite to the elderly and you show them a few pages and they’ll say, “That’s very nice” so you need to squint at your stuff and say, “That’s a piece of crap. Dump it.” No time to waffle about writing when you’re 77. And I reluctantly admit that on p. 168 with thirty left to go, I think this is a pretty good book. Last night I thought my eyes were giving out but this morning they’re fresh again and so, God forgive me, I am skipping Morning Prayer on Zoom and going straight to work. This is my joy, this is what I live for: my beloved and our child are sound asleep and I sit in a quiet kitchen and work on a book I am starting to think is pretty good work. Thank you, Lord, for eyesight and all the rest of it.

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