Campbell Andrews > Recent Status Updates

pretty sure there’s a missing word in third graph: “candle”

By the conclusion, the cliffhanger-introspective structure is rote

that’s a little much

That’s one of the sweetest chapters I’ve read in a while.

Good setup but it’s taking too long to get to the next reversal.

Saunders’ assessment of Tolstoy’s flaw seems correct to me, but he sidesteps an answer to the overriding question: where do we locate our moral compass?

Lots of insight here, but it’s so specific to the _short_ story that it first begs for a definition and defense of that particular form... this is especially interesting to me as Saunders’ latest published work is a novel, and one that (while beautifully impressive in its own right) IMO does not equal his best, shorter works.

DNF. It’s really weird for an illusionist to self-mythologize in autobiography before he even has a signature trick. In this and in his show, Mr. Delgaudio appears to be a talented guy, but he seems more interested in eliciting sympathy than supplying wonder.

DNF. It’s really weird for an illusionist to self-mythologize in autobiography before he even has a signature trick. In this and in his show, Mr. Delgaudio appears to be a talented guy, but he seems more interested in eliciting sympathy than supplying wonder.

Mr. Delgaudio is too preoccupied with empathy to be a great illusionist.

development in previous chapter seems a misstep but it’s been controlled enough that I’ll let it play out

reminding me of Ready Player Two...

Exposition Theater

seriously? somehow I doubt there’ll be an explanation.

it is a testament to the writer that I read on.

The Giving Tree, annotated version

heaps of ambition, but too much is untethered. this, to conclude a consummation between undergraduates: “Ten minutes later, she’s turned into a tree just a little too late to be spared.” what exactly transpired? did she get pregnant? reading on did not clarify the incident, guess I’ll never know.

...but transcendence grafted onto technology is more quasi-gnostic bullshit

this is helping me better understand environmental evangelism

a few too many metaphors don’t land but there’s enough to pull me along

hmm yeah not sure your hearty fifth-generation Iowans let a propane heater run indoors all night

Anyone who ever wants to go into academia should be required to read Stoner.

if I’m not mistaken it is hinted that Edith’s father abused her— probably sexually

There is a thundering, insistent fatalism here that feels imposed upon the character