I’m always reading several things at once, and here are a few of them:
My father-in-law is a lovely Austrian gentleman and he has a particular love of the work of Ayn Rand. I appreciate certain aspects of Rand’s work and we have had numerous conversations. After one of these conversations recently, whilst searching Kindle for “Lord Byron” I found and started pecking around at this little freebie:
The last lines of the introduction hooked me:
I shall consider him, if I can, as his character will be estimated when contemporary surmises are forgotten, and when the monument he has raised to himself is contemplated for its beauty and magnificence, without suggesting recollections of the eccentricities of the builder.
JOHN GALT.
As I say, I’m always reading a small stack of things. This stack is mostly digital these days, I only have three bookcases and physical books (especially old hardbacks and references) are a giant pain in the ass to move all over the place. An eclectic mix, but the one thing that is always present is science fiction. Some of it is really bad, some of it not. I have strong science fiction opinions.
Miles Cameron — Artifact Space
I really haven’t read much of it yet but it’s got me interested. Far future dystopia with colossal transport ships travelling between sprawling city-sized orbitals run by totalitarian artificial intelligences, and a young woman from the orbital ghettos named Nbaro. Cameron has published mostly fantasy novels, which I don’t read as much but are fine, this seems to be his first science fiction novel and so far it’s pretty good and only $1.99 on Kindle.
Sam Pink — 99 Poems to Cure Whatever’s Wrong with You or Create The Problems You Need
This is one I have a physical copy of on my desk, but it looks like Amazon has it part of their Kindle Unlimited subscription thing so I think you can read it free if you’re doing that. I’ve written about some of Sam’s work and have six of his books that I ordered directly from Sam himself via Twitter DM and PayPal, supporting him directly. The cover art is his and he sells his paintings as well. He tempts me to finally break down and make an account on Instagram.
Justin E. H. Smith’s Hinternet
Mr. Smith was one of my first subscriptions on Substack and I really enjoy him. His essays are numerous and fantastic, a real craftsman and an exceptionally thoughtful person.
I have been left literally speechless by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I try to conjure words, but whatever I manage to say sounds to me so inadequate as to border on obscenity. I read the takes on Twitter and I feel they should be outlawed. They are either reckless, inadvertently shaping reality under the pretense of being “mere speech”; or they really are mere speech, and their impotence alongside the real violence underway can only come across as an advertisement for violence, and a case against mere words. Restraint is what is needed, all around; restraint at its most magnificent can save the world, and at its most personal can help us to maintain our individual dignity.
Check him out.
Thanks again for reading! As to what I’m working on, I’m finishing my notes and commentary on the last section of Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson, randomly posting poems, and expanding on a tarot operation involving a certain Knight of Wands. I also edited the brief Substack/Medium bio and About Me sections with slightly more information about myself and what I’m about 😎
