Anyone who knows me is aware that I'm a fan of John Irving. Earlier this week, I began rereading one of my favorite books, The World According to Garp, which I haven't read in at least fifteen years (though I've seen the movie several times since then). Understandably, I recall the movie better than the book. But this is one of those rare situations where I enjoy both -- perhaps equally.So I had to laugh when I found this article in Slate. Apparently, the online publication is doing an homage to procrastination. As any fan of Garp knows, his first novel was called Procrastination. (And I'd completely forgotten that it was a highly symbollic piece set in Vienna and based on the time Garp lived there with his mother.) Again, this is T.S. Garp I'm talking about -- the character -- rather than Irving, whose first novel was Setting Free the Bears. To be honest, the Slate article is fairly boring. Even skimming it was tedious. But if you're looking for relatively unknown writers who've written about writer's block and procrastination (and who isn't!), then it's worth giving it a look see.
But I'd recommend you first pick up your copy of Garp and remember that life is wonderful, albeit occasionally odd, and the only justification for putting off that great American novel you're writing is to gather a bit more experience from which to write. Be careful with the baby sitter.
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