This quote is from “Self-Made Man” by the wonderfully dark and talented writer, Poppy Z. Brite:
“An artist who doesn’t read is no artist at all, he had scribbled in a notebook he once tried to keep, but abandoned after a few weeks, sick of his own thoughts. Books are the key to other minds, sure as bodies are the key to other souls. Reading a good book is a lot like sinking your fingers up to the second knuckle in someone’s brain. “
I just love that metaphor. So true! (And the irony is, I actually had this very quote in my own old journaling notebook…which I, too, had abandoned when I got sick of my own thoughts — and just now rediscovered).
Brite’s story and a bunch of others by an amazing array of writers is up online in an old collection called “The Barker,” graciously posted at the way-cool Dark Carnival Bookstore.
I’m taking what little remains of the day off to read. Cheers, people.
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Guest blogger Michael A. Arnzen is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the flash fiction collection, 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories, and the novel, Play Dead. His most recent project is a spoken word cd called Audiovile. A collection of his best fiction and poetry to date — called Proverbs for Monsters — is due soon from Dark Regions Press. You can find out more about him by subscribing to his award-winning newsletter at gorelets.com.
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