A Curly-Headed Dark-Eyed Ear Worm
January goals, 2025 log, 18 short stories, and more Dylan
I typically start the year by setting all sorts of goals, only to be wildly erratic in fulfilling or even remembering them. I’m fine with that. It’s satisfying while it lasts, even if it’s unsustainable.
This year I’ve started a log of the books I’ve read, the short stories I’ve read, the books I’ve committed to getting around to this year, and the movies I’ve watched. I often track these in my pocket notebook but I also tend to misplace those throughout the year.
To be honest, I needed to find some use for this Lamy Notebook. I’ve got a Prussian Blue .38mm Uni-Ball Signo DX Gel Pen in the pen loop. Is there a Lamy I should be putting there? -Adam
Story Log
These are the short stories I read in January.
“Gutting and Scooping” by Hrannar Björnsson (McSweeney’s 75)
“Slip Needs Kick” by Sam Davis (McSweeney’s 75)
“Gray Cottom, White Lace Edges” by Isabelle Fang (McSweeney’s 75)
“The Carriage” by Nikolai Gogol (Widely available; I read it here.)
“Diary of a Madman” by Nikolai Gogol
“Old World Landowners” by Nikolai Gogol
“The St. Alwynn Girls at Sea” by Sheila Heti (The New Yorker)
“Resting Place” by Celine Ipek (McSweeney’s 75)
“Specimens” by Sam Krowchenko (McSweeney’s 75)
“Puck Fest” by Will Lowder (McSweeney’s 75)
“The Teacher of Forbidden Things” by Chii Ọganihu (McSweeney’s 75)
“Procurement and Transport” by Brittany Price (McSweeney’s 75)
“Diablo Winds” by Maya Sisneros (McSweeney’s 75)
“A Visit from the Chief” by Samantha Schweblin (The New Yorker)
“Small Mistakes in the Scheme of Things” by Stephanie Skaff (McSweeney’s 75)
“The Kid with No Dad” by Alejandro Zambra (Childish Literature)
“Skyscrapers: by Alejandro Zambra (Childish Literature)
All of these stories are well worth reading. (Maybe. The most famous story on the list, “Diary of a Madman,” was the most daunting. I preferred the other Gogols.)
McSweeney’s 75 contains ten stories by writers publishing their first short story. The story that stuck with me the longest, for whatever reason, was “Specimens” by Sam Krowchenko. I don’t know why — something about the point of view.
More Dylan Content. We Can’t Help Ourselves.
The novelist and short-story master Jim Shepard has a two-page essay on A Complete Unknown in the NYT Mag. Every take on Dylan has been written and the same may be true for this movie—but I think Shepard may have something new to say about Dylan’s “baffling neutrality.” Shepard also wrote great, long film criticism for The Believer in the early ‘00s. Notable for Oscar season: pieces on The Pianist and the original Nosferatu.
Around this time of year, regardless of the biopic, when the wind cuts through my gloves while I’m walking the dog, I find myself listening to Dylan’s take on “Kingsport Town.” It’s a potent earworm for me. I begin singing along or playing it on repeat.
Pod 219
In this episode we share notes from a Texas snowstorm, journals from the olden days, and discuss the new work from John McPhee in the New Yorker. Also, we’ll be reading The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper and discussing it in the future.
After hearing you guys and Tim from Erasable speak so highly of Bob Dylan, I’ve really tried to become a fan. I just can’t. I don’t know why. Everything about his music seems great, I have no real criticism other than “I don’t like it”. I know his influence on the music scene can’t be matched. Are there any “starter songs” or albums you’d recommend to dabble in Dylan?