TV Off, Toussaint On

Just a quick apology for missing many a moon slither of posting days. I do plan to return soon to the land of regular posting on life and literature, and if the writing is not humane and humorous, I offer a time-back guarantee.



As it relates to my current TVlessness, I am reading a second novel by Jean Phillippe Toussaint, a book titled Television. It is about the topic of turning off TV forever but still being unable to escape its view. I am certain Toussaint's protagonist has felt, like Pynchon's Oedipa Maas, "stared at by the greenish dead eye of the TV tube," but so far the plant-watering sections--from the neighbors' request to their instructions to the art-critic prof's first efforts in this verdant task--have stolen my attention. The TV sections, the quirky detail, the author's odd sense humor, and respect for daily life are also reasons to read this book.



Although Toussaint's Camera has a notable first page, for me, it is Television that more fully captivates.