Freddy and Fredericka.

I think reading can be viewed like jogging for me. When I've not been in the habit, it's hard to start again. Flights are great opportunities to launch back into it, and I realized with 4 hours to Sacramento, I could do a lot of damage.

Well, I labored over this book for a while. My dear friends Nate and Scott turned me on to Mark Helprin's writing at my 30th birthday party. I started with Memoir From Antproof Case, and now this. He's written quite a bit and I've got more to go, but I can tell Helprin will exist in my reread for pleasure stack.

He writes about men and women with great wisdom. A keen observer of their hearts and how they differ in their souls' conflicts. He glories in that. The 2 stories I've read have beautiful absurdity, and a turn towards the profound from the ridiculous in just a sentence.

That may be why I love his books so much - I aspire to be both ridiculous and profound in my own way.