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This book, Basic Paper Airplane, came to me in the mail yesterday from a friend. It is written by his friend, a former couchsurfer, which is the same way I met Paul, who sent this to me. I really enjoyed the writing here, though probably due to the length. I think the prose would have been a bit much had this been a longer read.
It is a compilation of short stories and commentary, one of which was on Gertrude Stein! This excites me because next Saturday the MOOC ModPo opens and we study her. I think I will scan this and post it for students to check out! It was a very informative little piece and one that will help grapple with Stein, as she can be quite a lot to dig into.
Other chapters were about train hopping, going through the first grade, or Peruvian music. It was a mashup of anecdotes and interesting thoughts. I appreciate that it was also written by typewriter.
There are a number of photos of airplanes and quotes about the history of flight throughout as well. At the end, the author writes a bit about that– saying that the history of flight, the seeming impossibility of it at the time, can be reflective of most things we go through in life. He cites an endless fascination with the Wright brothers and their obsession with understanding flight, which I agree, is a pretty awesome bit of history.
This was a missing piece to my reading journey that just happened to show up in my mailbox. I have really taken the Labor Day weekend to catch up on my reading list, but I had a few empty spots and actually now have just one left. I am so happy to have read this today. It inspired me to create more myself, as well.
Overall rating 4.5/5
Open Arts Spring 2023 