Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 28-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
Disconcerting is what it was, but I wouldn’t come up with that word until later, standing at the kitchen counter grinding coffee beans for a cup of decaf. I googled “Jonathan Franzen” and found an interview with a photo of him. The interview referred to the monumental nature of a novel I’d heard of. Corrections. This reminded me of a similarly titled novel, one I’d spontaneously ripped in half while I was reading it. This is the only time that’s ever happened. And then when I next saw its author, which happened to be at my own book launch, I told him about it. How his book was the only book I’d ever spontaneously ripped in half while reading it.
I recalled a woman at the gym talking about the way Franzen constructed characters. The woman’s blonde ponytail swung aggressively as she ran on the spot. She had been enthralled by the way he wrote about people and their interconnections.
I’ve bumped into the blonde woman twice in grocery stores. Once, she’d just returned from her honeymoon. So there was that to talk about. And then again a year later, when she was noticeably pregnant, without make-up, telling me when the baby was due. She joked about the next time we’ll bump into each either, how she’ll be pushing a stroller, as if the milestones in her life were the only thing of interest to either of us.
