The Egg Said Nothing by Caris O'Malley - Rave

It is not often I give two Raves in one day but this one is special. Coming on the heels of The Dharma Bums, of which Caris loaned me his copy, is The Egg Said Nothing. What do these two titles have in common you might ask? Well if I were to give the answer away completely, you would not read the book. But I will give a sneak preview, a glimpse of what is in store for you.

Had the Egg ever spoken there would not have been a story. It is the mystery of how and why the Egg appears that drives our narrator Manny through the mazes he created for himself.

Now was that compelling enough to get you to order this book?

Of course not. Let me expound some more on what's inside these 84 pages. Caris has managed to create a story that questions our existence as humans as we know it. This my friends is the link to Jack Kerouac's ideas written 50 plus years ago in The Dharma Bums. Everything is everything. The continuum is what we call life. We plod along looking for the answers. Some of us look for the answers in science, others in religions and still others in philosophies etc. There is no answer and there are many answers. Which is right and which are wrong?

Caris is much too young to have watched anything but syndicated re-runs of episodes of Rod Sterling's Twilight Zone. But inside these 84 pages is an un-aired episode of this classic show. And given Caris's penchant for horror films it is no wonder this title, The Egg Said Nothing, fills the bill.

Rave For Kurt Vonnegut's 'Little Drops of Water'

Little Drops of Water was published in the short story works of 'Look at the Birdie' by Kurt Vonnegut. I really enjoyed reading the entire collection but I came upon this title one more time by accident recently.

A couple of weeks back I was having a conversation with a librarian about what to read next. She came up with an interesting list after I supplied some of my reading interests. Kurt Vonnegut was at the top of my list and has been for some time now. We talked about his work and others I liked and some titles she thought I might enjoy. Last week she sent me an email that the library was including his early work 'Mother Night' into the library's collection. I asked her to setup a hold for me and she did so right away.

I had completely forgotten all about that conversation's details when later, that very evening, I was browsing an old copy of Harper's looking to read an article about Bill Gates. To my surprise I find 'Little Drops of Water' by Kurt Vonnegut first and I of course read it again.

Reading this title the second time around I really feel I understood what Kurt was trying to say about friendships, relationships and men versus women. He makes it perfectly clear that Larry is egotistical and not really fit for a true relationship of any kind outside of himself. But it is this very selfish quality that becomes the target of a scorned lover. She becomes determined to have him despite his bad qualities. So the struggle to win starts with each believing they will be the victor. But are they really? Did each win? Did anyone win? Or is this the way he wants us to think. After all the story starts out describing a death of a friend whom never dies.

Little Drops of Water goes a long way in a few short pages describing the human condition of wanting to be connected to someone somehow. This is definitely a must read for anyone. Fan of Vonnegut or not there is something to learn here.

Look at the Birdie: Short Fiction
Little Drops of Water