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Loitering
Loitering: New & Collected Essays | Charles D'Ambrosio
10 posts | 13 read | 24 to read
Charles DAmbrosios essay collection Orphans spawned something of a cult following. In the decade since the tiny limited-edition volume sold out its print run, its devotees have pressed it upon their friends, students, and colleagues, only to find themselves begging for their copys safe return. For anyone familiar with DAmbrosios writing, this enthusiasm should come as no surprise. His work is exacting and emotionally generous, often as funny as it is devastating. Loitering gathers those eleven original essays with new and previously uncollected work, so that a broader audience might discover one of our great living essayists. No matter his subjectNative American whaling, a Pentecostal hell house, Mary Kay Letourneau, the work of J.D. Salinger, or, most often, his own familyDAmbrosio approaches each piece with a singular voice and point of view; each essay, while unique and surprising, is unmistakably his own.
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8little_paws
Panpan

He clearly takes care in crafting sentences, but this was just so boring and I'll take nothing from it ultimately.

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Zoe_reads_books
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AMVP
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The Short Story / Essay section at Mr. K's is one I hadn't frequented until recently. This time, came across a pair of essay collections worth owning for their covers alone. Look forward to giving them a read, as I'm not sure I've heard of either writer before now.

#bookhaul

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karenna
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Mehso-so

I liked pieces of almost every essay in this collection, but only a couple of the essays really worked for me as a whole. D'Ambrosio's musings just don't fully resonate with mine. That said, it's a quality collection that is sure to be a favorite with brains more compatible. Readers who want compelling explorations of loneliness and mental illness should definitely pick this up.

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Spiderfelt
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Pickpick

It's not often that I finish a book with the foremost impression 'Wow, this author is really smart'. Perhaps I haven't read enough literary criticism, or maybe D'Ambrosio really is outstanding. As I edited the audio for the WA Talking Book & Braille Library, the small sections I read made a deep impression, promoting a full read. This has only happened a few times in the 2+ years I've volunteered there. While dense, the essays are moving.

DocBrown I envy you that volunteer gig -- any chance of getting in on that action out on the east side? 7y
Spiderfelt @mdhughes72 east side of Lake Washington? Or east side of the country? Where do you live? 7y
DocBrown @Spiderfelt East side of Washington. Spokane area. 7y
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DocBrown Everyone over here refers to western WA as ‘west side.‘ I guess you don‘t refer to us as ‘east side.‘ 7y
Spiderfelt @mdhughes72 I hear most people say 'Eastern Washington' when referring to anything east of the Cascades. I'm Seattle 'east side' usually means east of Lake Washington (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond). 7y
Spiderfelt @mdhughes72 sadly, I don't think they have a satellite branch in Spokane. 7y
14 likes1 stack add6 comments
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8little_paws
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Bought this beautiful one word title book for the cover, and I can't wait to read it. Sometimes the length of my TBR frightens me! #photoadaynov16 @RealLifeReading

BookishFeminist Loved this essay collection. He's a fantastic writer. 8y
42 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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Tin_House
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"At that age, at sixteen, seventeen, I read fiction because I needed advice on how to live, and I needed it to be totally free of judgment. I wanted to see how other people did life."

#tbt: loitering about, re-reading Charles D'Ambrosio's LOITERING: NEW AND COLLECTED ESSAYS.

RealLifeReading What a cover! 8y
SusanInTiburon I found this collection very engaging. 8y
55 likes10 stack adds2 comments
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BookishFeminist
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That's a wrap! Off to relax before my eyeballs fall out. 👀 It was so much fun & I loved following everyone's updates! Can't wait to do it again with everyone in January. 📚🎉 #24in48 #Readathon

WordWaller Dang, you made it! Congrats!! 8y
Megabooks Awesome!! Congrats!! 🙌🏻👏🏻🎉 8y
pppooraikul Wonderful! ;) 8y
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haileybean I love the "coffees consumed," part. That makes my heart happy. (Along with all of the reading... Because DANG you did it!) 8y
Twocougs Awesome job 8y
Donna_sBookMinute Great stats. Congrats!!! 8y
Varshitha Great job👏🏻👏🏻 8y
subwayreads Seven books?! Good lord - I thought I read fast. 8y
subwayreads 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽💪🏽 8y
BookishFeminist @subwayreads LOL those are finished books- not cover to cover necessarily. Many were short & already over halfway read, so don't sell yourself short! But thank you! 😊 8y
BookishFeminist @Varshitha @Donna_sBookMinute @Twocougs @pppooraikul @Ebooksandcooks Thank you!!! ❤️😊🎉 thanks for joining in the fun guys! 8y
BookishFeminist @WordWaller By the skin of my teeth! You're in a much better mental state than I am right now though so I'm a bit jealous. I'm loopy! Great job to you too!! 📚🎉😊 8y
BookishFeminist @haileyhugsbooks LOL. Coffee is a requirement for 24 hours of power reading. 💪🏼☕️ I also threw a large one all over my carpet bc I've been so loopy! 😱 Thank you though! Thanks for joining in the fun & congrats to you! 🎉📚😊 8y
brendanmleonard Congrats! (rip our stacks 😂) 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Wonderful job! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 8y
Blair_Reads Love your coffee count ☕️😊😊 8y
JPeterson Woo! Thats awesome! And only 12 cups of coffee? 😋😂 8y
BookishFeminist @brendanmleonard Thanks!! and I know right?! Won't stop me from stacking tho! 😂 8y
BookishFeminist @BarbaraTheBibliophage Thank you & right back at you!! 😊🎉📚 8y
BookishFeminist @Blair_Reads LOL. Thanks! I'm not sure my heart rate did last night tho! 8y
BookishFeminist @JPeterson Thanks! lol also I should disclose that a few of those may or may not have been trenta iced coffees from Starbucks 👀 8y
Arabiatta I'm in absolute awe! At the quantity of books and coffee consumed! Well done! 8y
NatalieR 🍾🎉🍾🎉 8y
Carol 🍾🎉📚👍🙌 8y
BookishFeminist @Arabiatta @Arabiatta Thank you!! 😊 The coffee is more impressive than the stats (several were large coffees 😳) and the number of books less impressive bc I read tons that I'd already started & were sitting in limbo! 8y
97 likes26 comments
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BookishFeminist
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This book and one hour are standing between me & finishing #24in48. Anyone else have book brain from reading so much? I just threw the last of my iced coffee across the floor by accident from laughing too hard. 😩 I'm punch drunk & now my brain won't work! So now I am enjoying sweet tea, lol. How's everyone else's mental state faring?

saguarosally Mental state fine. Eyes hurt. 8y
SoniaC I think I need therapy after infinite jest I finished it and am an angry bitter little person right now. I want to dog ear the pages just so the book has no confusion how I feel about it 😩😩😩 8y
BekahB Yesss! I felt like there were too many words swimming around in my brain. I turned to cartoons to relax. I'm really interested to hear what you think about that book! It's been in and out of my B&N online cart several times. 8y
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Soubhiville I'm pretty exhausted but so glad to have done this! My first readathon! 8y
Varshitha I am definitely gonna have a hard day working tomorrow,, I am tired!! 8y
Roselyn_Reads I just took a quick break. I have 15 minutes left to complete my 24 hours. I only got through 3 books and this 3rd one has taken me longer because I'm so tired. It's been a great experience. 8y
Yamich49 I feel you. 😴 I just clocked in at 24 hrs and 4 mins and immediately finished my chapter and closed the book. As much as I've enjoyed reading all these books, it is definitely a challenge to switch between different worlds so quickly! My brain is a little fuzzy... 8y
Twocougs I turned the tv and colored when I finished😉- brain is tired. Great job this weekend!!! 8y
readinginthedark I switched books from time to time to keep things fresh! 😋 But I didn't go a full 24 hours. 8y
WordWaller OMG my mental state was so much worse yesterday evening. Today my beach break definitely helped but I totally feel you! 8y
BookishFeminist @saguarosally My eyes are surprisingly doing okay for the moment but I bet they'll be strained tomorrow 8y
BookishFeminist @SoniaC LOL. That's a huge goal though! Congrats on finishing THE BEAST. 🎉📚😊Your ranting about it makes me want it go read it even more now 😩 8y
BookishFeminist @BekahB buy it! It's fantastic. easily one of the best essay collections I've read. 👍🏼 I've just been listening to music to wind down. 8y
BookishFeminist @Soubhiville Yes! Great way to conquer those goals we never seem to get to. Great job!! 🎉 8y
BookishFeminist @Varshitha Ditto. I have a feeling I will have a massive book hangover tomorrow, lol. Great job! 🎉😊 8y
BookishFeminist @Silent_Whispers *Only* 3?! That's wonderful! Great job and perseverance 👏🏼👏🏼🎉 8y
BookishFeminist @Yamich49 Look at you go! My brain is definitely having trouble figuring out where to be right now—I'm very loopy lol. Looking forward to a little break. 😊 you deserve it! 8y
BookishFeminist @Twocougs Thank you & right back at you! 🎉😊 That sounds like a wonderful way to end the weekend of power reading. 8y
BookishFeminist @readinginthedark Hey whatever works. Great job! 👏🏼🎉😊 Important to give your brain a break. I wish I'd switched around more! 8y
BookishFeminist @WordWaller JEALOUS. I could have used a beach break today. Glad you took advantage of it & enjoyed yourself especially after being sick! 🎉🎉 8y
ReadingEnvy The day after I woke up with what can only be described as a book hangover. P.S. How is this book of essays? 8y
SoniaC @BookishFeminist Thanks for the encouragement. I woke up this morning thinking I never have to open that book again! 8y
BookishFeminist @ReadingEnvy It's AMAZING. D'Ambrosio has such a deeply emotional writing voice. I'm planning to buy even though I read it from the library. Good luck w your book hangover lol. I'm joining you in the ranks today 😋 8y
87 likes3 stack adds23 comments
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Waynegjr
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Today at @RoscoeBooks we made an essays section! I'm super excited. Any suggestions of what to add to it?

BookishFeminist Yes! Empathy Exams, Bad Feminist, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, The Opposite of Loneliness & 8y
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Waynegjr @StephTKO Break, Blow, Burn looks great, I think I'll order one for the store and one for me. 8y
StephTKO @Waynegjr You won't be disappointed. That book made me want to read every word Camille Paglia has ever written. 8y
RoscoeBooks I love this post. Excited to see what others suggest! 😄 8y
Thessalia Haven't really read much in the way of essays but have been wanting to dive in. These recs are being saved. Great post! 8y
Thessalia @BookishFeminist I love Zadie Smith! Changing My Mind will be read ASAP. 8y
SusanInTiburon The White Album, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Ten Years in the Tub, The Common Reader, Essays of E.B. White, John McPhee Reader ... Maybe they're all there and I just can't see them 😳 8y
MrBook I could loiter in front of book shelves in ad finitum. 8y
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