Who do you read?

Last couple of weeks I've read books by two of my favorite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, age 78, and E. L. Doctorow, now 74. The March.

I guess I go for older guys. George MacDonald Fraser is 79, and his wonderful creation, Sir Harry Flashman was born in 1822. Don DeLillo is about seventy. Just two young pups, Ron Hansen was born in Omaha in 1947, and Carl Hiaasen is only 52. My dad and I share our birthday with Ted Kooser, who is 66.

Bo Diddley is 77.

I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?

Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?

Who do you read?

Don't know what it means, but my favorite female authors are close to my age. Louise Erdrich is 51. Barbara Kingsolver and Steph Kallos are fifty, which is a whole lot younger than it used to be.

Edgar Laurence Doctorow is a pretty scary name for a boy born during the Great Depression. The March is interesting, but less memorable than Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, and my favorite World's Fair.

Love In the Time of Cholera is still my favorite by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I can't imagine his books as plays or movies. I hope they will become compelling, steamy, magical, modern and timeless operas!