XENITH

Hello, kittens. I’m announcing this eleven days in advance to give you fair warning.

For May I have chosen the lovely and delightful Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson: a novel in verse.

From the back of the book:
Geryon, a young boy who is also a winged red monster, reveals the volcanic terrain of his fragile, tormented soul in an autobiography he begins at the age of five. As he grows older, Geryon escapes his abusive brother and affectionate but ineffectual mother, finding solace behind the lens of his camera and in the arms of a young man named Herakles, a cavalier drifter who leaves him at the peak of infatuation. When Herakles reappears years later, Geryon confronts again the pain of his desire and embarks on a journey that will unleash his creative imagination to its fullest extent. By turns whimsical and haunting, erudite and accessible, richly layered and deceptively simple, Autobiography of Red is a profoundly moving portrait of an artist coming to terms with the fantastic accident of who he is.

I’m expecting participation from Courtney on this, as she has already read it, and although I know Hannah is remarkably busy, I’m hoping she might find the time, prone to the classics as she is.

Seriously, folks, this book instantly became a favorite when I finished it. I highly suggest you participate in this month’s selection.