Adam Robinson, On Reading

"I read on the toilet a lot, and every morning for about an hour in the tub. I don't have a comfy chair, so these are the only two places at my house to focus. Either I'll read several poems (most recently it's been Z. Schomburg, D. Lasky, M. Broder, H. Ito, P. Davis) or movie reviews in the New Yorker, or I'll try to get engaged with a novel or short story. This morning I read a bit of The Ask, by Sam Lipsyte, and will probably read the whole thing (recent unfinished books, on the other hand, include Babble by J. Baumbach, House Of Sand And Fog by A. Dubus III, Birds Of America by L. Moore).

I'm the kind of person who wishes for "a program" but can't get on one. I mean, I'd love to become an expert on Russian Formalism or French misanthropy or something, and I used to consider myself a light completist, at least when it comes to Beckett, Vonnegut, O'Connor. Now I spend so much energy on submissions that I resist any prescriptive reading schedule because, more than anything, I'm just looking for a good time."


{Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he runs Publishing Genius. His books include Adam Robison and Other Poems (Narrow House Books) and Say, Poem (Awesome Machine Press). Visit his website here for more information.}