I find I need a linear narrative to concentrate on reading late at night. I am re-reading Harry Mathews' "Cigarettes," for maybe the 4th or 5th time. I am fascinated by the intricate mechanics of the plotting, but in the dark as to what Oulipean device underlies it all. The artifice laid bare is in productive tension with the "realist novel" aspect of the text. Next I will re-read "The Journalist."

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I have a gift card from Border's from my mom. I just bought Roy Haynes' "Birds of a Feather" yesterday evening. I have less of a handle on Haynes, in a technical sense, than others of his cohort -- Philly Joe, Max, Art Blakey. He is poised half-way between them and the Tony/Elvin revolution.