Holiday

Went to the local gigantic book fair last month (and just that fragment is so late-seventies in its evocations that it should read book faire, with the e); amongst all the unneeded literary lumber I dragged home something called Ten Years of Holiday, a compendium of pieces from the first ten years of Holiday magazine and I must say it's pretty great. EB White on New York, VS Pritchett on Spain, Paul Bowles on travelling in the Sahara (it's hot there, btw)... even a slab of glop by Faulkner "on" Mississippi, which makes me wonder if he was "on" the pot when he wrote it, slipping in and out as it does of Bill's typical irritating hallucinatory style. "Focus, Bill! FOCUS!" Paid by the word, most likely.

Anyway, this book was a pleasant surprise. It's fairly cheap out there, if you should feel so inclined: http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invid=9483608325&query=ten+years+of+Holiday+fadiman&qsort=&page=1