SEVEN DREAMS

For quite some time I've thought of pursuing a "Cutting In" reading project focused upon some of the work of William T. Vollmann. But Vollmann is so verbose and encyclopedic that the thought of such a reading project is daunting.

However, I recently started reading The Dying Grass, the fifth dream of his Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes series of historical novels. I think this is the starting point for whatever form this Vollmann version of Cutting In ultimately takes.

I've read the other four dreams that have been published to date—one, two, six, and three—and will likely read them again. I tried to start The Dying Grass when it was first published, but got distracted and quit about 100 pages into its 1200 pages of fictionalized narrative of the Nez Perce War. This time, with the notion of cutting in to the text, I caught my rhythm about 80 pages in and have made it deeper into the tale than before. I also have a follow-up book when I complete this initial reading; Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War will be next.

Beyond that, the plan is a bit loose at this point. Perhaps poetry by indigenous writers. Perhaps additional material on the Nez Perce War. Perhaps a field trip or two to areas in the Pacific Northwest where the historical events occurred.

In the immediate, though, there is The Dying Grass that longs to be read. There is its experimental layout. There is its slightly off-kilter presentation of voices that overlap. There is its length and its breadth. I am ready. I am excited. I am cutting in.