The Tiger's Golden Age and Gravity's Rainbow

How'd I wind up reading three books at once? I don't know. Gravity's Rainbow is like the bible in this trinity--I dip in and out of it, reciting sacred verse--The Tiger is my connection to the physicality of the world and my re-read of The Golden Age is my anchor to the intellect, to metaphor, to immersive strangeness.Whatever happened to bring me to this point, it's working out well. All three are amazing books. My first-read admiration for The Golden Age has deepened into adoration upon this second read, and brings me to the thought that I'm a little sick of lovers of self-defined commercial, escapist fiction claiming that's the stuff that needs our support; I think it'll do just fine without me, thanks. The first-time discoveries within The Tiger are startling and evocative, and somewhat documented in this Amazon blog entry I just posted. In parsing Gravity's, I reflect sadly that no real banana or banana feast will ever seem as grand as that documented within these pages.(Soon, a Capclave schedule, since Ann and I are two of the GoH at this Washington DC con this coming weekend...)Oh, snap! Snippet of Aeron Alfrey (er, his art, not him), which inspired latest Lambshead acquisition "Thing in Jar" by Michael Cisco.{>beg transmission: Michal Ajvaz original fiction "Quintus" acquired for secret project no. 2. end trans>}