Robert Bedick

N.B. I received a free copy of this book through the First Reads program.

Alright, so I forgot to update this one. This was a collection of short stories. Some of the stories were interesting, some weren't. I didn't like the first three of the stories. The fourth I thought was incredibly creepy, but interestingly so. I really enjoyed The Eden Project(/i> (the fifth). Microwave, A Love Story was a story told through tweets, which was interesting in itself, but the story was not something that I cared for. The remaining three stories I think are the best in the book. I would recommend reading the final three stories, and depending upon taste, the 4th and 5th, but would not recommend the others. The last couple of stories do have some heartfelt moments, though not heart-wrenchingly so.

Overall, I think that this entire collection is best described by a single word, which does not do it justice, but will have to do:

WEIRD.… (more)

Tomas is a little gem of a novel, a bit rough around the edges but with a unique presentation of a recurrent theme in literature. It is the story of a mostly unsuccessful fiction writer, Paul, who has the opportunity to write a non-fiction book with up front money and a guarantee of publication. He is asked to write a biography of a deceased artist/social activist who had some success in the 20th Century. Paul learns about the creative process by reviewing the diaries of the eccentric painter/sculptor that chronicle the artist’s day to day activities for several decades.

Robert Bedick looks critically at the idea of the importance of ‘remembrance of things past’ in imaginative work. The so called personal history that artists work with may be only the incorporation of the expectations and motivations of others. This limits the unique inner experiences that may lead to greater artistic insight. Paul learns that Tomas attempted throughout his career to get beyond the social determinants of the past and have personally meaningful experiences. Focusing on the past causes the artist to miss the most important events in life that are immediate and momentary. It is the bits and pieces of everyday life that constitute and define the real muse, love.

I recommend this short novel to readers who want to consider what makes living sense in the chaos of continuous social change. Anchors of the past are largely delusional and do not give us much insight. Only as we approach the ‘razor’s edge of time’ do we get closer to an acceptable version of reality.… (more)