You know what I’m going to do today? I’m going to stroll into a bookstore to see The Guardians on the shelf. Because they’re there (the interweb told me)! And there’s nothing quite like that first sight of a pub date book, newborn and shivering, presenting itself to the world.
It’s a complicated moment. You want to protect it, nudge it out from the corner (“Go on! Introduce yourself!”), tell it to shut up and you’ll do all the talking. But even as you’re aware of its vulnerabilities, you always love it. You love it more because of its vulnerabilities.
So on behalf of The Guardians I invite you to check it out. If I’ve done my job halfway right, it should take you a quarter of the time as that new Franzen. And unlike that new Franzen…it’s got a haunted house in it!