The Cactus Eaters by Dan White

I like to think of myself as a writer, like to pretend that I can string together the odd sentence here and there and make it sing.  But I have to admit that I was constantly humbled by the word play of Dan White in The Cactus Eaters.  It’s the story of an idiot and his one true love walking the Pacific Crest Trail, a little hiking path that runs from Mexico to Canada through some of America’s last great wilderness. Here’s a couple of the sentences: His joylessness made him stand out like the shy one at an orgy.…

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Cadillac Ranch

About eight miles west of Amarillo, clearly visible from I-40, is a sculpture composed of ten old Cadillacs half buried in the middle of a plowed field.  This is art in the loosest possible sense of the word.  Uncontrolled graffiti is more like it. I’m a bit too old fashioned for The Cadillac Ranch, I prefer my art to look much as it looked when the artist created it.  I have never been a big fan of graffiti-well, except for Banksy.  I remember visiting the Bridges of Madison County not long after the movie had been released.  The Bridges had…

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