literature

keith kachtick - hungry ghost

i recently read this book by a former high school english teacher. i took freshman english and a senior elective with him. it was so surreal to read this book because it is him. this book is him. the protagonist's story, it's his life. the sex, the LES apartment, the dog, the neighbor, the photography, mia malone, the overwhelming buddhism, the retreats, the goats, morocco, that's all his life. in every paragraph was something he'd mentioned in a class or in a meditation session or at a meal or in a discussion or in a conversation. i feel like someone had taken a photograph of his life - encompassing every single thing he experienced and every single thing that experienced him - transformed it into words, and glued it unedited onto the pages of this novel.

brilliant. top shelf stuff.