It’s a bit embarrassing for me to admit that sometimes I much prefer reading the Internet to reading a good, old-fashioned book, or even a chapter of a book. I suppose this means I have become what my parents and their friends fear. No doubt I am scary, but in my defense, allow me to say that there really is so much good writing out there in cyberspace.
Case in point is an essay I found on, yes, the Internet about a week ago entitled "100 Ways to Say I Love You" by the writer Paul Ford (Harper’s editor and author of Gary Benchley, Rock Star). This essay was the best thing that I had read in weeks: I laughed aloud, I envied the imagination, I aspired to the syntactical originality. All this, and it wasn’t just snark; the piece had a real heart to it as well. Completely enamored, I found myself then drawn to Ford’s website, Ftrain.com.
A lot of writers have websites where they can practice the art of self-promotion —in fact, such websites are in some ways de rigeur these days, but not all writerly websites are created equal. Ford’s is among the finest that I have come across. The posts are mostly of the personal essay ilk, but just as often the pieces stray into humor pieces, and it’s these that I like the most. Favorites: "I Am Making a Difference" (eg., "I save on heating by burning the books of dissidents and minorities.") and "Wikipedia Explains R&B" (self-explanatory).
For those who fret and call good writing a rare commodity these days, Ford’s prose might just lift your spirits. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you think, "Hey, this young whippersnapper might just deserve all the press he’s gotten."