Beautiful Ruins

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Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is another on my books for the beach or boat list. This guy is a master tapestry weaver blending setting (the Italian coastline), plot (love story—sort of), and personalities (a son with familial duties, an aging Hollywood actress, Richard Burton, and a supporting cast of colorful characters).

The writing is rich but I also like his eye for the quirkiness of life.

This is a “heavy” read with lots going on—sometimes meandering at a creep and other times hitting the gas.

Wait until the kids are asleep.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter books for the beach or boat

Bad things happened, an entire run of them that shut me down, caused me to withdraw from everything except my inner self.

One afternoon, in a hammock, I took a photo of myself. Just my legs. But there was no one to send it to. No one to understand.

I needed a sidekick so I sketched an armadillo because they’re crusty on the outside but not within. I made him my butler. Crusoe’s manservant Friday.

We began interacting—my hammock photo speaking to that critter, that critter speaking back.There’s a folder of cartoons somewhere. For now there’s just this one. (LINK)

Eventually after that I began writing novels.

I’m still a hermit, marooned you might say, but leaving my shell more and more—my inner self seeking its freedom through writing.