There's no way the world's ever gonna be totally perfect, unless nothing and no one had minds. Sadly, his braindead characters have grown less distinct. The defetishization and humanization of his characters, which continued from Try to Guide , has been discarded in favor of a frozen world. Which means it's cruel, it's corrosive, it's without conscience. The first half of the book reads forward, but about halfway through, the book steps through some Cocteau-like mirror through which everything turns backwards.
Names are reversed, identities are opposite, everything is backwards.
Hopefully in his new career, wherever it may roam, Dennis will step out of his obsessions and into the real world's light. She understands that to capture the metaphysical present is to capture but a shadow of truth residing in prisons of metaphor. For the Time Being , in other words, is another Annie Dillard head trip. Dillard takes big risks in her essay writing, the sort of risks that once got folks burned at the stake for heresy. It's nice to still have such religious troublemakers around, even if nobody's listening anymore.