Comfort. Four Exercises

That reading is far more than the meaningful grasping of letters is shown by the four exercises that this essay gathers. They bring reading together with writing, listening, praying and enjoying: Franz Xaver Kappus, known to few today, inspired Rilke through his letters to explore the fundamentals of poetry that continue to inspire writers (and readers) today. The audio recording of David Foster Wallace's speech "This Is Water" and a radio play on Walt Disney's Aristocats attest to a reading that is listening. Eileen Myles finds a role model as a child in reading a Joan of Arc comic, and Adorno indulges in ice cream alongside criticism. In this constriction of critique and enthusiasm, canon and pop, everyday life and aesthetics, personal and theoretical offen reveals with each successive chapter exactly what the title promises: four exercises that celebrate text and by-text cleverly, full of wit, yet with seriousness, and add up to a quiet but unconditional reading recommendation for hard times and not-so-hard times.