Words On The Road

I drove back from Oklahoma this weekend in the '98 Cadillac STS my wife's father gave us. It was a long, (mostly) beautiful drive, made better by a steady cycle of Old Crow's Big Iron World and a handful of This American Life discs. I pulled off I-49 south of Shreveport and ate a damn fine muffaletta at Monjunis Italian Cafe and Grocery, then ducked into the bookstore and bought The Great Gatsby on CD, read by Tim Robbins. I twisted the sound into the rear speakers, so it felt like Andy Dufresne was sitting back there reading Mr. Fitzgerald.

I'd never read it. I'm embarrassed by that. Sort of glad about it, too, because had it been required in high school or college, I don't think I would…