My own introduction to Watkins's work came via an early, plain galley of the book, its reread pages falling out, passed along by Joy Williams, among the writers (Joan Didion, Edward Abbey, Annie Proulx) to whom Watkins is earning comparisons.
When he got back, after seventeen months overseas, he devoted himself to the task of producing the novel, rereading pages of "Anna Karenina" for inspiration.
"If I reread a page and it doesn't advance the story, I scrap it.
Remember to make someone reread each page to make sure it's clear enough.
She read and reread his pages on her case, lampooning their author.
I do, however, reread paragraphs, pages or scenes if they contain something I want to steal for my own work.
Like clockwork, she'd write for almost two hours, stopping only to reread the pages, take a sip of coffee, then go back to her work.
It forces us to reread earlier pages, this time from a sceptical viewpoint rather than from Niall's and we see innocent explanations where earlier we believed what we read.
Since the problem is clearly with my cranium, I have spent the past few weeks slowly rereading those pages most resistant to my understanding.
"So why don't they just let us alone?" Before the meeting, Clay Dunlap, Winnett's superintendent and principal, finished rereading several pages of the law, faxed to him by officials in Helena, detailing the new teacher competency requirements.
