Ok..as I was saying...
Fantasy, you might ask. Why Fantasy?
Why, when there are so many mainstream books and
authors out there, do I read fantasy?
Umm..good question.
First off, I have read some of the more recent writers
of `serious' fiction and find, sadly, I just don't like them.
I like Tom Pynchon and Thomas Berger, and some of
John Barth,but for the most part there is little out there
that appeals to me. I read other genres,historical
fiction, mystery, horror, and nonfiction as well, but
as I said, no current mainstream fiction authors grab
my attention as Fitzgerald, Faulkner, or Thomas Wolfe
did when I was younger.
I should confess here I was a voracious reader even as a
child and worked my way through many adult writers before
I finished high school.I think I shocked my junior year English
teacher when I turned in a report on Wilkie Collins'
The Moonstone instead of the usual stuff she got
from us. I mention this to establish the fact that yes, I have
read other things besides what I read nowadays.
So? Why Fantasy?
It all began with Arthur. No, not the aardvark.
The Arthur. King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table, in the form of one of those kid's editions
that occasionally are sold at supermarkets in a set of
classics.It's still here on my bookshelf some 48 years
after my mother bought it for me, the only title left from
the set, sitting there alongside all the other books I've
bought on the subject over the years. Arthur led me to
Bulfinch's Mythology and Howard Pyle and
a host of other historical writers, and eventually, to
Tolkien.
Aha. So that's the how. What about the why?
That'll have to wait. I'll air more of my literary laundry
after a trip to the laundromat to clean the real life variety.

Later that same day:

First off, laundromats are a lot less crowded during snowstorms.
Secondly, editing a blog is a evil, evil, task. I just lost the first
attempt at this. I was not amused.
Ahem. As I was saying earlier, why fantasy.
I'm not one to avoid reality, but I do like to occasionally escape
from it. Think of it as a form of vacation from the tensions of the
world and work. (Believe me, I need some r &r after some days
there,and I will eventually get around to that subject.) A good
book or tv show can take us someplace else, take our minds
off stress for a few hours and then return us with a bit less
weighing our spirit down.
And I admit I am a bit of a romantic, not something a guy will
readily admit to, but I've always been drawn to history, myth,
and fantasy/sf.
Life is a Mystery, and there are countless Little Mysteries within it.
No, I'm not saying there are elves, or dragons, or aliens out there.
I'm saying there might be.
I'm open to the possibilities.