It's that late summer smell of an impending fall semester.

I'm moving back to American literature. The jaunt into French and Australian work was fun, but it's August, and it's time to get serious.

First thing I'm reading, or actually first two things I'm reading, are Dolen Perkins-Valdez's Wench and William Kennedy's Ironweed. The first one I'm already reading, but since it's a nice first edition hardcover and I want it to stay nice, I don't feel like soiling it with sunscreen and dragging it around to the beach. It's strictly for apartment reading. The Kennedy book is a used copy that I picked up a few weeks ago because I expect to teach it either this fall or this spring. I've read Legs, but other than that, I haven't read any William Kennedy, which is a travesty.

I'd pack more, but I always buy a book or two at the beach, so there's no sense in weighing down my luggage any more.