Co-opted

There's a new phenomenon in the blogosphere: The LitBlog Co-op, where a large group of people who blog about books and literary stuff will work together to create a sort of online Oprah's Book Club. Without Oprah.

The roster of contributors is impressive -- some of the most interesting and influential bloggers out there. Plus me.

I've been too busy this week to fully investigate what I've gotten myself into by agreeing to do this, but once I know, I'll let you know. Right now I just know that we're going to be voting on what book to read first, and will announce that by May 15.

I was a miserable failure as a member of the Gaddis Drinking Club, but we'll see how I do here. (As long as they don't choose a dense, allusive, brilliant 900-page novel, I should be fine. Much as I love Gaddis, there just isn't time these days for that sort of reading.)

Meanwhile, you should definitely check out The Valve, another new group blog, this one of academic bloggers investigating the possibilities of literary studies. Despite this, there are some interesting posts, and some great potential.

Finally, I know it's been a little dull around here over the past couple weeks or so. It's likely to stay that way for the next few days, but by next week I should have finished with some other commitments and be able to spend a little bit more time in these here parts. At least, I hope so.

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