The Weekly Digest is a weekly (no shit?) update that captures highlights from the week that was. At the end of each week, I share a collection of thoughts, recommendations, and links. Like everything else I write, it's awesome, but it may be too long for email so make sure you click through.
🤮 Revisiting Past Meals
On Having a Fucking Tummy Ache
Sorry for the late delivery of this week’s Digest (an ironic name, considering), but I’ve been battling illness the last couple days and haven’t had much time to flesh out my thoughts on the week. This will likely be a short one, completed in-between sprints to the bathroom, but I know without my wit and humor you would all shrivel and die. I’m nothing if not a benevolent god.
Some of you may be thinking, “Hey, Vinny, weren’t you just sick?” The rest of you have kids. In a shocking twist, Kiddo is also home sick today. He’s at least eating soft foods, and keeping them down. If my body was an appliance I’d be shopping for a replacement from a more reputable brand.
📚Book Bits
THE SHIELDBREAKER SAGA Book Two: Holiest of Cities by Tom Schecter. (Finished)
Advanced review copy courtesy of Mr. Cien Fuegos. I will be doing an interview with Tom on Substack Live tomorrow (5/30) at roughly 8:30pm EST. We’re going to chat Shieldbreaker Saga, take some questions from the audience, and (knowing us) probably venture way off topic.
As a preview: I finished Cities last night after breezing through it. It is a jaunty read and a much different story than Book One (Last of the Etela).
The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book #4)
About 90% through this one and it was headed toward my least favorite so far, but something happens toward the end when Carl loses his shit that had me fist-pumping. These books are black tar heroin for nerdy millennials.
Recent Book Haul:
My wife made me run errands last week to keep me from punting our child over the house allow me some time out of the house. I parlayed that into a trip to the bookstore.
The Horse by Willy Vlautin - I had an ARC of this that I never got around to, and I picked it up on a whim because it still sounded good.
Dogs by C. Mallon - B&N had a sale on hardcovers so I snagged this small book. I also discovered that apparently Louis C.K. wrote a novel? It’s called Ingram if you’re curious.
📺Screen Time 🖥️
Almost finished season two of Deadwood, and I started picking some interesting Shakespearean elements especially with the character of E.B. Farnham. Hoping to talk with Tom about this tomorrow.
Less video gaming recently as I’ve been trying to get myself back into reading (you know, the thing this thing is about).
💡Substack Spotlight:
Shouting out Magazine Non Grata again this week for Adam Pearson’s essay on AI.
I also got tipped to this interesting story from Victory Journal — a new-to-me publication — about the son of a Providence mafioso turned boxer. I’m not a huge crime buff, but I’m a sucker for anything Boston/Providence mob related, and this story has some appearance by one of my favorite fighters, Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza1. Anyways, this only has a handful of likes and deserves more, go check it out:
🖋️Writing
On Exhausting All Other Options
There’s a quote attributed to Winston Churchill (because all the good ones are2), that goes something like “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing… after they’ve exhausted all other options.” Similarly, you can always count on me to circle back around the writing after exhausting every other potential avenue.
I have somewhat burned myself out on quick-fix entertainment for the moment. This comes in waves where I’ll do little more than drink beer, watch TV and play video games, alternating with intense bouts of study, dieting, exercise, and more intellectually stimulating entertainment. Do the violent swings count as moderation in so bass-ackward way?
My wife bought me a sticker that says “Undiagnosed, but something ain’t right,” and that about sums it up.
🌸Fleeting Thoughts
Assuming I don’t die in the interim, Tom Schecter and I will be on Substack Live tomorrow at ~8:30pm EST to discuss Holiest of Cities, Book Two of THE SHIELDBREAKER SAGA.
If I can get my ass in gear, there will also be a review for it as well as a number of other books I’ve read recently, because I haven’t forgotten that is, uh, the point of all this.
Until then.
🍻+🤙, 🤮 + 🚽,
— V
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I watched a fight with Paz where he came out in leopard-print trunks and threw some absolute haymakers. Even if he wasn’t named “Vinny” he had me hooked on style.
“Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up-with-which I shall not put!”
Appreciate the shoutout
Good stuff as always. Thanks for the rec on that story - really enjoyed it.