We are dancing not on a volcano, but on the rotten seat of a latrine

The Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert. Date unknown.

The Selected Letters of Gustave Flaubert quite literally fell from a high shelf an hour ago and cracked me on the side of the head. It’s a heavy book. Rather than take it as a sign that I need to reassess my shelves, I’m choosing to see it as Flaubert’s ghost urging me to send you all a bunch of excerpts from his letters, …