Another excellent exploration of What It's All About, by Mr. Magical Realism. With footnotes.*
So, what's it all about, this book that's about What It's All About? It's about Edward, and Infinity, and well, as noted in footnote 66,
The term "growing up" seems to have the connotation of some sort of existence that has the sense of a final arrival point. God, how many times is that question asked in school: "What are you going to be when you grow up?" As though somehow what you are right then isn't valid. To answer such a question with a statement like, "I'm going to be what I am now: a human being," would bring from people very curious, if not frightened looks. Only when one's identity is linked to a role does one have "validity" or self-worth. Edward was constantly either baffled or amused by this question of what one was going to be when one grew up. It's like wondering what a crow, or dog, or willow tree is going to be when they "grow up." It's as though we are asked to be anything else other than what we are--as if what we are already, simply is not good enough. So that, "growing up" occurs at the point when you have finally become something other than what you really are. Strange, strange indeed.
“This book is a roadmap to the awakening of the American Mind.” —from the introduction by Jay Lake
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*Lots of footnotes.**
**I mean, lots of footnotes.***
***Even footnotes to footnotes. And hyperlinks.
