True Notebooks by Mark Salzman

It’s still cold. There’s snow on the ground and more in the forecast for later this week. Three more inches and it’s the third snowiest winter in Boston’s history. In the afternoon it warms a bit and we take a walk up the hill to the asylum grounds. (It’s crazy how many different trails there are up there). The dogs sniff every spot of urine in the woods and take a nice crap which we as good citizens collect in plastic bags and carry home. We’ll help with dinner, play with the baby and watch some TV. I’m doing a lot of reading. Just finished True Notebooks by Mark Salzman an acquaintance of Noble’s. Mark autographed the book, “With hopes you will enjoy this little story from and exotic locale...” He did. I did too. And it was exotic if you mean foreign, alien or mysteriously different or unusual. The book, a personal memoir, takes place in a juvenile detention facility somewhere in Southern California. The characters are young criminals awaiting trial for murder, assault and assorted mayhem. Mark shows up with pencils and paper to teach them creative writing and in the process develops True Notebooks.  Read more here.