reading (Seven Wives and Seven Prisons)

I finished reading "Seven Wives and Seven Prisons" this evening. It's one of the books I converted to ebook from Project Gutenberg.

This book was published in 1870 and is purported to be autobiographical. I am torn between believing and not believing the adventures in the book are true. On the one hand I don't think anyone would come up with a main character such as this. On the other hand his behavior is unbelievable, therefore unreal. He manages to escape so many desperate circumstances, then he'll willingly walk into something that anyone over the age of three would think twice about. He can rebuild his career and become successful in a new town easily. He has no difficulty winning friends and lovers. He has no success at all winning over fathers and brothers.

The book is written in basic first person narrative. The language and storytelling are straightforward even if twists and turns of the plot resemble a snake orgy. The incidents are dramatic, but they are told in a matter of fact tone. There is humor, both dark and light.

23. L.A. Abbott "Seven Wives and Seven Prisons"

I just like to think about things

A while back I was contemplating the current incarnations of intentional communities. As with most things like this, I think about them for awhile, then I intend to write up my thought but don't get around to it. At some later point I might actually sit down and write. This is one of those rare times.

I have heard of several variations on the intentional community. Here I'll talk about two of the more major groupings and throw out an idea for a scaling variation on a third. ( Long. Very long. )