I finished reading "The Time of Our Singing" - in tears, which, by my rules, means that the book has ascended to the "all-time favorite" list. It is such a good book that I find it hard to review. I read the review written by the NY Times, and it is almost as beautiful as the prose in the book! But I wouldn't read that review until you have finished the book - it gives too much away.

Anyway, I do have a lovely pile of books sitting by the bed to pick from, but after reading an excellent book like that, I'm afraid that nothing will quite measure up. I switched genres to speculative fiction and am now in the midst of "Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood. This is a post-apocalyptic story. Reading it makes me think about how quickly cultural references can be lost.

The other day at the table, Aidan (aged 7) asked us, "what is a cowboy"? A bit stunned, but realizing that he has never seen a cowboy movie or been to a rodeo, I started to list the attributes. For every one, I had to build the context - when there used to be cattle that weren't fenced in - when they had to mark cows with brands, because the cattle were free to roam, and so forth. I started to mention Indians, and realized that there is really no need to continue the movie myth that Indians & Cowboys really were in constant battle. I thought about how I have never met a cowboy, so in fact the cowboy reality is now several generations removed from Aidan.

What is cultural literacy? this question has resulted in lists and books on the topic. In order for someone to seem intelligent, one has to know the cultural icons of several generations back - so that any reference by someone living will draw up an image. Do you think that cowboys still belong on that list?

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