In my classical myth & children's literature course tomorrow we'll be discussing Spires & Gerstein's I Am Arachne. I'm trying to rotate some new-for-me texts into the course (as well as keep some of my favorites), and this will be the first go for this book. It's a problematic work in a number of ways--I'm not sure the 1st person perspective on the myths is developed very well (it feels breezy), and in a number of places it's disturbing in its treatment of gender (why are modern retellings of myth often less critical of gendered violence and power imbalance than the ancient texts themselves?!). But it was interesting to trace thematic links from story to story, seeing how Spires knits them together.
And (added later) here's another good thing before I head to bed: I just saw a golden clipping of crescent moon through our kitchen window!
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