I just received another review for my book, Table of the Lord . Okay, I confess, it was a word of mouth review by a relative. However, when word got to me, this relative made it clear that he is a sci fi junkie and has read tons of sci fi and really enjoyed my book.

You should order it, it is a good read. I know, I've read it at least 10 times and am really excited about reading it again next month. People think I'm weird because I enjoy reading my own novel. I have tried to come up with numerous reasons why I enjoy reading it.

I've argued that because it is a creation of mine that has gained its independence there is a strange unity and difference at play. It is almost like a child: it has a piece of you but is different from you. There's also the issue of how writing reflects something about you and that carries a strange attraction for me. I always find introspection interesting and perhaps, reading my novel allows me to do that in a different way.

There is also something Marxist about my approach to the novel and I think I now understand, more than ever, what Marx was talking about in regard to human work. Marx, if I recall correctly, objectified work as human output. The products of human effort were simply not just thing, but an objectification of the human work. For instance, a table was not just wood put together, but was the embodiment of the work of a human being. For this reason, Marx felt that the workers were being shafted because, even though the products of their labor were theirs and pretty much their offspring, the capitalists whisked these products away for their profit. Going back to the novel, there is this strange sense that the novel is objectified work. I feel like I left part of myself in it, just by virtue of all the hours of writing and thinking that went into it. I also feel, I suppose the way Marx felt people should feel about their output, a connection between worker and work.

Anyway, for all the great analysis, it is also is simply a great story.

My wife has made it clear that all the reason given above, and more, do not explain why I have read the novel as often as I have. I have to agree. I've finally discarded all the reasons and just chocked it up to first book infatuation.