Reading: A Clockwork Orange

A couple of days ago our fridge broke down and now our kitchen smells like an open grave. My in-laws got here today and tomorrow they’ll be helping us out for a new one, which takes care of the whole weekend as I hear they’ll be hooking it up themselves. I expect fire.

THE MOST RECLUSIVE AUTHORS OF ALL TIME

Introvert? Extrovert? In truth, social skills don’t so much matter when you’re one of the foremost literary talents of your generation, deftly able to one-up society with the merest flick of a quill or touch of a typewriter key.

And yet it can’t be sheer coincidence that many of the most accomplished authors in the world have been enigmatic to the point of vanishing into thin air, their aura only benefiting from this furtive nature which, in some cases, bordered as much on anger to fame as anxiety.

So with the upcoming tell-all memoir The Mockingbird Next Door currently generating headlines because of its subject Harper Lee, we’ve gone and listed the most reclusive literary talents of the last few centuries.

Zib A stupid person with unknown political or personal opinions; a nondescript nincompoop.

Zings, the The unpleasant aftereffect of excessive drinking; a hangover; the shakes.

Zex! A warning or command to cease an improper activity in order to avoid detection.

Zool Anything attractive, well-made, or satisfying.

Zagger A cheap watch. Jewelry salesman use.

Zizz or Zizzy Sleep.

Ziggetty! An exclamation similar to “hot diggity-dam!"

Zam Short for examination.

Zoftig or Zaftig Pleasantly plump and pretty.

Zoom To get something without paying for it.

Zig-zag Drunk.

Abelardo Morell

Camera Obscura: View of Landscape Outside of Florence in Room with Bookcase, Italy 2009