Maps to Anywhere- The House of the Future

In the book Maps to Anywhere by Bernard Cooper, there is an essay called The House of the Future. It is one of the last few creative essays in his book and it is really intriguing and creative. In this particular essay, there's different sections  that are all over the place and out of order but still has a message that sticks together. By this, I'm referring to his titles, such as Dream House, Dog House, House of Cards, and a few more.

All of these short essays create this bigger essay about how Bernard was a child and the memories, good or bad. Bernard talked about trips with his family, his very ill, older brother and what he hoped for the future. I really like this book and enjoyed reading it; I got a better understanding of this when we discussed it in class and hearing my classmate's thoughts on how they interpreted what Bernard was telling to his readers. It was really interesting reading of what he thought was cool in the 1950s, as far as the "futuristic house" and his love he proclaimed for his brother when he became sicker. A lot of his futuristic thoughts were of what could have been and a better life for them and his sick brother.

In class, we discussed different parts of this creative essay and I see that I should add Bernard Cooper to my list of next reads. I enjoyed reading this book in class and at home and I plan to read more from him. I enjoyed his work and the way he connected with the audiences.

Maps To Anywhere- Leaving

Leaving is one of Bernard Cooper's short essays in his book, Maps to Anywhere. This short essay sticks out to me in a way that I am unsure of. It talks about an average, typical family, a father, mother, and two and a half kids. Yes, two and a half kids. This is what stood out to me the most. 

This part stood out to me the most because it is unusual to be a half. In the essay, he doesn't state whether that half-child is male or female, nor the age. But, he does explain some of that half-child's features and possible future. Cooper tells us that the half-child is "isolated, half a figure, balanced on one leg, one hand extended..". He tells us that maybe his hand is extended as if to touch the world that he's leaving behind and everything that he's giving up in the world and leaving behind.

In class, we had an assignment where we had to imitate one of Bernard Cooper's short essays. naturally, I did Leaving and I tried to have fun with it. I kept the concept of your average family and instead of a "half-child", I made it into a pet, dog. I changed the title to Forgetting with the idea that instead of leaving everything behind, he's forgetting everything behind for that one special thing, no matter what it is. I did this because I recently met my friend's new dog and he was the most adorable dog there is! Playing with him, I learned something new about dogs; they have no perception of time. Whenever one of left for the bathroom or to go in the basement, he would get worried that we were gone forever. That made me come up with the title Forgetting, because the dog wants to show you something and forgets about everything else at that moment, leaving it behind.