Proust, Voltaire, Hitler

I've read a book on writing that urges writers to have a plot! It's called Writing to the Point, by Algis Budrys. I've also read Consumed by Benjamin Barber: it makes an argument that we are infantilized into consumption. I agree, although I don't think I personally am likely to be so infantilized. I also read an interminable biography of Jean Racine, by Georges Forestier, which reminded me primarily that Racine wrote his great plays in a short amount of time. I finished Rebecca West's travelogue of prewar Yugoslavia. I finished Maser's biography of Hitler -- no, he was not missing a testicle, yes, he had a normal sex life (if you discount sleeping with your niece) and liked women with larger chests. I also read Orieux's life of Voltaire, which was very revealing: I had no idea Voltaire was so eccentric. Finally, I read with great enjoyment the first volume of Painter's biography of Marcel Proust. It recounts in great detail the models in Belle Epoque society for Proust' A la recherche du temps perdu, and recounts many incidents and eccentricities of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. It was really enjoyable -- like Justine said in The Thorn Birds, he really is nothing more than an old gossip.