Chapter 8 and On the Carpet of Leaves Illuminated by the Moon Summary

Chapter 8 begins as snippets from the diary of Silas Flannery, who appears to have writers block. Every day, Flannery watches a woman reading on a terrace below and is obsessed with her reactions to what she reads. He feels caged by the expectations of his readers and by his own style. He imagines a story where two writers spy on one another as they work. Flannery comes up with a multitude of story lines surrounding these writers, all of which involve a woman reading both their works. He contemplates the idea that stories write themselves and notes that reading is an individual act; whereas, writing is only what it is after being interpreted by a reader. He is soon called on by Marana...