The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell is a compilation of questions strung together without discernible order, importance, or intention. Reading the first paragraph, which includes queries on horses, love, athletic ability, potatoes, and Constantinople, produces an acute sense of confusion but also intrigue. Is this it? Is this the whole book?
Well, yes and no. Yes in the sense that all that is on the page is question after question, seemingly unconnected and entirely at random. No in the sense that the reaction to this is incredibly personal. It becomes almost a private psychological study into yourself as you work through questions. Those who do not dismiss it almost immediately as pointless (and there will be people who do that, I know some of them) will find themselves automatically and internally answering each question.
There are questions that have immediate answers; short questions that have factual and definite answers, either about the reader or their knowledge.
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