It belonged to a group of small, long-tailed primates that lived just before the evolution of creatures with traits characteristic of modern primates--relatively large brains, grasping hands and feet with nails instead of claws, forward-facing eyes to enhance vision, and limbs capable of prodigious leaping.
Unlike later primates, Carpolestes had side-facing eyes and lacked hind limbs designed for leaping.--B.B.
JACK BANKOWSKY: I just read a review of Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, and I have the feeling that the writer was a bit mystified as to what to make of it.
Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day was difficult to write in the sense that there's not much of a plot to it; the story emerges from a progression of interactions between the characters.
JB: It seems like there are similarities between the Epstein character in The Hours and Times and Skeeter in Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day.
JB: You said you were interested in trains as a kid, but I believe I also remember seeing someplace that Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day was based on an actual story you read.
CM: The Hours and Times comes from a sonnet of Shakespeare's, the 57th: "Beiug your slave, what should I do but tend / Upon the hours and times of your desire?" Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day is probably a more idiosyncratic choice.
With Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, I don't really know how I would have done it differently if I'd had more money.
JB: That reminds me of the way you began Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day with the sound of waterfalls.
JB: Where did the little poem at the end of Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day come from?