Andy's recent posts

Recent public posts (showing 101-120 of 281).

Well (clears throat, adjusts tie) I'm not actually much of an organizer, but I think I can throw out a title from the New Yorker or Ploughshares with a link and a projected start date.

I don't think this will happen today, but I will do it soon. Maybe today.

I'm not sure how one might handle this comment about being fun rather than literary. I guess we'll just pick something and see what happens?

I'll start a new thread, look for it this week. Or maybe later today.

Anybody have any suggestions for stories from NY or Ploughshares?

Is anybody interested in doing a discussion of a story? Something published by an established or semi-established author, preferably available on-line, maybe like once per quarter? Once per month?

Just food for thought. There seems to be people in this group who would make for good discussion. I do a similar thing in the Constant Reader group, the discussions are usually fun and thought provoking. I would love to be involved with something similar among a different collection of people.

What do you think?

I had the same experience with Hundred Years, Pontalba. I was just trying to poke fun at how #2 accused the author of "making things up" which is really what fiction authors are supposed to do, or so I thought?

I see Benjamin Button as a plot exercise mixed with a business decision.

I think truly character rich stories take more time to write and then make less money.

And it's hard to do both plot and character in a short story.

Plot can get a bad wrap these days, but I still like it. Here's my take on it: A writer working on plot is like a painter working on perspective or doing a series of still lifes as an exercise. Maybe that's what FSF was up to here, and something salable came out of the exercise. Or maybe the Fitzgeralds needed a new roadster so old Scotty just cranked one out.

I think there is something to value about the story as an exercise. Which is what I like about plot-driven narrations in general. Even if it's a heap of commercial garbage, the plot still came from SOMEWHERE. So he got the idea for the story from a Twain quote. Presumably Fitzgerald wasn't the first to hear the quote, so why was he the first (or I guess the second) to write a story based on it? What about that quote moved him to spend his time writing such a weird story? Why leave the mother out? Why act like a misogynist toward the wife? The characters in general are all nasty to each other, was Fitzgerald a secret misanthrope? Why expect readers to believe the old man was born adult-size? That's a pretty wild leap. I think it would fit into the classification of magical realism today. Were devices like that common at the time of publication? If not, how did FSF get away with it?

I think there are obviously different rewards in reading and writing more resonant characters.

I think a lot of short story writers do both plot-driven and character-driven stories. Chekhov has a story that is a long form priest-walks-into-a-bar joke for crying out loud.

And the weird part is that the main character doesn't actually GO to the street fair.

The town is described as being slow and without excitement. And the main character is just loafing around and he sees the street fair:

A street-fair farther down made a brilliant alley of varicolored booths and contributed a blend of music to the night--an oriental dance on a calliope, a melancholy bugle in front of a freak show, a cheerful rendition of 'Back Home Tennessee' on a hand-organ

It seems such an attactive happening to check out, but that's the only mention of it in the whole story. Bizarre. The guy ends up going to a soda fountain instead.

I would interpret the post as a unique attempt to shed light on the topic of different opinions; addressing the topic from a "novel" angle.

I, for one, thought Reviewer #2 was quite funny, also. Apparently he subscribes to the notion that stories are floating around in the ether and should rightfully be channeled by the author, rather than "made up". How funny.

Here's a simile I find interesting. Haven't decided if it works or not. It's on the bubble.

The stores were closing and the last shoppers were drifting homeward, as if borne on the dreamy revolution of a slow merry-go-round.

It's from F. Scott Fitzgerald story "The Jelly-Bean". Okay, I think it is quite a nice image, and the next sentence briefly describes a street fair that is happening. My only issue is that when I think of people on a merry-go-round I think of them as moving in circles, and that's what makes the simile not want to work for me...

I guess one could then think of metaphorical circles, even if the people are walking straight lines to get home...

I'm completely baffled by the daily diary. It's another group?

Sunday it is.

Who are Sarah Polley and Julie Christie and what is Away From Her?

Q: What title do you give to a hackneyed production that disses the concept of motherhood while simultaneously informing about famous shipping paths?

A: The Pan A Ma Banal

Compared to another recent novel discussion I can remember, the Sawtelle discussion seems to be as lively as a debate between Robin Williams and Richard Simmons.

And then Simmons runs to Letterman and Williams to Ellen to talk about the dirty tricks that went on in the debate. And can't they just be friends? Even though they were actually being paid to debate, because that's what the people want!

I wonder how this one would fit into the needlepoint as CNF metaphor?

I am trying to read a play with my friend, but I forgot to bring the list that was suggested here to to the library last time I went.

I read a bunch of Shakespeare in college, sometimes even out loud when the mood struck me :)

Well two days into the experiment and I have not been timing my Internet as specifically as I wanted to be. I have been spending a lot of time online.

How is everyone doing on the no TV thing?

Ooh, cool pillow!

If your mom likes making pillows, she should check out this book:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15415...

I wonder if how-to books are considered creative non-fiction?

I used to write copy for a catalogue that sold the Klimt cross stitch kit. The Kiss, right?

I wonder if copywriting could be considered creative non-fiction?

I haven't read Sawtelle. It seems, if nothing else, to provoke response which can be a lot of fun. Like this metaphor thread. Fun, right? Weee...

But what do I know? I find interest in the Presbyterian mind and I have the bad taste to consume midwestern cooking on a daily basis.

I like this board because the people who cook here usually keep a low flame.

Yikes again. I just got Fitzgerald's Six Tales of the Jazz Age and Other Stories from the library at the same time I took out the Munro book. That was before this discussion started and before I knew Benjamin Button was up for discussion. I just got done with BB yesterday or the day before. This is all scarily coincidental to me.

Incidentally, BB, the story, was somewhat of a disappointment to me. Anyone for a pre-discussion, or should we wait?

I think you're right that these ones are fairly closed ended. Actually, if you look at the endings of "Thanks for the Ride" and "Boys and Girls" they are practically identical. The sexes are reversed but I suppose the emotional aspect of both stories are similar.

Yeah, it was great to finally meet you and Stagg. You are both such nice people! I wish I could have chatted more, I had no idea there was going to be a special event at the cafe. (Usually the owner would have left and we would have been slow and I could have hung out more...)

Anyway, yes, let me know when and where I can meet you on Wednesday. Today I'm going to touch base with the Bucktown Library, where I'm planning on volunteering. But to do that I have to get fingerprinted at City Hall and wait six weeks for a background check to go through. What a drag...