Joe's comments (member since Sep 06, 2007)

Joe's comments from the Constant Reader group.

Dvora wrote: "Ruth (and Sherry) I appreciate your posts. When I first moved to Barcelona, I used to write long email to many of my friends, telling them all about the neighborhood, the city, the way of life as ..."

Dvora,, your tale is an interesting way for writers to write. I wrote e mails to my former high school girl friend after having found her here on the net. I wrote about 100 of them, printed them,thinking they would be part of an autobio some day but then I was afraid my wife,kids would read them. I threw them in a trash barrel at MacDonalds. There was nothing really sinful in them I just felt like I was committing adultery while writing to her.

Joe wrote: "
I just read all of Cheever s short stories ,read THE WAPSHOT SCANDAL years ago and am now reading THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLE. I usually do things backwards for SCANDAL was part 2 of CHRONICLE. While ..."
Just as I begin to think of Cheever as a literary writer I run into Leandar s journal starting on page 97 of THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLE. I guess this is where Cheever gets his title. Leandar tells readers that this writer will put-punctuation,preps,etc at the end of the writing and the reader can insert them in his mind while reading. Then Leandar writes many short hard to understand sentences which become interesting and funny as the chronicle moves along. It s like an experiment in writing which I 'loathed' while trying to read James Joyce.

I just read all of Cheever s short stories ,read THE WAPSHOT SCANDAL years ago and am now reading THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLE. I usually do things backwards for SCANDAL was part 2 of CHRONICLE. While reading him, I began to think that maybe Irving,Russo are modern day versions of his sarcastic style. John Updike could be included in that group too. I value your opinion so let s hear them..thanks Joe.

i retired from full time teaching in 96. in 99 i saw random house s list of the best fiction books of the 20th century. i thought owning and reading that list would be an interesting project. i think i have 85 of the books,read 85 of them. the title of the list is deceiving. i decided that they may be the most important fiction books of the 20th century but by no means the best,if best means most interesting. i got through henry jame s WINGS OF THE DOVE, and the short DAISY MILLER,which is not on the list. but henry has 5 books on the list. i hate to read henry james-slow,descriptive writing. i can see virginia wolfe s writing talent but her subjects bore me. d h lawrence was very interesting,especially his sex scenes. hemingway was good but not great.

i think i like faulkner although as a writer here has stated-must be in the mood for him. i enjoyed all of steinbeck. i could make a topic of the list and my opinions of the books on it but this task will wait till winter. thanks..joe

Sarah wrote: "Thanks, Gail. I had not heard the Lovesy recommendation. I put all of them on my TBR list.

Lynn, sorry to incorrectly refer to you--I have been reading so many back threads that I have lost tr..."
sorry, but i wouldn t put tv writers into the 'literary' group. it s not that they aren t good writers, it s that they don t have time to work on their stories. fitzgerald,faulkner and others wrote for movies inorder to make extra money. neither liked the work nor did very well. richard russo has written some movie stories as well as tv.

while reading MOCKINGBIRD the bio of harper lee, i realized that such writer s -capote,lee,sherwood anderson,sinclair lewis, russo and others- look around at the small towns they live in, the characters,stories and write books about them. this is either literary or not but it s very interesting to a small town guy like me..love them all. joe

Sherry wrote: "Joe, sometimes threads just take a direction you don't expect. "

sherry, you are so observant. what do you think ? is russo literary ? thanks..joe

i just finished richard russo s NOBODY S FOOL for the 3rd time in 4 yrs. i enjoyed and was surprised by the much philosophy and psychology within. richard has a phd in philosophy so i shouldn t be surprised. i will read MOHAWK sometine in 210 for the 3rd time and wait for his next novel. i will buy with my kid s border presents his THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC and read it for the 2nd time. where are the russo posts here ? speaking of cover art. i bought a beautiful book with an organge cover,my fav color, on it at my fav used book store for 12 cents. it is in beautiful condition-NOT OF WAR ONLY BY norman zollinger. it should be good and i should read it sometime.

i am loving richard s NOBODY S FOOL very much this 3rd time. i read his books again after 2 or 3 years. there are few if any authors i can read over again, some of john irving s books qualify,OWNEN MEANY,parts of GARP. i was noticing the psychology in richard s book today. i love him for personal reasons,it s true. i have tried to find similar authors and have had little success-reynolds price-too sexy,siddons -too gushy,irving-too weird. i am writing down names from these posts-mcquad,trevor,dunmore. i will continue my search for russo like writers. i also love pat conroy. it doesn t matter whether they are literary or not but i love them both and other books pale by comparison. i hate dan brown but enjoy john grisham. i think grisham actually tries to have themes while writing mysteries and i appreciate that in a writer. jodi picoult does the same thing and good for her although she causes too much emotional suffering for me. each time we drive to our old home town,300 miles away,we drive through clyde ohio called WINESBURG OHIO in sherwood anderson s great book. if he was great, russo is great. thanks again great literary readers,writers you all. joe

aj, thanks for the comments and thanks for all the comments from these very intelligent readers. i don t like richard ford but i may try thomas mcguane. today, i am reading of thanksgiving in a dysfunctional family in richard s NOBODY S FOOL. it must go on for 40 pages-funny,sad, real people.

wow,you guys are observant,dedicated,..thanks..joe

i can t find our -literary writing posts-so i started a new topic. i would like to read some opinions as to richard russo s status as a writer. i love him cause i can relate to his characters and their lives in small towns. i love his flawed father characters. i wonder if richard s father was so flawed ? thanks..joe

HAPPY THANKSGIVING READERS..i am reading richard russo s NOBODY S FOOL for the third time. i could read richard s books over and over. will buy THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC for xmas and read it again. read STRAIGHT MAN to prepare for MAGIC. JOE

i just remembered how i distinguish literary writing from ordinary writing. i feel something in my stomach after i have read a good ,literary,sentence,or paragraph. the sentence,paragraph makes me sigh,uh,that s good . it s the same way i feel after biting into a pizza. many writers i read are no different than watching a tv show. reading which makes me feel good or learn something is literary writing. i am reading john cheever short stories and his stories make me sigh..uh..thanks joe

i love the attention this topic is bringing, keep them coming readers. i am reading some john updike short stories from 79. they are a bit dated but really relating to my life. he writes of families which is my favorite reading topic. john cheever does this topic well also. i may track down some ron nash books taking your advice. thanks..joe

attention all snobs like me,THE DIGESTED READ by englishman john grace seems perfect for us. he makes fun of contemporary books,writers. i am reading of many british writers i never heard of and still enjoy this work. there are some writers i know of and this makes the book much more interesting. we need an american version of this book. i bet there are many readers here at goodreads who could write such a book by simply compiling some book reviews. i am now a cynical reader like him. after reading over 100 books a year for 4 years ,mostly fiction,i guess i am tired. i am taking a break from fiction by reading short stories,bios etc..joe

ricki,thanks for the comment. i was referring to contemporary writers. i guess i am a bit of a snob and feel i must be reading something important when spending my retired ,limitless,amount of time. if you read my profile you will see that i consider myself an amateur american lit major. literary writers,i feel, speak to me,my heart,my life, my family, my similar experiences. i enjoy bios and auto bios of famous writers to help me understand where they are coming from. my favorite mystery writer and one of the few i consider literary is dennis lehane. jon kellerman at times is literary. i don t really know what i mean by literary and the many posts above have helped me to understand my own reading tastes..lol dead writers like steinbeck,faulkner,capote,hemingway, and many others also occupy my reading time..happy reading,posting..joe

i am glad to see such a healthy discussion about my post. i confess that i don t really know what -literary fiction - means. to me, it means,non serial killer,non romance,non fluff writing. i consider pat conroy,richard russo,michael chabon,jc oates,margaret atwood,don dililo-sic-,t pynchon,tom wolfe alice munro,updike,cheever,j irving,j kranston-sic- and many others to be literary writers today. i like stories about families,real life with real problems..thanks again..joe

readers, for the 2nd time in one month i found a book for $1 which hit the spot. i am not cheap,only poor. THE DIGESTED READER,06 by john grace. john gives book reviews of famous new books and mocks and makes fun of them. i was tired of too long contemporary books,and sick of serial killers. i was having a hard time chosing contemporary fiction so john s book was ,is just right for my reading feelings at the moment. i had gotten to the point of only reading short stories lately-john cheever-love his stories-alice munro-like many of her stories. horray for john grace. the first hit the spot $1 book was ALFRED KAZIN S AMERICA..it was a bit too sophisticated for my amateur english major skills. thanks..joe

thanks to all comments. i already love alice munro and will read the others and look at lists here..thanks..joe