Jan 17, 2006 | Uncategorized
And just in case you haven't heard enough about James Frey and his million little lies, Michiko Kakutani has an article in the NYT book section:
It is not, however, just a case about truth-in-labeling or the misrepresentations of one author: after all, there have been plenty of charges about phony or inflated memoirs in the past, most notably about Lillian Hellman's 1973 book “Pentimento.” It is a case about how much value contemporary culture places on the very idea of truth. Indeed, Mr. Frey's contention that having 5 percent or so of his book in dispute was “comfortably within the realm of what's appropriate for a memoir” and the troubling insistence of his publishers and his cheerleader Oprah Winfrey that it really didn't matter if he'd taken liberties with the facts of his story underscore the waning importance people these days attach to objectivity and veracity.
We live in a relativistic culture where television “reality shows” are staged or stage-managed, where spin sessions and spin doctors are an accepted part of politics, where academics argue that history depends on who is writing the history, where an aide to President Bush, dismissing reporters who live in the “reality-based community,” can assert that “we're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” Phrases like “virtual reality” and “creative nonfiction” have become part of our language. Hype and hyperbole are an accepted part of marketing and public relations. And reinvention and repositioning are regarded as useful career moves in the worlds of entertainment and politics. The conspiracy-minded, fact-warping movies of Oliver Stone are regarded by those who don't know better as genuine history, as are the most sensationalistic of television docudramas.
Most disturbing of all, however, is that Oprah has now chosen Elie Wiesel's Night for her book club. Oprah says that Wiesel's book “should be required reading for all humanity.” Yes, absolutely. But does it cheapen Mr. Wiesel and his experience to follow serial liar Frey? Already, the NYT reports that Mr. Wiesel has been asked if his book is true.
Mr. Wiesel said he had not read Mr. Frey's book and could not comment on the controversy. He acknowledged that some people and institutions, including on occasion The New York Times, have referred to “Night” as a novel, “mainly because of its literary style.”
“But it is not a novel at all,” he said. “I know the difference,” he added, noting that “Night” is the first of his 47 books, several of which are novels. “I make a distinction between what I lived through and what I imagined others to have lived through.”
Now how come James Frey and Oprah don't seem to know the difference?
Jan 16, 2006 | Uncategorized |
The Elvis Tree. It was in an Elvis movie, not Blue Hawaii, but another one. Cool, huh? 
Jan 16, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Do you write to music? Or do you prefer silence? Does it matter how the music is played? (Huh?) No, really. I can't listen to any music with words when writing. Unless I'm wearing headphones. Somehow, the words being right in my ears makes them fade to background. If they're on speakers, I focus on the words. Weird, huh?
So I'm listening to my MP3 player the other night and I'm working on a chapter. The words are in the background, just doing their thing. Then Journey comes on and I had this aha moment: this book is a Journey book! So now I've got Mike compiling all our Journey music so I can listen while writing. The last book was a Bon Jovi book. The medieval I wrote was a classical book (lots of Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel's Bolero for some reason). That might have had something to do with the fact I hadn't yet figured out the headphone thing and was only listening to music without words.
So what kind of book are you writing?
—I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.~ Peter De Vries
Jan 14, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I don't think of myself as a literary snob. Hell, I write romance novels, the red-headed bastard stepchild of the novel writing world (don't get me started on why romance novels are not all trash, or on why I believe they are given that label in the first place, etc, and often by people who've never read one or who did read one and it was, unfortunately, deserving of the name).
I enjoy and appreciate popular fiction. I don't think all literature is grand, but since I am in pursuit of an advanced degree in the field, I have read many works of classic fiction, often more than once. That's why this article makes me giggle.
In the tradition of best book lists everywhere, writer Matthew Baldwin compiles his own list . . .from the Amazon.com review section, where some folks seem to not, uh, appreciate the classics. Some favorites:
The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Author: J.D. Salinger. “So many other good books…don’t waste your time on this one. J.D. Salinger went into hiding because he was embarrassed.” [Yeah, what was up with that kid anyway? Why was he disconnected with the world around him and how come he just couldn't get it together? No danger of that happening now that we have Prozac, so toss this trash!]
Lord of the Flies (1955), Author: William Golding. “I am obsessed with Survivor, so I thought it would be fun. WRONG!!! It is incredibly boring and disgusting. I was very much disturbed when I found young children killing each other. I think that anyone with a conscience would agree with me.” [Um, I think that was the point. You are supposed to be disgusted. And horrified. And it's supposed to tell you something about humankind. But it ain't no Survivor!]
Mrs. Dalloway (1925), Author: Virginia Woolf. “The only good thing to say about this “literary” drivel is that the person responsible, Virginia Woolf, has been dead for quite some time now. Let us pray to God she stays that way.” [Well thank God! My thesis is on VW, includes this book, and I've been searching for something to say about it. My search is over. Can someone please get me the citation information?]
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), Author: Harper Lee. “I don’t see why this book is so fabulous. I would give it a zero. I find no point in writing a book about segregation, there’s no way of making it into an enjoyable book. And yes I am totally against segregation.” [Because of course we no longer have segregation and people of all races/nations/creeds get along perfectly. No need to learn about the unfairness and injustice done to people by folks who think they are superior. Natually, no one thinks they are superior anymore. We know we're all equal.]
Found via Hoosier Musings on the Road to Emmaus.
Jan 14, 2006 | Uncategorized
A friend was recently bemoaning her fate as a writer. She received a rejection and was positive this meant she should line the bird cage with her manuscript, turn the computer over to her kids, and learn to grow exotic flowers instead of beating her head against the brick wall of publishing for even another second.
Fear not, sayeth I. For behold, I bring you Ursula K. Lequin's rejection letter:
Ursula K. Le Guin writes extremely well, but I'm sorry to have to say that on the basis of that one highly distinguishing quality alone I cannot make you an offer for the novel. The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information, the interim legends become so much of a nuisance despite their relevance, that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down and the book, eventually, unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material. My thanks nonetheless for having thought of us. The manuscript of The Left Hand of Darkness is returned herewith.
Ursula survived. So can you. 🙂 Write on, fellow scribblers, write on! (And remind me, when I start to wallow, that I posted this.)
Jan 13, 2006 | Uncategorized
You got anything more interesting than Consumer Reports?
