On Subject Matter

My reading choices are often (more often than I'd like to admit) driven by a book's subject matter. I've not read or put aside many probably high-quality books simply because I'm not interested in reading about the subject. War, slavery, and other other such things are not things I care to read about for the length of a novel. I tend to prefer a more personal, psychological fiction set in more common circumstances. But I've recently learned a lesson.

I have just finished reading Toni Morrison's Beloved. This book has been on my to-be-read list for ages but has continually been put aside. I should note that I was debating reading Catch-22 at the same time, but I put it aside for this book. I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked that Beloved was such an amazing book. A Nobel and a Pulitzer should stand for something. I just didn't expect to be so compelled to read, to be so interested in the story, the human drama, that the subject matter, or the setting really, was only secondary.

I am not one to be turned off by unpleasant material (I tend to enjoy a little misery), but yet I shied away from particular books because I thought I wouldn't enjoy reading about the subject. I've learned now that if a book is good, the ancillary information, be it setting or the particular time period or whatever, is second to the actual story being told. A good book is a good book, no matter the subject matter.

Book Review: Beloved

Beloved by Toni Morrison

There were many reasons that led me to believe that I might not like this novel. It is easy to stand in opposition to anything so widely championed. And maybe I have some reluctance to read African-American literature because I think I won't relate. Never the less, the book had sat on my to-be-read list too long for me to continue to ignore. And I am glad that I finally read it.

The book truly is as magnificent, as well crafted as everyone says. But it's not just that. It's not just that you can tell the intelligence and care that were poured into the work, it's that the characters are compelling. While we may be considering circumstances that a person in my position may not comprehend, we are given them through the eyes of characters that are so well-rounded, so deep that we understand their plight.

Morrison captures the way her characters speak and think within the narration, but she doesn't let that limit the language and the style of her prose. At times the text falls into abstraction in ways that I find hard to appreciate, though it is apparent that it all serves a purpose. I may not rank this one at the top of my favorites list, though I will be recommending it to those who have not read it.

Winter's Bone up for LA Times Book Prize

Daniel Woodrell's fantastic Winter's Bone is nominated for the LA Times Book Prize along with David Mitchell's Black Swan Green. It's good to see again attention given to a small book like Woodrell's instead of the big books we would expect to get all the attention.

L.A. Times Book Prize nominees announced

Note: The article also has some good things to say about the future of the LA Times bookpages.

Rejection Collection - Hudson Review

Yes, another one arrived this week. The Hudson Review has rejected my story "Those Afternoons" with this excessively bland "form." It is almost refreshing that they don't feel it's necessary to offer any encouragement. They only regret the use of the "form." Then they go on to spend more words explaining the reading periods, with a special rule for subscribers. So kind.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if I were on vacation this week? Or if I was so consumed with working on my project, or even by the Libby trial or the latest dirt on Obama or even all the deconstruction of this week's episode of Lost, that I had a decent, fun reason for why I haven't had a thing to share this week? But no. It's that darned other life, working too much and coming home too tired to think about much.

There's another debate about MFA programs going around that I'd love to weigh in on, because I myself go from ambivalent to adamant.

I'd also like to rant a little about that Libby trial, but you probably know what I'd say.

The good news is that I am currently reading Toni Morrison's Beloved and I am quite surprised by it.

So, just a little catch-up blogging at the end of the week.

Treason. Blasphemy. Heresy.

Those with tender hearts, I advise you to not read this article: Confessions of a Book Abuser - New York Times. Unless you like the willful destruction of art... well, then go ahead and relish it.

As for me I was brought up to treat books with respect, no leaving a book spreadeagle on the edge of the couch, no dogearing. Even making annotations in book has been difficult for me. Through two degrees I found it hard to write in books unless it was an already beat-up copy I found used.

I don't think books should just be left on a shelf, obviously, but there's a difference between an obviously loved and well-read book and one that has simply been abused. The reason, Mr. Book Trasher, that we treat books with respect and not put them in the washing machine is that we want to keep the book around to refer to, to read again, to share. That's hard to do if the book is holding up a table leg.

But then again, do what you want with your James Patterson books.

Rejection Collection - Boulevard

They keep coming. This one also arrived this week from Boulevard for my story "Resting." It is getting a bit exhasting to keep receiving these. It would be okay if I was having in the smallest amount of success, but I'm not having any luck. Anyway, this rejection would win no awards for aesthetics or style.

Rejection Collection - Faultline

This one came this week from Faultline for my story "The Disguise." Maybe my submission was too wordy for them, because they don't waste a word in their rejection. "Thank you. We regret. Good luck." Alright then.

Sticks and stones

Calling someone a liar or articulate requires an apology, but apparently this is okay:

Think Progress » Coulter: I Would Talk About Edwards But “You Have To Go Into Rehab If You Use The Word ‘Faggot’”

Book Review: The View from Castle Rock

The View From Castle Rock by Alice Munro

While I'm not going to dismiss Munro's status as Canada's greatest-living-writer or Chekhov's heir or any of that, I don't think she deserves to have every little thing she writes published.


Much emphasis has been put on the fact that these are "stories." I understood that as being some way of differentiating them from being autobiography. Truthfully, they read like neither. They read like the stories you hear at a family reunion, or when your grandfather is on his third gin and tonic. They are interesting and often filled great detail, but often pointless.

I rank Munro up there among my favorite writers, but I was pretty disappointed by this. I wanted more. But that's what I get for having expectations.

Roth wins PEN/Faulkner literary award

Roth wins PEN/Faulkner literary award - Yahoo! News

I suppose it's not a real surprise for Roth to win this for Everyman, though I don't think it was all that. What's more important here is the list of runners-up:

Charles D'Ambrosio's "The Dead Fish Museum"
Deborah Eisenberg's "Twilight of the Superheroes"
Amy Hempel's "The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel"
Edward P. Jones' "All Aunt Hagar's Children."

D'Ambrosio's book was one of my favorites, and it's good to see some acknowledgement of its quality, but what might be more important is that his book along with all the other runners-up are books of SHORT STORIES. Are short stories back? Eisenberg's and Hempel's books showed up on best of 2006 lists. Do we like short stories again? Or more importantly, will publishers be willing to take on more short story collections?

I'll have to write more on this later.

Since when is writing about writing boring?

Gwenda at Shaken & Stirred has recently started on her MFA and she has an excellent post on revision. And she has me until she says her advisor wrote her 17 pages in response to submitted revisions. Bullshit. Are you listening Steven Schwartz? 17 pages!

It almost makes me miss the program, or at least miss having some input on my work.

Rejection Collection - Shenandoah

This one came a couple weeks ago from Shenadoah. That is a handwritten note on there, but don't be fooled--it isn't personal. Otherwise, this one does gets some points for style for the long form, the logo and the use of white space. Just don't try to fool me with the personal note.

On Novel Outlining

It’s funny how MFA programs don’t put much focus on novel writing. Sure, some time is spent on analyzing novels, but there is no real guidance on how to build or shape a novel. So, we walk out with a portfolio of short stories, some critical writing, and no lick of experience of doing what it is almost all of us are looking to do.

Last week I realized that I was nearing the half-way point in my “project.” I’d gone past the point of establishing characters, exploring their dilemmas, and now it was time to put them on the path to the eventual resolution. And I’d really been winging up to this point. I knew the characters, but I want them to sort things out on their own without having some unwieldy outline to which I was supposed to adhere. Yet, suddenly I was there, beginning a new chapter, and I realized I didn’t really know what I wanted to have happen, what needed to happen.

Novel outlining seems to be somewhat of a contentious issue. Authors seem to have all sorts of responses to the question of whether or not they outline. I think many want us to think that it’s all organic and that any sort of “planning” is not artistic and goes against the process. Sure, maybe people writing those plot-driven things need to outline, but I don’t. I don’t think I believe this.

I have several characters who all need to come together in the resolution, and if I don’t have an idea of what I need to have happen when I’m screwed. I’ll end up writing one of those novels where it seems the author didn’t quite know what he/she needed to have happen and the whole thing veers off in a new direction (see: Look At Me, Empire Falls-which I still liked).

Resources on outlining are a bit limited. I went out a-wandering on the internet in hopes of finding some direction, suggestion, guidance. If you’re writing sci-fi or romance there is some support out there, but no one really wants to talk about outlining a literary novel. Not one link worth passing on.

What I had to do was to outline the course of each character. On a separate piece of paper I noted the scenes and development for each character and then a few words on what I needed to have happen to them in the future, the different scenes I knew that I would need. Then I had to lie each of these together, looking at what was missing, and outline the course of action. So, now I have a rough list of scenes in the order I need to have them happen in order to get us to the conclusion. But is truly rough. A few words each. I still don’t want to tie the characters down and force them into anything, so I think I’ve left them a little room to move around on their own.

I now feel open to write away, knowing where the landmarks are, where each checkpoint is, what I vaguely want to accomplish in each chapter. I finally feel like I can move forward.

Librarians debate award-winning novel - Yahoo! News

Librarians debate award-winning novel - Yahoo! News

Scrotum, scrotum, scrotum. No, really it gets better:

"The Higher Power of Lucky" is the story of a 10-year-old girl in rural California and her quest for "Higher Power." The opening chapter includes a passage about a man "who had drunk half a gallon of rum listening to Johnny Cash all morning in his parked '62 Cadillac, then fallen out of the car when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum."

I'm sorry, I didn't know Dorothy Allison was writing children's lit.

The Dust-Up

Okay, plug your ears if you need to, I'm going to talk about politics.

Now, it's much too early to pick a horse in the Democratic race for the nomination, but nothing peeves me more than someone demanding an unnecessary apology. So, to hear this whole dust-up between Hillary and Obama gets me a little agitated. And somebody please tell Bill Richardson that, yes, we want to avoid personal attacks, but maybe he should mind his own business.

If this is how Hillary's campaign is going to react every time someone calls her a liar, it is going to be a loooooong campaign. To tell you the truth, I don't like her and I think she'd be a lousy candidate. I'm not really sure I even want to think about what she'd be like as President. And this whole thing sort of explains why.

And thanks goodness Obama knew better than to apologize. So, shame on Hillary and shame on the media for trying to make this into a bigger thing than it is (bite me, Kudlow).

And while we're talking about things other than books and writing, what's this nonsense about a crying judge?

Write every day? Yeah, right.

Do you ever get sick of hearing that? I do. Maybe it's just because I don't write everyday. Or maybe I'm sick of hearing it from people who have the time available to them. In this month's Poets & Writers Walter Mosley delivers the usual lecture. He begins,

The first and most important thing that you have to know about writing is that
it is something you must do everyday. Every morning or every night, whatever
time it is that you have.

Well, I don’t want to hear it, but it’s hard to argue with. But then he goes on,

Getting your words down on the page takes time. How much? I write three hours every morning. It’s the first thing I do, Monday through Sunday, fifty-two weeks a year.

Well, congratu-freakin-lations. Must be hard to do with that full-time job, a toddler and a pregnant wife. Oh, wait, that’s me, not Walter Mosley. Does he have a full-time job?

He does go on to make some great points, and I don’t want to dismiss the thesis that writing is hard work.

Elsewhere in the magazine, an article by Caitlin O’Neil called “The Writer’s Triangle: Balancing Writing With Living” let’s us see the other side of the maxim. She writes, “If a writer is earning enough money, she doesn’t have enough time to write. If a writer has enough time to write, she’s broke. If a writer is cut off from people and money-generating work in order to write, she’s depressed and isolated.” Now, I won’t argue though I disagree with the last point, or at least I don’t know that there’s really anything wrong with being depressed and isolated (I could also criticize the pronoun choice, but I won’t).

It is tricky finding that balance, being fair to all aspects of your life. In an interview I heard recently with Kate Braverman she said that if you are serious about the art of writing get a well-paying job. She doesn't suggest sacrificing your well-being by hiding out in your office and not working until finally producing your masterpiece. Instead, find a job that provides you the security you need to not let money figure in to your work and one that leaves your mind open for creative activity. This is the tack I'm taking.

Years ago, I lived what I deemed was an "artist's life." That meant drinking too much, quitting jobs on a whim, and living a life of poverty and degradation. But, boy, did I produce a lot of work. Too bad most of it was crap. Since then I got my act together, got my undergraduate degree, then an MFA, got a real job, got married and began having children. So, I may not write as much now (and certainly not as much as I should) but what I write is better. And I'm not so desperate to make a buck with it that I let that override artistic concerns.

Okay, so I resolve to write more, nearly everyday, but I will still cherish my sleep, my time with my family, and I'm still going to work. Three hours a day, my ass.

Valentine's Day Reading

The Washington Post has fiction by Melissa Bank, ZZ Packer and others, each inspired by a photograph. I might have to use up some of the toner at work to read some of these.

Rejection Collection - Northwest Review (again)

Ah, so much for encouragement actually getting me somewhere. The last time Northwest Review sent me a rejection a hand written note asked "Try again?" And I did, noting of course in the cover letter the extra attention paid to my submission. This time, though... nothing. No luck and no note. And still, somehow, I will try again.

"That's a good story."

My daughter, who will be turning two this spring, has taken to responding to the close of every board book we read with "That's a good story." She gives it just enough emphasis to imply that the quality of the story was both satisfying and surprising. Maybe I should start reading her my stories.