Analyzing a Short Story: Kevin Brockmeier
Tonight’s discussion of a Best American Short Stories selection in our fiction workshop revolves around “Space” by Kevin Brockmeier, taken from (guess where) the 2003 edition.
Brockmeier controls language with amazing authority. The story focuses on how a father and his teenage son, Eric, deal with the suddent death of their wife and mother, Della. She was the anchor of the family, and now two men who don’t know how to communicate with each other are left to support each other. Their dialog is minimal, reflecting their reluctance to share feelings with each other. Most every exchange of words between Eric and Dad revolve around the mundane, rarely breaking into their inner thoughts. they even answer questions with new, rhetorical questions, letting them fill the silence, the space in their family left by Della’s death. And when the conversation does find its way to Della, both father and son are quick to turn it away.
The story progresses through the sparse dialog and other simple communication. Eric and Dad speak to each other in random bursts of short and long while other communication in the piece is deliberate, patterned, and streamlined. For example, the katydids “are out there calling their names,” communicating on a synchopated schedule with a call so consistent it’s an accurate temperature gauge. Fireworks are launched at timed intervals, and the patterns they create are usually distinct, crowd-pleasing images.
Finally, there’s the beam of light shooting into space, Della’s light aimed high to the sky from her flashlight. It sends a direct signal to the distant world she hoped she was lighting. All of these types of communication, all laid throughout the piece, serve to deepen the relationship between estranged father and distant son.
Two comparisons spring to mind with this story. The Stanley Kubrick gem, 2001: A Space Odyssey has a running time of 148 minutes, yet the film only features 60 minutes worth of scenes containing recognizable spoken dialog. Then there’s playwright Harold Pinter, well-known for increasing tension in his work by using silence and deliberate understatements in dialog that already concentrates as much on the inflection and nuanced delivery as the content of the characters’ speech. Two situations in which silence is used as a craft choice to great effect.
I brought this story for analysis in a fall, 2005 fiction workshop and it had enough of a profound experience on my peer, Jon Surdo, that he brought it in to talk about this time around. Looking at my own presentation essay (which was more like two paragraphs worth of talking points and the above-mentioned comparisons to 2001 and Pinter), I can see how my craft analysis skills have expanded during the program. I’m excited to give this story one final ‘go’ tonight for what I hope will be profound, academic, and heartfelt analysis.
-nm
Technorati Tags: kevin brockmeier, best american, short story, walter mosley, father son story
My thesis reading approaches
Posters are popping up all over MSU to advertise my thesis reading, “Attack of the Robo-Writers.” If you feel like an evening well-spent in Mankato, Minnesota, dear reader, then feel free to join Jon Surdo and me for an evening of screenplays.
Attack of the Robo-Writers
Friday, April 11 @ 7:00pm
Minnesota State University
Armstrong Hall 101
Jon will read from his horror-thriller screenplay, “Rat Trap.” I will read from my science fiction adventure comedy, “Earthlings.” Speaking of posters, yes, ours features a beautiful unicorn. Click the pic for a gigantic version worthy of gigantic killer robot proportions:
I’m really proud of this script and would appreciate your presence. Give it a thought, won’t you?
-nm
Technorati Tags: thesis reading, mfa thesis, earthlings, minnesota state university, unicorns
Analyzing a Short Story: Ryan Harty (Part I)
In fiction workshop this semester, we’ve each been asked to bring in a selection from the last ten years of Best American Short Stories to lead discussion on craft choices and literary devices. My classmates have brought in some great selections, from old favorites like “Brownies” by Z.Z. Packer, to “Tooth and Claw” by T.C. Boyle and “We Didn’t” by Stuart Dybek - two stories which have inspired my latest short story currently underway (likely my next workshop submission). In tonight’s fiction workshop, I’ll be leading discussion on the short story “Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down” by Ryan Harty. I’ve included the craft analysis essay I wrote to support my presentation. You can see I’ve concentrated on theme as craft choice, and relate it specifically to science fiction as a genre.
Why the Theme Feels Strong When the Story Goes Science Fiction
At it’s best, science fiction has the capacity to take fantastical settings and characters and make them relevant to prominent issues faced by modern-day society. Theme can be made universal through its specificity, meaning that the more precise a writer is in how they deliver a story, the more pristine the theme can emerge as identifiable, relatable, and palatable – the last being particularly important for an oft-overlooked genre such as science fiction. In Ryan Harty’s short story, “Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down,” evokes themes of family dynamic and dysfunction, of abortion, human rights, genetic manipulation, and the over-medication of children, and above all, the emotional bond between a parent and their child - all within the confines of a science fiction story about a father’s deep love for his android son.
The story opens with a seemingly standard setting void of anything fantastical. A father, Mike, is contacted by another parent to hurry over and investigate a bad injury that befell his son, Cole. On page 156, the setting turns more fantastical through this paragraph, referencing how Mike sees Cole on the hill:
“We climb the hill. From the top I see Cole lying belly down on the back slope, his legs splayed out behind him. He is in shutdown – there’s that stillness about him – and I’m relieved to see it, though it’s clear he’s in horrible shape. His neck has twisted around so far that his chin seems to rest in the shadow valley between his shoulder blades. His right arm has come off completely and lies, bent at the elbow, a few yards away, multicolored wired curling out of the torn end. I get a lightheaded feeling and have to crouch for a moment and catch my breath.”
This paragraph signifies a transition from a modern-day setting to one in which androids are commonplace. The first three sentences stay in a world the reader knows, in fact the “shutdown” line lends itself to how a child might become, emotionally, when dealing with an injury and embarrassment. The next sentence, however, depicts a wound no human could survive, taking the reader into a new world. Cole’s mechanical arm, unattached on the ground, appears in the next sentence and by this point there can be no mistake this is a science fiction story. At this point, the reader could tune out, or assume they cannot relate to the story. However, the next sentence detailing how Mike feels as a father bearing witness to his child’s destruction brings the piece back to its emotional center – that tying thread that links the science fiction elements of the story with its themes.
Themes of how to manipulate children to provide a better parenting experience are prominent in the story, mostly through scenes between Mike and his wife, Dana. On page 160, Mike refuses an offer to transfer Cole’s “approximate” personality to a new unit, though Dana would rather have a healthy child than her own; this evokes thoughts of genetic manipulation. Media reports science is not far from being able to choose physical traits in offspring before their birth, if the technology is not already available to some degree. Additionally, Dana’s brother, Davis, has a new center chip installed in his android son, Brice, to brilliant results. Mike resents the treatment as the easy way out. This notion of fixing the brain can lead readers to how children are medicated for behavioral issues, particularly today when the debate over whether said diagnoses are always accurate or an oversimplified solution to a complex problem.
Dana skirts around the abortion issue on page 165 in this conversation with Mike: “Suppose this is the beginning of more bad times with Cole. We’d have to make some decisions then, right?” … “Of course,” she says. “But you already know what you’d want to do,” I say. “Isn’t that right, too?” This discussion of whether or not to dispose of Cole because of his malfunctions brings to mind how some parents see abortion as an option to giving birth to children with physical or mental challenges. Dana is fed up and wants to move on with her life, while Mike’s emotions are tied to Cole despite his issues. By presenting the story from Mike’s point of view, Harty makes his stance on this issue clear.
Finally, the theme of how people can find ways to love others despite hardship – even if it doesn’t always work out that way – comes in the form of Dana’s desertion of the family and Mike’s decision to remain with Cole. On pages 169-170, the parents find themselves at a crucial crossroads decision point, and decide to part ways: “I was very in love with you,” she says, and puts a hand on top of my own. “You know that, right? I still love you very much.” “I love you, too,” I say, and let6 out a laugh, because it all seems so crazy. “It’s not as if we’ve lost everything, is it? It’s not as if everything’s gone.” “I don’t know, she says. “That’s what I worry about sometimes.” In this final exchange between the married couple, they find their philosophy on family at odds and finally, irreconcilable. With a modern-day American divorce rate of 50%, one can relate to the gravity of Cole as a catalyst in Mike and Dana’s ultimate decision to separate.
The topic of melding hardwired and human emotion is not a new venture for the science fiction genre. At least four other stories have reached prevalence through their and subsequent film adaptations: Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” (Blade Runner), “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss (Artificial Intelligence: A.I.), Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot,” Carlo Collodio’s often-adapted literary classic, “Pinnochio.” What each of these stories accomplishes – as does Harty’s – is present an emotional element to the story which evokes true consideration for how the story can be related to modern life. Taking science fact and twisting it into science fiction isn’t anything new, but the genre’s ability to drive home theme through its specific storytelling makes it a genre that captures imagination and drives many young readers to read on.
* * *
On a personal note, I chose this story for five specific reasons: the first is it’s in the same Best American Short Stories collection (2003, edited by Walter Mosley) as “Space” by Kevin Brockmeier, one of my favorite short stories. Second, Harty’s story was originally published in Tin House, a literary magazine I subscribe to and believe has excellent taste in writing. Third, it’s a science fiction story and to see science fiction recognized as great literature gives me both joy and comfort. Fourth, I’m a sucker for a good father / son story, and I think Mosley must be, too (”Space” is an amazingly sad father/son story). Finally, it’s just plain well-written, no bones about it.
I’ll let you know if any new ideas about the story come out during class. One of my classmates will lead discussion on “Space” next week, and I cannot wait to discuss it again.
-nm
Technorati Tags: short story, ryan harty, best american, walter mosley, kevin brockmeier, why the sky turns red when the sun goes down
Books I picked up at AWP, part II.
Continuing from Tuesday, here’s a post to round out my AWP book fair spoils. In no particular order…
I’ve been putting off picking up the latest novel by favorite writer Kevin Brockmeier simply because I want to give The Brief History of the Dead my full attention, and I’ve been too busy with required reading to give it its due. However, the gentleman selling it told me he brought Brockmeier’s books along simply because he enjoyed them so much, and he gave me a swell discount and offered to ship it free, plus let me sneak a peek at the proofed galleys of Brockmeier’s forthcoming novel, The View From the Seventh Layer. Keen-eyed readers will remember I’m a big fan of Brockmeier’s short fiction, though I have yet to dive into his longer work. Here’s hoping that once the semester settles down, I’ll get to settle in to one of his novels, and quite possibly the one I ordered last weekend.
Every once in a while, a writer comes across a book or story or concept they were born to write, only someone beat them to it. I can’t say I was born to write Comedy By the Numbers, but as soon as I heard about it, I knew it was the kind of book I wished I’d written first. This faux-handbook of funny is a satire on satire, and that in itself is worth the price of admission. Plus, while I can’t speak for co-author Gary Rudoren except to say I’m sure he’s nice, other-co-author Eric Hoffman was a Mr. Show writer, and that (combined with this book coming from McSweeney’s) is enough to get me excited. If it isn’t enough for you, check out the promo videos satirizing old elementary school film strips at SuperDeluxe.com.
Arkansas by John Brandon is the most-expensive book I picked up last weekend, and I’m not too excited that the McSweeney’s guy told me I was getting an advanced copy. As far as I can tell now that I’m home, it’s at Amazon for $15, seven bucks less than I bought it for, and already available. Perhaps I can take comfort in the blurb on the back which proclaims it a perfect blend of Denis Johnson (Emergency, Jesus’ Son) and Elmore Leonard (Out of Sight, Jackie Brown, Get Shorty).
So speaking of McSweeney’s, um, this is rather embarrassing, but I picked up a McSweeney’s collection and I have no idea what it’s called, and since it’s being shipped to me, I don’t have a cover to show you, and since I have no idea what it’s called, I can’t look up the cover on the interweb. Um… It was about humor. Something like a “best of” McSweeney’s humor, I believe. Yes, yes that must be it. I’m sure it will be like literary cheese - sharp, tangy, and delicious.
Marginalia. No, not the Marginalia from Western State College of Colorado, who published a story by one of my professors, Diana Joseph, but the Marginalia from the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Spluh. It appears to be more about the program and interviewing writers than about inserting creative writing content. At any rate, it has some content by Charlie Jensen, and I’ll take a look.
Richard Peabody is a guy who loves good story, and he’s been publishing quite a few in Gargoyle. I picked up an old issue at last year’s book fair with a great Nick Cave story right around the time the overlooked Nick Cave-penned, Guy Pierce-starring western The Proposition came out. This year, I picked up two back issues of Gargoyle on CD - issues #52 and #49 - as well as Kiss the Sky - Fiction and Poetry Starring Jimi 
Hendrix. I saw the collection and immediately thought of two sixteen-year-old guys I work with in youth group. In fact, last night I let them borrow the collection and they were excited to check it out. And who said you couldn’t get a teenage boy to read poetry? All it takes is the subject matter of a rock god, a bunch of writers willing to tackle the subject, and someone like Richard Peabody to bring it all together. I hope the guys enjoy the book, and I’m hopeful it will make the rounds.
Careful readers will realize the Poetry Foundation gave out the best buttons at the book fair, but they also gave out two free CD, The Play List and Poetry Everywhere. They’re a great resource for hearing brilliant poems read via podcast; I haven’t reviewed the CDs yet, but I hope they’re full of something good.
Ah, Tinhouse. I met editor Rob Spillman at AWP last year when he was on a panel about small-but-popular literary journals and he gave me a subscription for $20, which is a nice price, indeed, for four issues full of established and new writers, plus a free issue (#29 The Graphics Issue) at the table. This year, the folks running the table were kind enough to let me re-subscribe for $20 and take another free issue, so I took #30, which my subscription skipped. If you don’t know Tin House, you need to get on board. It’s extremely difficult to get in, but that’s probably part of what makes it such a solid publication - they’re only putting the best in there. They do theme issues and feature gorgeous cover art, and what’s inside is a pure delight. Get on the Tin House train; it’s only $20.
And that’s that. I picked up some submission information for this publication and business cards for that publication, but made a promise to myself that once the mini-suitcase I’d packed away just for books was full, my book-buying was over. At any rate, I have a lot of reading ahead of me.
-nm
Technorati Tags: AWP, AWP book fair, Richard Peabody, Gargoyle, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss the Sky, Poetry Foundation, Marginalia, Diana Joseph, Arkansas, McSweeney’s, Comedy by the Numbers, Rob Spillman, Tin House, Tinhouse, John Brandon, Kevin Brockmeier, Brief History of the Dead, too many books
Books I picked up at AWP, part I.
I came home with nearly fifteen pounds of new novels, CDs, poetry collections, journals, magazines, and textbooks at AWP last weekend. Today, in no particular order, I list half of the publications I picked up. Expect the second half of the list on Thursday…
The Chattahoochee Review sold back issues at dirt-bottom prices (I received three issues for a buck). Each issue has a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as both established and new writers. I like reading small press journals because it tells me what sort of stories are being accepted for submissions. Of course, I still write what I want to write, but knowing what’s getting published is helpful, too.
At the same table as the Chattahoochee Review was New South. They say never choose a book by its cover, but I’m a sucker for great cover art, and the cover to their latest issue caught my eye. The publication from Georgia State University publishes poetry, prose, and visual art, and that’s a combination I can get behind. Formerly the “GSU Review,” I picked up the premiere issue of New South - Volume 1, Number 1.
The gentleman at Action Books was kind enough to point me to Melville Press to pick up Bed and Eeee Eee Eeee by Tao Lin, his first collection of short stories and novel, respectively. You can read about my chance meeting with Lin from my reflections on AWP post on Sunday evening.
This short story collection from Akashic Books was too cool to pass up. Twin Cities writers place stories of crime and classic noir-style in the Minnesota metro area, and I’m a sucker for anything set in Minnesota. Akashic has a whole line of geographic-centric noir, from classics like Los Angeles to new places like Baltimore and even international cities like Dublin.
Ordinary Women by Sue Carter, the nonfiction tale of the first all-female Arctic sled dog team, was a pick for the fiancée, who enjoys stories of nonfiction, female empowerment, and the cold. Well, that may be my wishful thinking stretching it a bit, but she does really like Ice Bound, anyway, so I thought this may be a good pick for her.
Remember my issue with judging books by their covers? I judge books by their titles, too. So of course, a title with “improv” caught my eye, and the title poem of Improvising Rivers by Minnesota-native poet David Jauss is amazing. The speaker tells of how when they try to center themselves, they conjure up rivers and let their imagination improvise its twist and turns. I found out from one of my poetry professors, Dick Terrill, that Jauss is a jazz musician (which fits improv nicely) and co-wrote a book with Philip Dacey called Strong Measures, an anthology showing how poets take old forms and “jazz” them up into something new. Unfortunately, Strong Measures is too expensive to use in a classroom, but Improvising Rivers cost me a fiver and it was money well-spent.
Speaking of teaching books in the classroom, I picked up a review copy of They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein over at the Norton booth. This pocket-sized how-to-write-for-academia text is supposedly the new rage in teaching English Composition, so I’d best give it a look in case I want to switch things up the next time I teach a section of Composition.
Norton also gave me a review copy of New Sudden Fiction edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas. I’m a fan of Thomas’s previous editorial effort, Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories, and taught out of it last fall in a section of Introduction to Creative Writing. The stories are longer and there appears to be no overlap, though part of what made Flash Fiction successful last semester was how short the reading assignments were; I really think students enjoyed that.
Crosscurrents is an art, poetry, and prose collection from Washington Community College and Technical College Humanities Association seeking to get the two-year college writer’s voice heard. A free issue was at the two-year college caucus booth and I’m eager to give this one a look.
I also snagged a copy of the latest issue of Passages North from Northern Michigan University. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear they’ve updated their website since mid-2007 (hopefully someone isn’t spending their GA time browsing the internet instead of contributing to it), so I don’t have a cover to post. However, the issue I picked up has two pieces of short fiction by one of my former MFA classmates, Ben Drevlow.
That’s around half of the publications I picked up last weekend. Again, expect the other half of the list up on Thursday.
-nm
Technorati Tags: AWP, awp book fair, akashic, action books, tao lin, chattahoochee review, new south, twin cities noir, david jauss, ordinary women, crosscurrents, passages north, they say / i say, sudden fiction, flash fiction, melville
Starting tomorrow: “Your Friday Recommendation.”
Nearly two months to the day we introduced our first weekly feature on this blog, “Your Monday Prompt,” we bring you our second weekly blog feature, “Your Friday Recommendation.” You’ll see worthwhile books on writing craft, creative productivity, and improv, plus recommended short stories, anthologies, magazines, novels, poetry collections, films, podcasts, and other media content worth your time. It’s all in the name of advancing creativity, recognizing good writing, and figuring out how story works.
The Scrawlers maxim is “Writers read. Writers write.” The second sentence is a no-brainer, but the first sometimes trips people up. Why should I read if I’m only interested in writing? Why waste writing time by reading a book? Why spoil my clean canvas of creativity with the work of others? The answer to each question is that reading and writing go hand-in-hand. Reading builds vocabulary, helps you know what sells, teaches you what’s good and what’s not-so-good, and pushes your concepts of creativity’s boundaries just a little farther. And who knows, you may have fun, too.
Or don’t read. Aspiring writers don’t need to read, particularly anything of literary merit, and especially in their chosen genre. This bit of faux advice makes just as much sense as telling an aspiring comic book-style artist they can draw everything freehand without laying out light pencil shaping first, telling an aspiring writer the first draft is always gold and they don’t need to worry about revision or editing, or telling an aspiring improviser they always make the right choices and are the driving force behind their ensemble. I’ve been that artist, that writer, that improviser who naïvely believed they can put the horse before the cart and make it work better than ever. It’s a natural step in the creative process and you can learn from it, provided you push yourself to move on.
Read it and see what happens.
-nm
Technorati Tags: reading recommendation, writers read, your friday recommendation
My five favorite preschool books.
Reading Rainbow was on the local PBS station this morning and I got excited. I remember watching this show in my preschool (yes, and beyond) days and really enjoying it, seeking out the featured books and giving them a look, though I also remember not finding many of the featured books in my local library (which either says something about the library or the show). This morning’s Reading Rainbow episode was follwed by Arthur, and that made me remember Bill Cosby read those books on Reading Rainbow when I was a kid, but that I never actually read an Arthur book. The Arthur cartoon series ran in the mid-90s and my young cousins really liked him, so here’s to longevity.
All of this culminates in a trip down nostalgia lane as I try to remember what I read in my preschool years, those first few books which got me going. I’m certainly not catching them all, but a few came to mind…
I was enamored by Richard Scarry’s books. The illustrations were detailed enough to keep me staring for hours, and the action on the pages lent themselves to letting the reader make up their own stories about fun characters like Lowly the Worm. Like Arthur, this is another series which enjoyed a second life in the mid-90s as a cartoon series relaunch. I was too old to get into it at the time, and only vaguely remember it’s existence.
Little Golden Books. A whole slew of ‘em. I had shelves full, some older and some newer, but plenty of titles to choose from; the mixture between worn, well-read titles and sturdy, glossy titles makes me wonder how many were hand-me-downs from my older cousin, Kris. Many of my Little Golden Books featured classic tales and well-aged fables, and The Little Red Hen is one I remember in particular, and I still use it’s metaphor today.
There was a forty-title series of Sweet Pickles books, but I had exactly two. The Secret Club crams most of the series characters into a small “secret” club which turns out to be not-so-secret (or fun). I was especially a fan of Some Friend, a tale featuring Walrus getting all worked up about Bear borrowing his winter hat and not returning it, though Bear has no clue he’s engendered Walrus’s anger. I think of this book when I someone work themselves up over something, not realizing whoever they’re angry with doesn’t know what’s going on. Sweet Pickles books were found mostly in the land of doctor’s waiting rooms, but I always preferred my two over any others I came across. Maybe it was me being picky, or maybe it was me dreading doctor visits. Are these books, featuring anthropomorphic animals named simply after their species, one of my inspirations for Caseous, my college newspaper comic strip, featuring characters like Frog and Bear? Hmm…
While I had a few Dr. Seuss books at home, my favorites were leftover from my father’s childhood at my Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. There was a great big pile of them, yellowing and musty from constant reading and exposure. While the more popular Seuss stories were great fun, this book, featuring three tales of Cat in the Hat relatives, was a particular favorite. Perhaps this one sticks out in my mind because of the way Grandma read it, with all the storytelling gusto of a professional. This is also the first book I remember looking at the pictures and drawing my versions, side-by-side, with any accuracy.
This was, hands-down, my favorite pre-school book. The text was simple but the illustrations were complex, filled with intricate little details of vehicle mechanics and trucker lifestyle. My father read two versions of this book to me as a little boy - the real version, and the version in which Joe was a jerk. They were both pretty good.
Five titles seems like a good place to stop. Looking over this list, I’m surprised to find three coming from series authors (Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, and Sweet Pickles), and the other two from publishing collections. I often look at bookstore YA shelves with disdain at how much shelf space is given to series instead of singular, solid stories. But it appears I’m more a part of the machine than I ever thought. I’m keen on doing a little research into this area. I’ll ask my parents about my other favorite books from that time in my life. There’s something about going back to my roots which appeals to me, and I think that’s worth doing for many of my creative facets of fascination: reading, writing, drawing, animation, acting, and improv. I may explore these themes in a handful of future posts.
And I am eager to learn of your favorite preschool-level books, dear reader!
-nm
Technorati Tags: Reading Rainbow, early readers, Big Joe’s Trailer Truck, Richard Scarry, Little Golden Books, Sweet Pickles, I Can Lick Thirty Tigers Today
Poetry can be a gateway to “getting” prose.
I’m teaching a section of “Introduction to Creative Writing” at MSU this semester and was invited to speak on a panel with fellow instructors about teaching the class. The panel was in a graduate-level class full of peers learning how to teach “Intro,” and they asked a lot of good questions. One question in particular, why I structured the class the way I did, struck me in terms of how my own awareness of what is good writing has expanded in recent years.
I’m teaching this class poetry first, then fiction, and I set it up this way for a multitude of reasons. For starters, last year saw me working in poetry classes, and I saw no reason to let so many great poems and examples fresh in my brain go to waste. Second, I feel more confident in fiction and wanted to savor it in the second half of the semester rather than “get it out of the way” at the outset. But most importantly, it’s because I feel many young writers approach poetry assuming it could / does contain central images, metaphors, specific language choices, “hidden” meaning, etc. On the other hand, I feel less young writers approach prose with this idea in mind, never getting past the thought that a story is “just a story,” when really it could be so much more. By discussing poetry and its elements first, students are able to keep those skills under their belts while approaching prose.
I think what we read (and what we write) should be diverse, and there’s no reason a little poetry shouldn’t be a part of that spectrum. Knowing how to read poetry serves to open the world of prose so much beyond a notion of it’s “just a story.” If one avoids poetry because they “don’t get it,” I wonder if they consider whether they’re really depriving themselves of a possible gateway to “getting it” altogether. So don’t leave poetry out in the cold, or you may leave your ability to read / write great prose in a frozen standstill.
I’ll recommend some poems and poetry collections I enjoy in another post. In the meantime, dear reader, see what you can find on your own and give it a fresh chance. -nm
Technorati Tags: poetry and prose, teaching creative writing, language choice
Storyteller: Kevin Kling.
I’m a big fan on Minnesota Public Radio. It’s been a boon during my days commuting back and forth from Mankato for grad school (when I’m not in the middle of a good audiobook, that is), as well as quick trips across town. In particular, I’m a fan of spending my evenings with The Story with Dick Gordon, but that’s a program to praise on a separate post.
Last Monday, during their fall membership drive, MPR pulled out some of their top programming and Midday featured a reading by storyteller Kevin Kling. MPR has the program I heard available for download; check out Kling’s first three stories here and another three stories here (both are streaming Real Audio links). The stories are funny and interesting, plus some feature Minnesota-centricity, which I’m a sucker for (a story involving his brother’s bachelor party during a Minnesota Twins game at the Metrodome is a laugh-out-loud riot. Behind the content, however, making these stories worth knowing and passing along, is Kling’s storytelling ability.
Storytelling is all about selling it - confidence, confidence, confidence. A storyteller who exudes confidence can mess up royally and his audience will still be with him because they know the storyteller is apt to get back on track without much effort. Kling’s delivery isn’t perfect. He flubs words here and there, he stops himself to add bits to the stories, and he speaks with the speed of a man sentenced to death. But Kling clearly has passion for his material, for the stories he’s culminated over his lifetime and written down for the world, and he sells it. He has defined passion for telling stories with a delivery that’s every bit as compassionate as their content. Kling’s storytelling comes from a place of truth, and that’s what makes his stories so gripping, tension-filled, and when they come to a close, cathartic. Listen and consider how you can apply his passion for storytelling to your own performance or when reading your writing out loud.
Kling’s new book, The Dog Says How, is out now. Think the eccentric tales of David Sedaris meets the homespun yarns of Garrison Keillor. I’ll be picking up a copy soon and if you’re not sure where to put your book money nowadays, you could do much worse than Kevin Kling.
-nm
Technorati Tags: Kevin Kling, Minnesota Public Radio, storytelling, selling it
Buying books on the cheap.
I love used books and I love remaindered books but most of all, I love, love, love cheap books. You can call them “inexpensive,” if you find “cheap” too pejorative, so long as you point me to a pile of ‘em. I found a new (to me) remaindered bookstore in the Medford Outlet Center in Medford, MN and scooped up six books, four being audiobooks, of which they have an ample selection. I was so delighted, I thought I’d make a post about a few of my favorite “inexpensive” bookstores and websites.
Seek out used books.
When I was in middle school, I fell in love with the book section of Goodwill stores. Filled with musty, yellowing paperbacks, this sea of dime novels and quarter hardcovers fueled much of my reading material during those early teen years. Peter Benchley, James Clavell, Michael Crichton, Ray Bradbury, David Eddings, Stephen King, and George Orwell by the shelf full. Nowadays, pickings are a little slim, but I still stand firm that thrift stores like Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and Savers have a veritable untapped treasure trove of cheap reads, just for you.
If you shop in Uptown Minneapolis, than you’ve probably stopped by Magers & Quinn Booksellers, who have as many new titles as they do used. One can usually find a title in the new section there, only to walk across the store to the used section and find the same title used for a few dollars less. And if not, well, buy it new because it’s supporting a great store! The staff is friendly and helpful, too. If they feel you’re making a solid purchase, they won’t hesitate to tell you so, and I’ve found, they do it in such a manner that one doesn’t feel self-conscious or that they’re snooty. They simply come off as people who appreciate good writing, and I’m always interested in those sorts of people.
I tend to buy too many books, so I limit much of my active seeking of used books to the bi-annual Rummage Sale at Excelsior United Methodist Church in Excelsior, MN. To my dear Minnesota readers, this is the place to go for Jon Hassler, Jonathan Kellerman, Garrison Keillor, Alice Sebold, Milan Kundera, Nick Hornby, Jodi Picoult, Jean M. Auel, David Sedaris, Carl Hiassen, and many more. The children’s section is typically well-stocked, too, and that’s beyond the battered copies of Narnia and Harry Potter fare. It’s held bi-annually during the last weekend in April and the last weekend in September / first weekend in October.
I’ve never participated, but I think BookCrossing.com is a wonderful idea. Take your most beloved books, the books you want others to love as much as you do, and give them away. Register them at the website, then put them in a public place for someone else to pick up, update its status on the website, read and enjoy, then repeat the process. I’m too much of a “Stuff Owner,” so I don’t see myself parting with books, really, but again I find this idea fascinating. Here’s an NPR podcast from 2002 about the phenomenon.
Seek out remaindered books.
Remaindred books are those books which may rock it, may rock it hardcore, but for some reason or another just aren’t selling anymore, so the publisher basically tries to liquidate them at super-duper low prices. If you’ve ever picked up a book with a magic marker slash on the pages spine or over the UPC bar code, it’s probably a remaindered book.
I’ve been going to bookcloseouts.com for years, as faithful readers of this blog know. They have a wide selection of both genre and literary greats, and all for prices ranging from two bucks to other numbers under ten. I’ve snatched a few titles by Elmore Leonard, Neil Gaiman, Harry Crews, Kevin Brockmeier, Nick Hornby, Ray Bradbury, Michael Cunningham, Alice Sebold, Walt Whitman, Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Chris Crutcher, Toni Morrison, Flannery O’Connor, Richard Wright, Neil Simon, Louise Erdrich, ZZ Packer, and Dorothy Allison, just to name a few. If that list of great writers doesn’t whet your reader’s appetite, I don’t know what will. Click here for a $5 off $35 coupon.
I’ll say a little more about the store I found in Meford this week, Book Warehouse. They appeared to have a little of everything, and in particular I picked up some Neil Gaiman, Gwendolyn Brooks, Elmore Leonard, and a production artwork coffee table book about The Incredibles. An unexpected bonus was a punch card claiming that for every $100 I purchase, I’ll receive $10 off the next purchase of $15 or more. With my better half here at Scrawlers living just south of Medford, as well as road trips to Iowa-based family, something tells me I’ll be stopping here often enough to see that punch card get used, and then some.
And of course, there’s always the bargain sections at Barnes & Noble and other such bookstores. Never miss the chance to peruse through these shelves for neglected reading. I’ve found some great work by T.C. Boyle, Michael Chabon, Elmore Leonard, Stephen King, and more in these places, and who knows what you’ll find.
The above certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start if you’ve been meaning to build a pile of cheap books. I’ll have to write about my favorite merchants for new books (I’m looking your way, Dreamhaven Books, Comics & Art) one of these days. If you’ve got leads and hook-ups on where to get cheap books, toss ‘em in a comment.
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Technorati Tags: used books, remaindered books, dreamhaven, book warehouse, bookcloseouts.com, Neil Gaiman, cheap books
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About
Brought together by mutual interest in creative arts and web development, Minnesota duo Barry Hess and Nathan Melcher founded Scrawlers.com in 2006. Scrawlers marries creativity with a web-based outlet for aspiring writers and The Scrawl blog seeks to add fuel your creative fire.
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