Tonight I am taking a look at the fourth essay of Bringing the Devil to His Knees–the Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life. And apart from the essay I am seeing just how slow my reading process can be at times–almost as slow as my writing process. I have such a stack of books onContinue reading “fourth night of notes: steven schwartz’ “finding a voice in america””
Category Archives: Updates
where’s iago? by susan neville
Vonnegut has come up again and again to me the last couple of days–his novels at the used bookstore I decided against and the interview with his wife on cspan at 3am that made me regret–and I find him once again as one of the catalysts to Susan Neville’s essay “Where’s Iago?” I’m still tryingContinue reading “where’s iago? by susan neville”
richard russo’s in defense of omniscience
A few posts back I mentioned how I wanted to read through my tattered copy of Bringing the Devil to His Knees edited by Charles Baxter and Peter Turchi and while on holiday break from school I finally have the time and energy to reread and give some sort of classification and summary to thisContinue reading “richard russo’s in defense of omniscience”
maxwell’s so long, see you tomorrow
I’ve written about the achingly beautiful book by William Maxwell before but tonight my students will be concluding their Lit 111 experience with this book–the last lecture anyway. This will be our final discussion before they head off to complete their term papers and prepare for their presentations. I hope I can convey to themContinue reading “maxwell’s so long, see you tomorrow”
fat city
I’ve been obsessing over the novel Fat City and the film Fat City over the last couple of days. I should be reading So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell. I should be grading my Lit students’ second formal essay. But instead I am rereading scenes and watching scenes from the film. The filmContinue reading “fat city”
tracy daugherty “a character’s skin”
I’m thinking about this fine essay “A Character’s Skin” by my old mentor Tracy Daugherty. I’m also sitting here wondering how my students will react to his ideas concerning characterization. I’m hoping they will also have ideas on how it relates to the selections from Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson I also gave them. AndContinue reading “tracy daugherty “a character’s skin””
didion’s minimalism
In my lit course we’ve been reading Joan Didion’s novel Play It As It Lays and there is so much for the young writer to learn from this book. I have to preface this review or response or whatever you want to call it by saying I’m a writer and not a literary critic. Mostly IContinue reading “didion’s minimalism”
teaching as a writer
I’m looking at my last post and seeing how frustrated I was. Grading assignment after assignment can do that to you. Three sections of composition can take a good amount of energy from you. And really teaching has given me so many opportunities. I shouldn’t knock it. Now I worry concerning time and writing–I worry thatContinue reading “teaching as a writer”
even more thoughts on spanglish
I’ve been thinking more and more about the idea of language in my fiction. It’s something I obsess over. And I guess this whole series of posts began with Richard Hugo and Auden and the idea the writer must love the language they utilize more than the reader. And I do love the mix of SpanishContinue reading “even more thoughts on spanglish”
research and thoughts on spanglish
This last week I’ve mentioned Spanglish in my classes on more than one occasion. My midwest students look at me as if I’m crazy and one even asked me, Is that a real thing? She said it rather dramatically and forcefully. She said it as if I was telling her about something so foreign andContinue reading “research and thoughts on spanglish”
random thoughts on teaching like a writer
Long and difficult week of teaching has me dead tired and wondering if I can return to manuscripts. Revisions of Monte Stories will have to wait until I can read through a mountain of student essays. And this week as I have been teaching I am more and more aware of this disconnect between teaching andContinue reading “random thoughts on teaching like a writer”
six armed cross at la garita
Today I am sitting and studying the Six Armed Cross on the church at La Garita in the San Luis Valley in Colorado. Hope to travel there soon and have better pictures. Hope to draft more ideas returning me to the Monte Stories project. But today I am obsessing over the cross and the uniqueness.Continue reading “six armed cross at la garita”
barthelme and failure
Finished re-reading Didion’s Play It As It Lays last night and have some time before I have to re-read Fight Club for my Intro to Lit course and I don’t have to read Kingston’s last essay from her book Woman Warrior until Weds night–see what I mean when I say the brain of school hasContinue reading “barthelme and failure”
tami show and those puro classicos
I’ve been wanting to write about the TAMI Show for a while. I have the story in my head of Lolo travelling to Denver to see Gerry and the Pacemakers. They probably all have pacemakers now but back in the day this film and travelling concert series almost led Lolo to flunking out of school.Continue reading “tami show and those puro classicos”
donoso in the brain
A new writing assignment has me with José Donoso in the brain. All articles I requested and his book Hell Has No Limits all came in today like a spring force. I’ve been interested in Donoso since I read the short story “Ana Maria” years ago in an ethnic lit course. And now I haveContinue reading “donoso in the brain”