“You with the Joyce, you with the Nabokov, you with the Woolf”
05 Aug 2011 1 Comment
in Articles Tags: charles warnke, hemingway, joyce, Nabokov, thought catalog, woolf, you should date an illiterate girl
…the girl who reads knows the importance of plot. She can trace out the demarcations of a prologue and the sharp ridges of a climax. She feels them in her skin. The girl who reads will be patient with an intermission and expedite a denouement. But of all things, the girl who reads knows most the ineluctable significance of an end. She is comfortable with them. She has bid farewell to a thousand heroes with only a twinge of sadness.
…girls who read are the storytellers. You with the Joyce, you with the Nabokov, you with the Woolf. You there in the library, on the platform of the metro, you in the corner of the café, you in the window of your room. You, who make my life so god damned difficult. The girl who reads has spun out the account of her life and it is bursting with meaning. She insists that her narratives are rich, her supporting cast colorful, and her typeface bold… You will accept nothing less than passion, and perfection, and a life worthy of being storied. So out with you, girl who reads. Take the next southbound train and take your Hemingway with you.
Read the whole essay “You Should Date An Illiterate Girl,” by Charles Warnke. It’s stunning.
This is amazing.
10 Jun 2011 1 Comment
in Articles
Just one quote from Sherman Alexie’s response to the Wall Street Journal article that has created a firestorm of controversy:
“When some cultural critics fret about the ‘ever-more-appalling’ YA books, they aren’t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way into school. Or Mexican-American teens enduring the culturally schizophrenic life of being American citizens and the children of illegal immigrants. Or Native American teens growing up on Third World reservations. Or poor white kids trying to survive the meth-hazed trailer parks. They aren’t trying to protect the poor from poverty. Or victims from rapists.
No, they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be.”
pretty cool
11 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Articles, Friday Angst
Thanks to my sister B for the shout-out!
Guest Blog: Guide to Literary Agents
02 Jun 2010 6 Comments
in Articles
photo by pescidelloro
When it rains, it pours. Here’s another shameless plug to check out another guest blog post–this time on Guide to Literary Agents, where I share the seven biggest, most painful and profound lessons I’ve learned while slogging through draft after draft of THE HERO.
Guest Blog: STET!
02 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Articles
Check out my guest blog post on STET! (one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers). Leave me some comments so I look important!
