I like the randomness of your brain! Also how autobiographical content can be woven into a larger narrative. I admire you for these qualities of spontaneity and yet clearly well-crafted content.
Alicia, I loved this, and the way you wove the two topics together. Must read again! It seems that you could write a story based in part on your experience at Nordstrom; so many evocative elements there, not least in the emotional realm of mind-body consonance and dissonance. And, I must read more Grace Paley, wow! Thanks so much!!
I, of course, own the collected stories of Grace Paley and loved her from the get-go--the poems two. Most anthologized, I suspect, is "A Conversation With My Father"-- and I often use it when teaching creative writing. "Distance," admittedly I didn't reread it to write this comment--so do tell me, I used to use this story as an example of the use of the unreliable narrator ??? Need to re-read. Now to my favorite in the collection: "Friends" -- I adore this story. Once I briefly met Paley at a reading, bare attendance to my horror--so I do have a signed copy of the collected short stories. She got the usual questions from the spare audience: "How do I become a writer?" Her answer, "Keep your day job." Gotta love her.
First I was like WTF, bra, what are you talking about ? Then I started to ponder your monologue gospel and the duality of your brainstorming, Left/Right parts of the brain, your hemispheric civil war, and I went wild ....
The Nordstrom experience sounds PERFECT for a writer. What better way to discover the complexities/absurdities of human beings? I’m wondering: As a woman in 2022: How do you feel about the dissolution of the concept of/meaning inherent in the word/idea ‘woman’? In other words, not to sound like Matt Walsh but: What, exactly, IS a woman today? Not trying to get you into hot water...but I’m genuinely curious. In a time when men can be pregnant and biological men are competing in women’s sports more and more (and sometimes even going to women’s prisons): What does being a woman mean? For a long time women have said male doctors shouldn’t decide their abortion issues. I agree. But what happens when biological male doctors start identifying as women? If this all seems ridiculous: Certainly you must see that this is already to some degree happening and is also in the near future going to increase. (Not necessarily male doctors identifying as women but the general trend.)
I agree wholeheartedly a la your frustration with abortion restrictions. I’m 100% pro-choice. Seems obvious. I’m also a classical liberal democrat.
It took me awhile to get to it, but I just finished the 30-minute interview you did with Michael Spencer. I completely agree with you about diary-like blogs. People are clearly drawn to specific stories, but yet, we keep asking, “What’s the point of this?” or “Why would anyone want to read about me? Who am I?” I see this a lot with memoir, too. I ask myself these questions every time I interject my life into my newsletter, but I do it, anyway, because I don’t know how to write any other way.
Also, a few years ago, I got to know a French woman who came to my writers’ group. She planned on writing only in English. When I asked her why, she told me it was because she felt that English was a far more precise language than French. I’ve always been perplexed by this, knowing how much great literature and philosophy has been written in French. What do you think of this?
I like the randomness of your brain! Also how autobiographical content can be woven into a larger narrative. I admire you for these qualities of spontaneity and yet clearly well-crafted content.
Alicia, I loved this, and the way you wove the two topics together. Must read again! It seems that you could write a story based in part on your experience at Nordstrom; so many evocative elements there, not least in the emotional realm of mind-body consonance and dissonance. And, I must read more Grace Paley, wow! Thanks so much!!
Fun and serious at the same time; that’s an art
I, of course, own the collected stories of Grace Paley and loved her from the get-go--the poems two. Most anthologized, I suspect, is "A Conversation With My Father"-- and I often use it when teaching creative writing. "Distance," admittedly I didn't reread it to write this comment--so do tell me, I used to use this story as an example of the use of the unreliable narrator ??? Need to re-read. Now to my favorite in the collection: "Friends" -- I adore this story. Once I briefly met Paley at a reading, bare attendance to my horror--so I do have a signed copy of the collected short stories. She got the usual questions from the spare audience: "How do I become a writer?" Her answer, "Keep your day job." Gotta love her.
First I was like WTF, bra, what are you talking about ? Then I started to ponder your monologue gospel and the duality of your brainstorming, Left/Right parts of the brain, your hemispheric civil war, and I went wild ....
I had to buy a bra for my mother-in-law once and it was the worst moment of my life.
Sounds reasonable, fair and rational to me!
The Nordstrom experience sounds PERFECT for a writer. What better way to discover the complexities/absurdities of human beings? I’m wondering: As a woman in 2022: How do you feel about the dissolution of the concept of/meaning inherent in the word/idea ‘woman’? In other words, not to sound like Matt Walsh but: What, exactly, IS a woman today? Not trying to get you into hot water...but I’m genuinely curious. In a time when men can be pregnant and biological men are competing in women’s sports more and more (and sometimes even going to women’s prisons): What does being a woman mean? For a long time women have said male doctors shouldn’t decide their abortion issues. I agree. But what happens when biological male doctors start identifying as women? If this all seems ridiculous: Certainly you must see that this is already to some degree happening and is also in the near future going to increase. (Not necessarily male doctors identifying as women but the general trend.)
I agree wholeheartedly a la your frustration with abortion restrictions. I’m 100% pro-choice. Seems obvious. I’m also a classical liberal democrat.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
It took me awhile to get to it, but I just finished the 30-minute interview you did with Michael Spencer. I completely agree with you about diary-like blogs. People are clearly drawn to specific stories, but yet, we keep asking, “What’s the point of this?” or “Why would anyone want to read about me? Who am I?” I see this a lot with memoir, too. I ask myself these questions every time I interject my life into my newsletter, but I do it, anyway, because I don’t know how to write any other way.
Also, a few years ago, I got to know a French woman who came to my writers’ group. She planned on writing only in English. When I asked her why, she told me it was because she felt that English was a far more precise language than French. I’ve always been perplexed by this, knowing how much great literature and philosophy has been written in French. What do you think of this?