Holly Goddard Jones

Saturday morning I read Holly Goddard Jones’s story “Theory of Reality” from New Stories from the South.  It’s a great story that deals with a 13 year-old girl.  I won’t go into details because I believe that one can’t really summarize a story, that the story should speak for itself.  But I highly recommend it.

Whenever I’m delighted by a writer, I search for biographical information, interviews, and more of her work.  There is an interview in The Kenyon Review that you can read here.  She says this about short stories in contrast to novels:

“I was told a few times that it could be a novel—frankly, I get that a lot about my stuff—but I knew that it wasn’t a novel. I didn’t need 250 pages to tell Jacob’s story, so why force it? A short story can have something of a novel’s breadth and richness, and it can also address heartbreak—frankly and painfully—in a way that maybe a novel isn’t always meant to do. Let me qualify that. I’m not willing to spend years working on a book that doesn’t have hope at its center, and as a reader, I don’t tend to enjoy that sort of extended abuse, either. I think stories can go darker, or at least I’m willing to go darker in my stories.”

There are times in the interview that feel like we’re intruding on a conversation, and at other points, Jones and the interviewer, Nancy Zafris, discuss elements of the craft.  They mention Flannery O’Connor, Kentucky, and the M.F.A. experience (both hers and in general).

She has a collection of short stories forthcoming in 2009, called Girl Trouble.  Visit her website here and her blog here.

Myers-Brigg Type Indicator

Every so often I find personality tests interesting.  I’ve taken the Myers-Brigg test (also called the Jung Typology Test or Keirsey’s Four Temperaments) countless times, and even when I’m not sure I understand a question or two, I always end up with the same personality type:  INFJ.

My mom is an ESFJ, my dad an ISTJ, Laura an ISFJ, and Katie an ISFP.  Ryan is an ESTJ.  This time around I wonder how much family plays into these tests.  While I take them with a grain of salt, or maybe five, I wonder if children reflect their parents’ personalities, if any of it is genetic, and how much is environment.  My mom, dad, and Laura are in the overall category, The Guardians.  Katie is an Artisan, and I am an Idealist.  My sisters are similar, but not the same, and they’re identical twins.

After a conversation yesterday, I’m wondering how much we can change and how much we have to work around immutable aspects of our personalities.  Any thoughts?

Take the test if you haven’t before.

Fiction Podcasts

Get your monthly dose of The New Yorker’s fiction podcasts here.  Usually I listen to these as soon as they’re online, but I’ve been behind for two months.  Now they’ve got A.M. Homes reading a Shirley Jackson story and Gary Shteyngart reading an Andrea Lee story.

I tend to listen more for the author reading the story than the short story itself.  Gary Shteyngart is one I’ve meant to read for some time now.  He wrote Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan, and an introduction to this edition of Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time (check it out).

Today in History

Today marks 45 years since JFK was assassinated and both C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died. I’ve always found that interesting.

Speaking of JFK, Don DeLillo gives a great glimpse into what might have happened in his novel Libra. Of all his books I’ve read, I’d rank it number two, right after Underworld and right above White Noise. Definitely worth the 456 page investment. DeLillo’s treatment of history is one of many reasons he’s one of my favorite writers, if not the top one.

Short Story Anthologies

Short story anthologies or collections are a great way to read a variety of fantastic stories and encountered more writers.  Often it’s hard to find good writing, or to figure out where to look, or to discern whose opinion to trust.  And we all have different tastes, so one person’s recommendation does not always help.

This year I read the O. Henry Prize Stories 2002 collection.  I was surprised at how many stories I enjoyed.  I recommend any year.  Recently I checked out the collection called New Stories from the South:  The Year’s Best, 2008 edited by ZZ Packer.  It looks promising.  And I hope to get my hands on a copy of the Best New American Voices 2009 that collects the best of the year’s nominated stories from writing programs across the country.  Reading that seems to be a good way to find out what kind of writing is coming out of MFA programs (and other workshops).

When in doubt, reach for a collection.

Katie Herzig Interview

Check out the first of a three-part interview with Katie Herzig in The Curator, an online magazine affiliated with the International Arts Movement.

It’s always kind of strange when talented people from Colorado (even if they’ve relocated) receive national attention, almost like a secret revealed.  Not all the talent exists on the coasts.

Often I find out my favorite artists don’t like such and such of their earlier work.  But I love Weightless.  And I love the stories in Self-Help, even if Lorrie Moore (on a completely unrelated note) doesn’t count them among her best work (or something of the sort).

Malcolm Gladwell

Is it just me or does google now look more like a blog?

If you aren’t familiar with Malcolm Gladwell, you might want to change that.  He writes in a way that makes otherwise uninteresting things fascinating.  Though I’ve never read his books, I’ve read several of his essays, and I’m always amazed at the connections he makes and the way he draws out the interesting aspects of anything.

Check out this for a taste of his newest book, Outliers.

Oxford American

Although the issue has been out for several months, Oxford American’s 62nd issue features writing on Katrina three years later.  Some stayed, some fled, some are back.  The writing is fantastic, as always.  Southern culture, especially as it was affected by the hurricane, is fascinating.

Focus

Technically it’s National Novel Writing Month, and technically I decided to participate again this year.  But if we’re being technical, I think I have exactly 500 words of a novel’s first draft that I was hoping to speed through this month.

Instead of taking part in the frenzy of novel writing bliss/madness this month, I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I’m doing and where I’m going.  It’s too easy to throw some words in a thousand direction and hope that a few grow into stories or novels or articles or even a career (sorry for the gardening metaphor).  But what I’ve realized is that writing indiscriminately for the sake of getting paid for any kind of writing leads nowhere.  I began this freelance venture in part because I thought, hey, it might really be possible to make a living (i.e. money) from writing.  And maybe some writers make a living by writing anything and everything they can, as fast as they can, I don’t think that’s going to work for me.

I’ve questioned whether or not I want to continue with writing in any capacity because it’s so hard and so consuming.  But it’s my own fault.  I’ve made writing the center of my world, and paradoxically, lost my focus.  Now I’m trying to create an overarching career goal, because I do want to write, and I want to write as a career (but not as a lifestyle).  I think I need to be strategic with each project.

And maybe once things are in focus, I can take on projects that are no more strategic than a few extra dollars during slow patches.  But for now I’ve got a short story to revise.  And it’s finally fun.

Consider This

From Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book:

“Readers become what they read (20).”

He writes this in the context of considering how we ought to read the Bible.  Peterson mentions John, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and their encounters with eating the Book.  And now consider this:

“Come to the Table and eat this book, for every word in the book is intended to do something in us, give health and wholeness, vitality and holiness to our souls and body (22).”