“How to Become a Writer” by Lorrie Moore

April 5, 2014Leave a comment

I thought that the instruction was very clear in Moore’s story. It seemed like she was telling you everything you needed to do to become a writer. The story was also very enjoyable for me. I thought that the stories she was writing for her classes seemed like they were sort of funny, and I wanted to read at least one of them to see what it would be like to read something with no plot. It seemed like she was a really good writer, but she did not understand how to put together a story. Her stories were just ideas for stories and could have probably been edited to have a plot, but no one really helped her to actually put a story together. It was sort of ironic that she was writing about how to be a writer and people were constantly telling her that her writing was not worth reading.

I did not find this story depressing, like others in my class did. Even though she was not successful, she was doing something that she wanted to do and worked really hard to be a writer. Plus, if this is something that we are supposed to believe the character is writing, she was able to write something with a plot.

“Letters to Wendy’s” by Joe Wenderoth

April 4, 2014Leave a comment

This story/series of letters was extremely disturbing to me. Some in my class found it funny, but I think most felt the same as me. If I worked at Wendy’s and received these letters in a comments box, as I assume they were intended to be written for, I would be so freaked out. This man would probably be banned from Wendy’s forever if this was true.

I feel like the whole point of the letters was to shock whoever reads this. Once again I’m a little concerned about my professor and the stories he decides to assign us.

The writing was good and there was a definite flow, but I could not get over how creepy this guy was. I also kind of wish that he wrote more about his life in the letters. I wanted to know if he was in a relationship that wasn’t working out or if he just had some serious issues he was dealing with. He does discuss that a little bit when he writes about his mother spanking him, but I wanted to know more. The whole thing kind of felt like he was just trying to be weird and write about his strange sexual fantasiesSide note: My ex-boyfriend worked for Wendy’s and I honestly could never eat there again after hearing him talk about it. Never eat the chili.

Debbie Harry at the Supermarket by Wayne Koestenbaum

March 18, 2014Leave a comment

Wayne Koestenbaum’s piece “Debbie Harry at the Supermarkey” was very interesting to read, yet sort of strange. I really liked the details that he went into when talking about what he loved about Debbie Harry and her music, but at some point it started to borderline on creepy and stalkerish. I think that writing about something you are so passionate about helps make something that is nonfiction more interesting, and I’m sure Koestenbaum didn’t intend to come off as creepy, but I felt like he maybe went a little too far with his descriptions when watching her walk down the street.

I wish that there was more about her at the supermarket. I understand that this is nonfiction, and hopefully he didn’t follow her around the supermarket, but from the title I thought that there would be more of a story about that. After a while, I just wanted to know why he chose to start with the image of her in the supermarket, rather than just saying that he lived near her and would sometimes see her walking down the street. I have always thought that nonfiction essays like this one should start with the topic or whatever is interesting about the piece and then gone into further detail about why it means so much to them or why a reader should care. Even though the author did go into more detail, it felt more like he was talking about her career than why her music was really important to him in ways other than learning about women.

Me, On Shuffle by Chuck Klosterman

March 15, 2014Leave a comment

I really enjoyed reading this essay. It was another essay that was assigned to me by my Creative Acts professor for our non-fiction unit, but it was incredibly relatable. I think most people can relate to not knowing what to say when asked what kind of music you like. Generally, I just say whatever band I’m really into at the time or I lie. Sometimes I say everything but country, but that’s not really true. It’s a complicated question and it’s hard to pin point exactly what you like about the songs that you like.

I think that Chuck Klosterman does a really nice job of actually writing about what he likes about songs. It’s kind of funny in a way, because I didn’t expect him to do that. But, it also makes the article much more interesting and I found myself thinking “Yeah, I like that part of that song too.” It’s pretty great when a writer gets you to care about what he’s writing like that.

The Fourth State of Matter by Jo Ann Beard

March 14, 20141 Comment

This story was really sad, but so good. When I first saw how long it was, I was initially put off by the length, but I read through it so quickly I did not even realize that I was at the end.

Everything in the story is heartbreaking. She experiences so much loss that you kind of hope something good happens just to make up for it. Of course, this never happens, but I’m glad that her dog did not die at the end as well. That would have been really upsetting to read.

Her descriptions and the way that she told the story made it flow so well. It was like I was involved in the story and I could picture every little detail that she mentioned. It made me feel like I could relate to her and that made it so much more emotional. I have a little dog who is still pretty much a puppy and I could not imagine what I would do or how I would feel about the possibility of losing him forever. It would be devastating.

In class, we talked about how it is kind of a touchy thing to write about events like the mass shooting in this essay. Tons of people were probably affected by it and could be upset that this woman would write about it and essentially make a profit from the story. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this. I guess when you are writing about something that not only affects you but affects others you have to make the decision to share it or not.

Letters from Majorca by J.D. Daniels

March 13, 2014Leave a comment

I very much enjoyed reading J.D. Daniels essay “Letters from Majorca.” Parts of it jumped around a bit and I wasn’t exactly sure where he was or what time frame it was in the story, but I do not think that it took away from it.

When I think of non-fiction pieces, I usually think of long-form biographies or memoirs. I think this essay really shows that you can write a piece of non-fiction and it can still be interesting. I especially liked how it sort of felt like he was jumping through different memories that would bring him to another topic.

When I write, I often feel like things that I’m writing about remind me of something else and I want to spend time talking about that, but I’ve never been successful at doing so. This essay is successful in doing that and actually made it really pretty great.

Before Adrien Grenier Was Famous by Sarah Sweeney

March 12, 2014Leave a comment

I thought that this story was very interesting. In my class before we read this piece, we talked a little bit about adding fiction to non-fiction. While I was reading this story I wondered how much of it was really true, not only with Adrien Grenier, but also with some of the other men that she and Evie called. The story was still believable enough that I found myself accepting everything as fact by the end.

I liked that this story really showed what the bond was between these two friends and how their relationship dissolved over time when they no longer had that bond. It was an interesting point in the story when the narrator was called out for being deranged and she realized that she was very much deranged. I don’t think that is something that people really think about when they do these types of things. I think they usually just do it for fun or because they got away with doing it the first time

I also liked the way that Sarah Sweeney incorporated dialogue into the story without the full quotes and saying “he said” or “she said.” When writing a non-fiction piece, it would be almost impossible to remember exactly what a conversation was like and this definitely was a successful way to get around having to recall exact conversations.

The Prophet from Jupiter by Tony Earley

March 11, 2014Leave a comment

This story was very monotonous and had elements of a stream of consciousness that made it sort of hard to follow. The narrator would be talking about the present in one sentence and then go to a memory from the past in the next sentence without any sort of transition. I had to pay closer attention to the little details than I usually do and had to do a little more work on my part to figure out what time frame he was talking about.

Even though it was hard to follow, the story was good. I felt bad for the narrator who had experienced all of this and seemed like he was having trouble accepting all of the things that were going on around him. He was very good at remembering details and conversations that he had with people. I think it would be difficult to have this monotonous stream of consciousness and still produce a story that creates a bit of emotion, but Tony Earley was successful in doing that with me.

Demonology by Rick Moody

March 10, 2014Leave a comment

I enjoyed reading this story. From the very beginning it hinted at something possibly happening to the sister. I think the mood and tone of the story really suggested at that.

The way that this story was written was kind of hard to follow. It seemed like it jumped around a little bit and I wasn’t very sure of the time period/frame that things were happening in.

However, the way the narrator was describing the different memories sort of reminded me of how it is to be at a viewing and look at the boards of pictures around the room. Seeing these photographs would bring up all these memories, and if that was what Moody was doing, it was a clever way to hint at a funeral.

I thought that the photographs and describing them were an interesting way to bring more realism to the story. People can relate to seeing photographs of their loved ones and having memories return to them.

The realism element definitely made me feel some shock and emotion when the sister died. If the story had been completely fictionalized, the feeling associated with her death may not have come through as well.

A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

January 29, 2014Leave a comment

I think that J.D. Salinger is a very good writer and that he succeeded with making the dialogue in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” really sharp, in order to make up for the lack of inner monologue. Not having that step into the characters’ heads really allowed for me to think about what was going on and figure things out for myself, which I really like. It also gave the reader a sense of mystery, I found myself wondering what was going to happen. I definitely did not expect that ending, but looking back it makes sense for him to die after talking to the little girl about how bananafish gorge themselves on bananas and then die.

I think that I knew something was wrong with the soldier when the girl’s mother kept asking her if she was okay and if he had done anything to her. At first it seemed like she was just an overbearing mother, and that is how the girl kind of portrayed her by blowing off all of her questions. However, it seemed like the mother was being serious and that she was really worried about her daughter.

I also found the conversation between the soldier and the little girl very interesting. I’m sure that it was meant to show that he could better communicate with children and that he felt more at ease around those who had not yet lost their innocence. This is definitely something that would make sense for a person who was probably suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder and could no longer relate to the “grown-ups” around him. However, in a modern day and age, and I guess my own modern views he bordered on creepy for me. I guess back then it was socially acceptable to leave your child on a beach alone and maybe for people to interact with that child, but the soldier kissing the child’s feet borderlined on pedophilia a bit too much for me. Maybe I’m just taking that the wrong way and its supposed to just be this sweet moment and last connection the soldier makes before he decides to kill himself.

Kayla Cropper

Tag: creative acts