“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.

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.

The Jon Lennin Xperience by Rachel B. Glaser

February 10, 2014Leave a comment

This story was pretty strange. Everything from his sister virtually dating Kanye to Jason worrying about being able to give Yoko Ono an orgasm was definitely different.

I liked the story and I’ve definitely been caught up in that sort of virtual world where you can basically do anything that you want. I hope that it hasn’t effected my life in the way that these characters have been affected but I guess it could happen.

Something that was pretty interesting was that these games always had an ending that wasn’t necessarily good, but definitely final. Jason’s sister kept having to break up with Kanye and Jason ultimately had to kill John Lennon.

I’m interested to see what my classmates think about this story.

Final thought – Once again the story assigned has a sexual element to it. I’m seriously curious about why my professor assigns so many sexual stories. Does he think they’re easy to relate to? Does he even notice that he’s doing this?

The Healer by Aimee Bender

February 10, 2014Leave a comment

I’m a Game of Thrones fan, so I couldn’t help myself.

I absolutely loved this story. I guess when I read, I tend to go for supernatural or fantasy elements and this story was right up my alley. I would even go as far to say that I would recommend it to someone.

There’s definitely underlying themes in this story like be thankful for what you have and to be helpful to others, or to not judge people by their cover. But I just really enjoyed the story for what it is.

It’s a pretty interesting concept to come up with and to make into a complex story about feelings and friendship. I loved that the ice girl and the fire girl were able to cancel out each other and be normal, and how after the fire girl sort of left, the ice girl had to leave too. It was sort of like one couldn’t be there without the other.

Man, I feel like I’m fangirling all over this story. I hope that people in my class like it just as much.

Last comment – the mutant girls totally reminded me of X Men. I wonder if there was any sort of inspiration from that.

Kayla Cropper

Tag: reading