Man this guy can write. The photography world has it’s share of what we will call shenanigans when it comes to the elite telling everyone else what is good or bad, but photography doesn’t hold a candle to the literary world. Wallace Stegner was a prolific writer, and he didn’t taper off as he got older he produced even more. But Stegner was viewed by many literary elite as a “Western writer.” His “Angle of Repose” wasn’t even reviewed by some of the elite and then…just…happened…to…win…the…Pulitzer. Oops. The Spectator Bird won The National Book Award. Pretty good for “just” a western guy. The Spector Bird is what I will call an iceberg book. It’s so small, tiny even. One of those “I can read this in a few hours,” books, and then you open it and have your mind blown. There is no fat. Just story, and what seems like a handful of scenes becomes so much more. An aging writer and his wife, California, a journal, Dennark, history, tragedy, travel and a few twists and then it’s all over. You are sucked in, turned inside out and left to wonder how someone can see the world like this. The detail and nuance of everyday life, and how it’s rife with drama we learn to ignore or deny.
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Just ordered this from the library. Read it about 20 years ago. Time for a re-do. Thanks for the reminder.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/writer
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James,
Just sent that link to a writer friend. Gotta love it.
I recently finished a novel, which I’m shopping around to publishers and felt that way several times. Fortunately I like Scotch whiskey.
Author
James,
That is huge. The novel I mean. Way to go. What’s it about?
It’s about the four years I spent working as a sales and service rep in a call center for one of the major property and casualty insurance companies.. The working title is, Fear and Loathing in the Call Center: The anguish and anger of a customer service rep.
A friend of mine who works for a division of Random House is editing it for a pitch. We’ll do the traditional tour, and if that doesn’t work out, then Blurb it is!
This was great read! Thanks for another wonderful recommendation, Dan.