Last night at Santa Cruz, I had a lovely question from one of the many Story Club folks in attendance and afterwards it occurred to me that I’d flubbed the answer. She (white SC sweatshirt, seated near the front) asked, essentially, how she could become a better, more sophisticated reader - how she could improve her ability to decide whether a story was good.
What I should have said was this: assuming we’ve made a good faith effort to read enough stories to be in the ballpark, we should then take comfort in the fact that we’re lived - we’ve loved, loved and lost, enjoyed, aspired, been crushed, been betrayed, rebounded, caved in, enjoyed, been lost, got found, all of it. That is, we know some things about this world. And so we can evaluate a story on that basis: does it square with your sense of how things are? Does it speak to the deepest part of you? Does it do anything for you? Not all stories will, even really good ones. And that’s for you and only you to say.
Although, you know - we can discuss it. 😉
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Since my last post, which I think was from Michigan, I’ve been in Chicago, with the wonderful Peter Sagal, an incredibly perceptive interviewer who, with the legendary Chicago literary and baseball icon, Bill Young, took me to a restaurant called Avec, where they served some kind of date/chorizo combo that was maybe the best thing I’ve ever tasted, and we had one of those post-event, long, deep talks – thanks Peter, thanks Bill.
Here’s a picture of Chicago, from the green room on the University of Chicago campus.
What a delight it was, it be in front of all of youse Chicagoans. I was talking to one of the security guys, and it turned out he was the best man at my dad’s cousin’s wedding. Go figure.
Then had a long travel day back to our house in Corralitos and arrived here (home!) at 10:30 pm but it was so good to be in a familiar place, even though Paula is in L.A., and it doesn’t really qualify as “home” if she’s not here.
The writing shed here in Corralitos. Unused as of late but calling me back…
Next day was Halloween and my first day off since this tour started. I did laundry and wrote up a Q&A piece for a magazine and generally just tried to get my act together. For Halloween, I got some Thai food and watched the “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “The Wolfman,” back-to-back.
Childhood lit influences. “The way you walk is thorny/through no fault of your own.” Which I always misheard as “The way you walk is FUNNY/through no fault of your own.”
Next day (November 1) got up early, drove the two hours into San Francisco to do a live interview with Alexis Madrigal at KQED – we had a lot of fun and I read from the opening of “Mom of Bold Action,” which meant that partway through the reading I realized I was about to say “masturbation” on live radio, and I did so, and I think we all enjoyed that, and then I drove the two hours back home, had a sausage sandwich from the famous Corralitos Market, took a nap, then drove down to Santa Cruz for an event with Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit” and “Smarter Faster Better” – such a funny, generous soul and the warmth of the crowd made me so happy – a true hometown gathering. And I got to meet Julie Olsen Edwards, daughter of Tillie Olsen, our Story Club patron saint and she gave me these lovely pictures of her mother.
A beautiful soul, at three stages of life…
I have an event in Berkeley tonight with Samin Nosrat, who I cannot wait to meet, then L.A., Portland, L.A. again, then N.Y.C., then I teach for the weekend of November 11-13 in Syracuse…and then, my friends (two weeks from now), I am done, and going back to work with the renewed energy that comes from the feeling that the world is wild and lovely and too big for us ever to really understand except with the heart.
As Joni Mitchell once famously sang, “California! CaliFORnia!” Adding these finishing touches in a car on the way to S.F,
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That was me that asked that question! And I love that sweatshirt, very warm and comforting, both literally and figuratively. Also, I didn't think George flubbed answering at all. Here was his answer, as best as I can remember it:
1. He made me feel better when I admitted I was raised on Grey's Anatomy, by saying hey, there's some good writing in Grey's Anatomy.
2. He recommended I Stand Here Ironing (which of course we've already devoured here).
3. He recommended picking up Best American Short Stories for any given year.
4. He said it's perfectly fine to say "this story's not working for me right now."
All in all, exactly what I needed, and then some, with today's post! I was thrilled to be at the event and really enjoyed the conversation. Everyone was super nice and really encouraging, because I was nervous, asking that question. Anyway, thanks a ton, George, for all that you do. Best wishes for the rest of the tour!
People of Story Club: George just now lifted an adoring crowd to the rafters in Los Angeles. I wish you all could have been there. Just a wonderful evening. It was kind of otherworldly, to see him in person. He's so exactly HIM. I swear, there is not a false bone in his body. He's an empathy tank, constantly refilled. (I was sitting about a third of the way back so I can't be certain, but I'm fairly sure his jeans were freshly ironed.) The pairing with Judd Apatow was just about perfect. (What a nice guy Judd Apatow turned out to be. He had a couple of real zingers, including a Kanye joke that cracked me up.) There was a little girl in the room who asked the cutest question about a story she's not sure how to finish--it's about aliens. George chatted her up about her missing tooth and told her she's already a writer, that he has faith she'll figure out what to do with those aliens. She's gonna remember that moment forever. Thank you so much, George, for all of it, and especially for making my evening with your call out! Okay, time to read Liberation Day, now that I have a copy in my hands!
From the Road, Again, Still
That was me that asked that question! And I love that sweatshirt, very warm and comforting, both literally and figuratively. Also, I didn't think George flubbed answering at all. Here was his answer, as best as I can remember it:
1. He made me feel better when I admitted I was raised on Grey's Anatomy, by saying hey, there's some good writing in Grey's Anatomy.
2. He recommended I Stand Here Ironing (which of course we've already devoured here).
3. He recommended picking up Best American Short Stories for any given year.
4. He said it's perfectly fine to say "this story's not working for me right now."
All in all, exactly what I needed, and then some, with today's post! I was thrilled to be at the event and really enjoyed the conversation. Everyone was super nice and really encouraging, because I was nervous, asking that question. Anyway, thanks a ton, George, for all that you do. Best wishes for the rest of the tour!
People of Story Club: George just now lifted an adoring crowd to the rafters in Los Angeles. I wish you all could have been there. Just a wonderful evening. It was kind of otherworldly, to see him in person. He's so exactly HIM. I swear, there is not a false bone in his body. He's an empathy tank, constantly refilled. (I was sitting about a third of the way back so I can't be certain, but I'm fairly sure his jeans were freshly ironed.) The pairing with Judd Apatow was just about perfect. (What a nice guy Judd Apatow turned out to be. He had a couple of real zingers, including a Kanye joke that cracked me up.) There was a little girl in the room who asked the cutest question about a story she's not sure how to finish--it's about aliens. George chatted her up about her missing tooth and told her she's already a writer, that he has faith she'll figure out what to do with those aliens. She's gonna remember that moment forever. Thank you so much, George, for all of it, and especially for making my evening with your call out! Okay, time to read Liberation Day, now that I have a copy in my hands!