2 posts tagged “jonathan lethem”
On Book TV right this very second, they're airing a tribute to Philip Roth in honor of his 75th birthday. On the fiction panel? Charles D'Ambrosio, Nathan Englander, and Jonathan Lethem. I am seriously spoojing with great delight at the moment. If you have CSPAN2 turn the channel RIGHT NOW.
So I have come to the decision after watching a whole 20 minutes of this panel that if I don't become a world-famous writer, it's going to be all my parents' fault because we didn't have Philip Roth books on the book shelf. Nope, our shelves were stocked with World Book Encyclopedias and VC Andrews novels. Curse you parents!
It is apparently really quite easy to fall off the Vox wagon. It is not quite so easy to jump back on. But I'll give it the old college try.
A few weeks ago I spent a good amount of time re-writing a short story called "Imaginary Boyfriend" and having it workshopped by writing class. I got some high praise from my writing teacher, the kind of praise that make me think that maybe I'm not totally kidding myself about the writing thing. He wrote in my critique:
Then I organized my Fiction bookcase:It’s amazing to see what you’ve done with this story since I read it last year. Back then, I remember loving your dialogue and terrific sense of humor and thinking that the characters, particularly Veronica, were wonderful. None of that has changed. With this latest revision, you’ve managed to turn a perfectly good story into an even more complicated, compelling, funny, satisfying, brilliant work of fiction. It’s a great testament to the power of revision.
I wouldn’t suggest making any major changes to the piece in terms of structure or narrative . . .
The scenes with Steven are brilliant. . .
But my favorite line in the entire story is on page 16, when Veronica pushes Steven away so she can read Colin’s text message: “I was a monster.” Wow. I absolutely love how conflicted she is at this point, wanting what she knows is bad for her, but unable to embrace what might be good. That’s what fiction is all about.
Oh, and I spent a lot of time drinking with my classmates:
