Skip to main content

Stuff I'm Reading

 Plot isn't very important; what matters is an engaging voice.


I'm reading "Colored Television," and it's not clear to me that a story will emerge, but I very much like the protagonist. She is Jane, an irreverent writer in Los Angeles. She calls herself "mulatta," because she dislikes the word "biracial." (She says the latter word sounds like a description of an insect, or alien, and also, it lacks specificity. A "biracial" person can have parents from any two varied backgrounds--any you can imagine.)

Jane comes from the "Loving generation," a term she hates. Yes, her parents married after the Loving decision, handed down by the Supreme Court. But--since her parents have always deeply loathed each other--Jane prefers to think that she belongs to the "Hating generation."

As a professor of creative writing, Jane assigns stories to Millennial grad students and Gen Z undergraduates. All students will complain about being offended, but the Millennial students will *act* on their outrage, whereas the Gen Z students will just make lazy threats. (A white colleague gets in trouble for reciting Richard Pryor jokes. When the Gen Z accusers come to understand that an official disciplinary process requires paperwork, they decide to just let the controversy die its own quiet death.)

This book checks three boxes for me: (1) written by a woman, (2) a story about an artist, (3) showing evidence of a sense of humor. I'll keep going.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...
2 comments
Read more

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...
Post a Comment
Read more