block quote: judge a book
I splashed water on my face, put on my robe, and headed downstairs. Already my headache was receding. After I started the coffee, I went to the living room window to look out at the day. The temperature had risen again--what could have been snow became a downpour during the night, and now the sky was a redemptive blue, the pale pastel that often follows a rain. Birds sat in a convivial row on the nearby utility wire. Elongated drops of water hung beneath them, shimmying in the breeze. I watched the birds for a while, waiting for the invisible signal that would have them all lift off together, but it did not come. They sat content, enjoying their version of a coffee klatch.--elizabeth berg, the year of pleasures
covivial row? coffee klatch? must we?
you can just hear her reminding
herself to be "precise" and "vivid,"
congratulating herself on her
alliterative personification,
her use of rhythm, almost prose-poetic.
to be fair, though, as you can see,
i knew what i was getting into.
i'm much more of a man-writer fan
(steinbeck & graham greene,
warren ellis & wallace stevens,)
but every once in awhile i pick up
a book like this. of course,
i'm so merciless with them
only because i am terrified
that this over-articulate, cliched,
and womanish "creative-writing"
would be all that came out,
if i ever really tried.
what scares me even more,
is that i know it's what's coming out now,
and i only wish i could accomplish
what these talented and hardworking
authors have, whole novels,
when i can barely manage
a contemptuous and precious
little blog, much less a short story.
check out this "comment," a very funny post
from a parallel universe: sunday, april 08, 2007 2:05 pm
posted by self_invasion | 8:00 PM
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