To write one must persist

I have just finished reading, for the second time, an essay by Neil Gaiman entitled "All Books Have Genders." While it does somewhat address the question of the gender of specific books and short stories, the essay is actually a brief account of the writing of American Gods. It's inspiring in a practical sort of way, demonstrating that the only way to write a novel is to, well, sit down and write and write and write until you get to the end. It might be enough to encourage me to return to the novel I started in my attempt at National Novel Writing Month.

Out of the loop once again

Yesterday I was in my local Borders Express (formerly known as Waldenbooks) looking for Widdershins, the latest by Charles de Lint, and I noticed that there were six or seven entire wall bays (each wall bay being the equivalent of a large floor to ceiling bookcase) devoted entirely to Manga, Japanese anime.

Last I knew, mall bookstores tended to trade mostly in genre fiction mass market paperbacks. Years and years ago I worked in a B Dalton (the mall subsidiary of Barnes & Noble). Our most popular sellers were paperback romance novels. Ladies of varying ages would come in on an almost weekly basis and buy stacks of them.

With the rising popularity of science fiction and mystery, I was perfectly willing to add them to the list. Manga is not something I would think of being allotted that much wall space anywhere other than a comic book and/or gaming shop. I guess it makes sense, though, because Manga has a large teenage audience, especially since the Pokemon rage, and malls are notorious as destinations for teenagers.

I guess I'll file it under the "learn something new every day" category.

Catch a Wave

Not too long ago, I read a review of Dora Lives: The Authorized Story of Miki Dora by C.R. Stecyk and Drew Kampion. I am a big fan of the ocean, and surfing is one of those things I always thought it would be cool to know how to do, but it requires pesky things like balance and coordination (not to mention the love of the adrenaline rush), so it's pretty low on my list of life goals. Hermit that I am, I am also not a big fan of prying into the lives of others because I wouldn't appreciate someone prying into mine. I would not make a good celebrity (not that I am in imminent danger of becoming one).

On the other hand, I find people fascinating, and if they are willing and/or want to put their lives on public display, I am often interested to hear what they have to say for themselves. I love reading, for example, what authors have to say about writing and reading, about their influences, motivations and stumbling blocks, and how writing affects and reflects the rest of their lives. It's also fun to live vicariously through other people, reading about their outrageous experiences so vastly different from my own.

Dora Lives may not be at the top of my reading list, but some day, when I have run out of things I simply *must* read (HA!), I just might pick it up and catch a wave.

Click here to read the review.

What happens when the review is a better read than the book?

The wonderful folks at Powells.com send me a link to a book review on a daily basis.

I don't read all of the reviews, and I certainly don't read them in a timely manner, but if nothing else, it means that every day I get at least one e-mail message I actually *want* to receive.

One of today's projects has been to sort through the backlog of book reviews stored in my e-mail program, and I came across Sandra Tsing Loh's review of Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families for The Atlantic Monthly. It is insightful, thoughtful, and thought provoking. It is, in fact, so comprehensive and well-written that I have absolutely no desire to read the book. Not only has she done the work of reading it for me, she has done all of the thinking and responding as well.

I don't think that I was in much danger of reading the book in the first place because the topic of career versus stay-at-home--especially among wealthy women who pursue a career for self-fulfillment and/or something to do rather than for such mundane, pedestrian reasons as putting food on the table and paying the electric bill--doesn't hold much interest for me, so I am having trouble deciding whether Ms. Loh did me a favor or a disservice. I suppose to know for sure, I would have to actually read the book. Hmmmm.

I do know for sure that such certain knowledge will not be soon in coming because I am much more interested in reading Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, which is now available in paperback.

Do You Speak American?

This morning I began reading Do You Speak American? by Robert MacNeil and William Cran. (My mother brought me an autographed copy from a conference she attended in Chicago.)

Do You Speak American? is the sequel to The Story of English, and apparently there is a television series that ties in with the book(s), and I am trying to remember if The Story of English is one of the texts which was part of the syllabus of a course I took in college called The English Language. It was the grammar course all writing and literature majors were required to take. I will have to go rummaging through my bookshelves and see if I can find the book. I remember it being an entertaining read.

Having read the introduction, I have a feeling that Do You Speak American? is going to be an eye-opening experience. Given my classical education with all of its structure and Latin and Greek and Shakespeare and Austen, I know that I am a bit of a language snob. There are rules of grammar and spelling for a reason. At least half the fun of knowing all of the rules of grammar, however, is figuring out how to break them in new and creative ways in order more effectively paint a picture or convey a tone. Deliberately incorrect spelling, on the other hand, just gets under my skin. I don't have much of a problem with slang or dialetci variations, but the "cute" stuff if just annoying and makes the people doing it look either silly or uneducated. Kwik, nite and lite are examples that come immediately to mind. I suppose that when it's up on a billboard or shop sign, the point is to be attention getting. Is distracting the same thing?

One of the assumptions--that street talk or ghetto language is merely bad or lazy English, the product of poor education--I found myself agreeing with more than I expected. But it's not just about level or education and poverty. Social and economic conditions and constrictions play a role as well. Language is a social and cultural institution of its own, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum.