I have always enjoyed good story tellers. I also aspire to be one. There are times I feel like the Salieri of storytellers. I am able to recognize greatness, but seem unable to create it myself. Now before Seth gets onto me for my usual self-denigrating way, I am good. I have written very good things from time to time, but I lack consistancy and the nebulous quality that puts me into the great category.
I don't want to write the great American novel. Deep literature doesn't interest me very much. I like stories. Snippets of life that make the reader laugh, feel pride, even the ones that make you tear up a bit. I do not subscribe to what I call the "Oprah Disease." This is a malady where the only great literature must be immensely sad. The abused wife suffering from Tourette's Syndrome finds an autistic child on her doorstep...(arrggghhh!) Look at a list of the Oprah Book Club and nearly all of them have a "depression factor" beyond standing on the scale after three weeks of intense physical labor to find you gained 7 pounds.
Someone who excels at capturing simple life in a wonderful way is a sports columnist for the Kansas City Star. Joe Posnanski knows how to write a story. Recently the powers that be at the paper have realized his talents and he has branched out to write about more than sports. He still writes about sports, but he diverts to other topics more often now. He writes about humanity in a way that makes you glad you still have a membership card to the human race.
If you want to read some of his stuff: www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/joe_posnanski/
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2 comments:
Nice to see someone else appreciates Joe as much as I do. I love his columns.. He is the second coming of Tony Kornheiser!
Yes, there is nothing like a well-told story. I especially like the classic one where Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai and tells the disappointed Israelites, "Well, I've got Him down to ten, but adultery's still in there."
But I forgot you don't like sad endings. Then there's the one where the Priest, the Rabbi, and Yogi Berra walk into a bar, and the bartender says, "What is this, a joke?"
And the brief but satisfying one in which two dyslexics walk into a bra.
-Highbrow Brother
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