Archive - 2010

Okay, here are first lines from 10 Memoirs by RPCVs. I’ll make it easier and give you the names of the authors. You need only match the prose with the person. 1. The nicest thing anyone ever said to me came cloaked in an insult which, while essentially inaccurate, proved astute in its initial perceptiveness: “We all thought you’d fail.” 2. They took us in the Land Rover, Mike and me, with Kim Buck driving. We had planned to leave that morning, as it was a good four hours’ drive, although it was only about sixty miles from Mbeya. 3. A single lantern filled the room with flickering light, throwing Fanta’s shadow toward the door. The glow bronzed her tight cheekbone, her deflated breast, her moving stomach. 4. These were momentous times. Pope John died and the only clergyman with the guts to stare a television camera in the face . . .

Phil Damon (Ethiopia 1963-65) came close, but didn’t get all 10. He missed #6 and #8 Here is the correct list 1. Jack Kerouac, On the Road 2. John Knowles, A Separate Peace 3. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 4. James Jones, From Here to Eternity 5. William Faulkner, Light in August 6. Hamilton Basso, Th View From Pompey Head 7. Irwin Shaw, The Eighty Yard Run 8. John O’Hara, You Can Always Tell Newark 9. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms 10. Frederick Exley, A Fan’s Notes

This snowy day I have been thumbing through writing magazines and it is amazing the advice you get from second rate writers (like myself!) telling other writers (like you!) how to write. I have been reading about ‘submission strategies for literary journals’ and ‘what makes literary fiction literary?” Most of the advice is predictable (by the way that’s a no-no, writing a predictable story.) The advice goes this way: Know the literary journals; Themed issues are your friend; Play the odds. Etc. Not too useful. One comment stood out, this from Marc Fitten, editor of the Chattahooochee Review. I never heard of the little magazine, nor Marc, but he commented, “A strong, distinctive voice is the first thing I read for. Whammo! Does the voice grab me and make me read the story.” That I agree with. Now whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, a memoir or an academic tome, you can’t . . .