... is Lorrie Moore. And it's kind of tough to have Lorrie Moore be one of your favorite writers because she publishes so rarely. But when she does? Holy mackerel. Birds of America is breathtaking. And it's just a collection of short stories! Admittedly - I kinda went into this Lorrie Moore thing having a problem with short stories. Unless you're James Joyce, I'm not interested in reading your short stories, mkay? Why bother. He spoils other writers for me. And I'm happy to be spoiled. But after a friend I trust raved about Birds of America I picked it up, and good GOD. Those STORIES! There's almost no navel-gazing, there's none of that whiff of the writer's workshop about her stories. No. They are mini-novels. They are moments of devastating revelations ... a moment in time when a life changes ... or not ... They are sad sad stories, more often than not, but the way she writes is so comedic that often I found myself laughing out loud. THAT is my kind of writing. But so few books! She's a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin ... and every now and then she'll have a story in The New Yorker so I suppose if you're a fan of Lorrie Moore's writing, you just have to learn patience.
Anyway - she wrote a wonderful piece for the New York Times in honor of Shakespeare's birthday which was (circa) yesterday. I always feel a bolt of excitement when I see her name. I can count writers I feel that way about on one hand and she's one of THOSE writers for me.
Posted by sheilaI love Lorrie Moore! Agnes of Iowa is one of my favorite stories. My favorite line of hers, however, comes from a story called Community Life. A character says something, then realizes it sounds dumb. "It came out wrong. Like a lizard with a little hat on." So funny!
Posted by: Kate at April 24, 2006 6:53 PMShe's also been at Cornell (I forget whether as a student or a professor _ I should retain these things!)
Posted by: Dan at April 24, 2006 7:40 PMI was a blessed child. My hometown, Lakewood, OH, was home to the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. The agreement the school board had with the festival was that they would have a deal on the theater, and, in return, provide discounted performances for the 7th through 12th grade students. As a result, I saw 2-3 plays a year for 6 years. Absolutely free to me.
The words lodged in my bones. I hadn't realized how much I'd absorbed till years later, ironically during a sub gig for a Lakewood English teacher. The students were having trouble "getting" Macbeth.
I realized that the problem was the image they had of kings and queens didn't jibe with Macbeth and the missus' carrying-on. So, I told them, "don't think of the Macbeths and the others as royalty. They're The Sopranos. They make their living by whacking the other hoods and looting. They're Wise Guys, out for their own fortune. The money they get from the commoners is protection money."
After that, they had no trouble understanding the story.
Posted by: Linda F at April 25, 2006 9:25 PM