Next up on the essays shelf:
The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town (Modern Library Paperbacks), edited by Lillian Ross
As I mentioned, The New Yorker comes out periodically with collections of essays, grouped under different categories. There is The New Gilded Age, with pieces about the economy in the mid- to late 1990s. There is a collection of food writing, of sports writing, of comic pieces. There is a collection of Profiles. I have quite a few of them, and cherish them: I refer to them often for research or background. The subject matter is so vast!
The Fun of It is a collection of “Talk of the Town” pieces, from the magazine’s inception until now. Talk of the Town was started as an idea to report on New York happenings in 1,000 words or less. They were meant to be snapshots, as well as full three-dimensional portraits. It took some time to hammer the format into shape, and the various editors early on really wanted “Talk of the Town” to be a New Yorker tradition (which it certainly has become). In the early days, many of the pieces were unsigned. It is unknown who wrote them, although I am sure those familiar with the writing style of The New Yorker big-wigs back in the day could make educated guesses. The “Talk of the Town” pieces were meant to be concise, humorous, and informational. There is often what I would call an arch tone to them (especially early on). They use the “we” as a narrator. “We went to the jazz club last night …” That is not so much the case now. Also, the pieces feel (and in some cases are) much longer now. Writing in miniature is difficult, certainly – but you can tell, looking at the later “Talk of the Town” pieces how the style has changed and developed: paragraphs are longer, there is no more “we”, they feel much more like straight journalism pieces, done in miniature. The arch-ness is now gone, the sort of pleased-with-itself ironic outlook is gone. That’s part of the fun of this collection, The Fun of It. If you are a New Yorker reader, then certainly you read “Talk of the Town”. You know the style. It’s very interesting to watch how the section itself developed and changed over the years.
Harold Ross was big on the “we”, and he always wanted that “we” to be male. It was assumed that “we” meant men. So first off: Thanks for your openly institutionalized misogyny. Let’s just get that out of the way. But over the years, the “we” dropped out of style, and, of course, women had always written some of the “Talk of the Town” pieces, and continued to do so. Harold Ross also did not like bylines. He liked the New Yorker itself to be bigger than any individual writer. The “we” was used confidently and variously, giving the impression of a bunch of really cool sarcastic over-it people doing really cool things all over New York. It’s quite effective. Now, with bylines, it’s a bit more serious. And something has been lost in the transfer.
I actually prefer the older more arch “listen to this cool random thing WE did/saw/heard last night” style. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously.
Perfect reading for the subway: you can get through a “Talk of the Town” piece in between 42nd Street and 14th Street, no problem.
Here’s a Talk of the Town piece from 1925, a small snapshot of Gloria Swanson, who was one of the biggest stars in the world at that time. She had just married for the third time, a man named Henri, Marquis de la Falaise, which then made her a “Marquise”, which is just too perfect. She had moved to France to live for a while, and when she returned, in 1925, parades were held in her honor. This is impossible to imagine today. You think our celebrity culture today is overwrought and too adulatory? You should learn your history. Or if you do insist on making generalizations about how out of control celebrity-watching is today and how back in your grandmother’s time, none of this malarkey was going on, people were more responsible in those days, they didn’t have time for such nonsense, etc., then you certainly won’t mind if I don’t take you seriously.
I love Gloria Swanson. Here’s the piece, Author Unknown.
It’s slight. The Talk of the Town pieces are meant to be slight.
The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town (Modern Library Paperbacks), edited by Lillian Ross; ‘A Marquise at Home’, Author Unknown
Gloria Swanson is back with her titled husband, the Marquis de la Falaise de la Coudraie. A day or so after her arrival, she journeyed over to the Famous Players’ Astoria studio, accompanied, of course, by the marquis. The reception was a touching one.
Attracted by advance announcements, a large crowd had gathered in front of the studio. The whole studio force was assembled on the steps and four policemen struggled to keep a lane open for Gloria’s car.
Suddenly the cry went up. “Here she is! ” The crowd surged forward, the quartet of police officers labored with might and main, and a smart foreign car slipped up the steps.
Out stepped a dapper chap. “The marquis!” gasped the assembled stenographers in one breath. News cameras clicked. Cheers shook the studio. Bushels of confetti were tossed into midair.
When the air cleared it developed that the dapper chap was James R. Quirk, editor of Photoplay.
When Gloria and the marquis did appear a few seconds later, it was an anticlimax. Still, it was prettily done. The marquis looked pleasantly democratic, Gloria burst into tears and everyone cheered all over again.
The marquis is tall, smartly garbed and speaks excellent English.
There is, as was inevitable, a little story of the trip over from Paris. Gloria and the marquis had been pursued daily by curious passengers and finally the star decided to grace a ship’s concert. Ranged alongside were some friends of the old lady in Dubuque. Gloria’s nose tilted a bit in midair.
The marquis leaned close to his stellar wife. “Don’t be a snob, Gloria,” he said.
‘assembled stenographers’ for the win.
hahaha
I wonder if Harold Ross wrote that one. In Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, he says ‘old lady from Dubuque’ several times.
Bybee – I am so impressed with your deductive reasoning!!