tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post7412638587003047810..comments2024-03-15T20:52:26.967-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: F. Scott Fitzgerald's financesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-20361009897165995012009-10-27T10:41:39.795-07:002009-10-27T10:41:39.795-07:00People look down their noses at genre writers, but...<i>People look down their noses at genre writers, but they're the only ones left who actually care about telling an entertaining story, and that's why people buy books.</i><br /><br />The "people" who look down their noses are not the same "people" who buy the books.<br /><br />Also genre writers have for the most part not bought into the same ideological mind-set as highbrow literature types.<br /><br />Movies such as the <i>X-Men</i> series and TV series such as <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> explore alienation much better than hyper-literate "dreary, introspective, depressing examinations of one's own navel".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49319429306220385612009-10-26T13:19:02.282-07:002009-10-26T13:19:02.282-07:00My theory is that the short story declined due to ...My theory is that the short story declined due to television. We remember Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cheever and Updike because they were superior writers, but the majority of stories published were no better or worse than the average sitcom script or an episode of "Law & Order." Since the 1950s, most people have spent their evenings with a couple of hours of TV instead of with a book or magazine. That's where the opportunities are for young writers who want to tell an entertaining story.<br /><br />Meanwhile, since about 1950 there's been an appalling increase in the number of MFA programs based on the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Sure, Iowa produced Flannery O'Connor, but I suspect she would have become an outstanding writer anyway. MFAs in creative writing are a dime a dozen and IMO all their writing sounds exactly alike - dreary, introspective, depressing examinations of one's own navel. They are exactly what you would expect from spoiled young adults who have no useful life experience of any kind. The best writers have led interesting lives, like Hemingway or London, or they are careful observers of people in a particular place and time, like Fitzgerald and Cheever. People look down their noses at genre writers, but they're the only ones left who actually care about telling an entertaining story, and that's why people buy books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16092116188520045292009-10-25T22:23:52.766-07:002009-10-25T22:23:52.766-07:00"All good contemporary short fiction."
..."All good contemporary short fiction."<br /><br />Indeed. (I'm especially partial to Tobias Wolff and Richard Ford.) But to the general public they might as well be invisible. Try finding a story by one of those guys on a magazine stand somewhere. Seventy or eighty years ago, however, it would have been no trick at all to go to a drugstore in Anytown USA and see Hemingway's or Sherwood Anderson's or Fitzgerald's name listed on the contents page of one of the many popular general interest slicks of the day.<br /><br />Same deal with Animaniacs, really. That sort of thing has migrated from the movie theaters that ordinary Americans--wearing hats and minding their manners--went to on Saturday night to specialized cable channels aiming at a narrow segment of viewers.<br /><br />I guess that's what Murray and Hernstein meant by the term "cognitive partitioning."kudzu bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00865247508134005274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-88614430238325661302009-10-25T20:15:35.258-07:002009-10-25T20:15:35.258-07:00Off the top of my head: Raymond Carver, "Cath...Off the top of my head: Raymond Carver, "Cathedral". Richard Ford, "Rock Springs". Barry Hannah, "Airships". Tobias Wolfe, "The Night in Question". <br /> All good contemporary short fiction. The comment about Faulkner? Try "Barn Burning".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29836902490920270832009-10-25T03:14:31.501-07:002009-10-25T03:14:31.501-07:00I don't know about Wagner... but I do remember...I don't know about Wagner... but I do remember animated parodies of Gilbert and Sullivan in the 90s...<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XLeX_gxJ7s<br /><br />(The show had a lot of parodies that I didn't fully appreciate until I was older.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-42453020390096351552009-10-24T11:11:04.883-07:002009-10-24T11:11:04.883-07:00> Oh, and I downloaded and am reading some sci-...> Oh, and I downloaded and am reading some sci-fi short stories by a writer named Sawyer. So, who doesn't read short stories anymore?<br /><br />And how much, Victoria, did you pay the author or purchase of the advertisers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61787685461482559622009-10-23T03:29:18.412-07:002009-10-23T03:29:18.412-07:00Imagine a Fulton Sheen being allowed to give serio...Imagine a Fulton Sheen being allowed to give serious theological lectures on television now, <i>and winning ratings wars in the process</i>. But that is what Bishop Sheen actually succeeded in doing, at about the time when the 'toons were supplying intelligent parodies of Wagner, and when <i>It Happened One Night</i> was still a part of the general culture.robertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-23794166036407284012009-10-22T16:57:31.960-07:002009-10-22T16:57:31.960-07:00"In the pre-1945 days, not only was there not..."In the pre-1945 days, not only was there not the same lowbrow / highbrow split in literature, but the general public (even outright white trash) had more respect for their intellectual betters."<br /><br />I get that the sense that the tone was indeed rather more elevated back then. The other evening I happend to watch <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yf3q9ek" rel="nofollow">It Happened One Night</a>, and it was as though I viewed a movie not only made in another era but another country as well.<br /><br />Even the cartoons were intellectually more sophisticated. Can you imagine anybody making an <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/430148/whats_opera_doc/" rel="nofollow">animated parody of Wagner</a> for the general public these days?<br /><br />What's happened to us? Sunspots? Genetic decay? Fluroidation? What?kudzu bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00865247508134005274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77415085946944613532009-10-22T15:57:00.136-07:002009-10-22T15:57:00.136-07:00"Truth and I could play the leads."
Whi..."Truth and I could play the leads."<br /><br />Which one of us gets to be the cool, streetwise black guy?Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286755693955361308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-56621179052902743692009-10-22T11:06:06.891-07:002009-10-22T11:06:06.891-07:00In the pre-1945 days, not only was there not the s...In the pre-1945 days, not only was there not the same lowbrow / highbrow split in literature, but the general public (even outright white trash) had more respect for their intellectual betters.<br /><br />Maybe those factors contributed towards the dominance of short stories, and their universal appeal?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-18057104774906963752009-10-22T05:27:43.325-07:002009-10-22T05:27:43.325-07:00"...The best recent short story writer I'..."...The best recent short story writer I've read has been Michael Collier who was writing during the late 90s."<br /><br />I mean Michael Collins. And he is still writing, including screenplays. He first came to America on an athletic scholarship to Notre Dame University.penrodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36402707171525516062009-10-21T19:41:29.609-07:002009-10-21T19:41:29.609-07:00I have trouble imagining a time when Americans fro...I have trouble imagining a time when Americans from all walks of life read short fiction, be it in the pages of slicks such the Saturday Evening Post or in the pages of pulps such as Black Mask Detective Magazine, Argosy, and Astounding. Even in the depths of the Great Depression—the one before ours, I mean—a great many writers, fuelled by nicotine, coffee, and booze, made the rent by banging out stories late into the night on manual typewriters.<br /><br />Some pretty impressive talents emerged from that era, such as Ray Bradbury, now pushing ninety and still writing. And how many people know that an 18-year-old Tennessee Williams made his first professional sale, “The Vengeance of Nitocris,” to Weird Tales?<br /><br />Nobody reading these words will ever see times that good again, I’m afraid.<br /><br />On a happier note, I commend to all of you the wonderful short stories of Thom Jones, a hell-raising genius far removed from today’s dreary academic writers who have done so much to destroy modern fiction. A Force Recon Marine who had to leave the Corp on account of a neurological injury sustained during a boxing match, he went on to be an advertising copywriter but lost that job when he beat the shit out of his boss. He ended up as the head janitor at a high school, where he was able to hide out in the boiler room all day reading and working on his stories while he got the Special Ed kids to do his work for him. The collection of short stories that came out of that period, The Pugilist at Rest, ended up as a National Book Award Finalist, and is stunningly good. Read it and be amazed.kudzu bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00865247508134005274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-52563686046768492982009-10-21T19:06:59.363-07:002009-10-21T19:06:59.363-07:00In high school in the '70's, I used to enj...In high school in the '70's, I used to enjoy the short stories of Somerset Maugham. Don't know if it's true, but I was told that as of that time, he was still the most commercially successful author ever.not a hackernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67009874646380123652009-10-21T18:54:30.049-07:002009-10-21T18:54:30.049-07:00Today's intellectual property laws are, like c...Today's intellectual property laws are, like civil rights laws and hate speech laws, contrary to the concept of freedom as it was once known. Software patents were stealthily introduced in the 1970's. Now both political parties will basically go to bat for any corporation wishing to extend copyright terms or the scope of patentability.<br /><br />The original idea (as described in the constitution) was that the public would derive overall benefit if inventors were rewarded. Nowdays corporate america speaks of intellectual property as though its some kind of natural right. They also use purposefully inflammatory language (such as calling copying something "stealing"). Battling the steady encroachment of IP laws is something that a genuine conservative party would do, but its easy for a faux conservative party like the GOP to be in favour of the status quo because they can throw around words like "property" and "theft" and fool their voter base.<br /><br />It isnt' even just big corporations in favour of rediculous IP laws. Often you'll find its artists and writers too. They couldn't care less about public benefit or even the right to do with *your* real physical property as you wish. For instance some of these people maintain that you should not be able to record a singer in a public park unless you are willing to pay the singer and sign a royalty agreement. I keep thinking that they'll soon demand to be paid each time some crappy song plays in my head. Does my brain count as recording equipment?<br /><br />I don't mean to imply that I have no sympathy for people who earn their livelihoods through presentday IP laws but these laws have become rediculous and need to be scaled back a lot. Software patents, need to be abolished outright. Copyright terms need to be reduced considerably and this idea that one can "own" an idea that has crept into public conciousness needs to be challenged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38357337841652625002009-10-21T17:44:36.419-07:002009-10-21T17:44:36.419-07:00Ben Franklin was against patents and I assume copy...Ben Franklin was against patents and I assume copyrights.<br /><br />Thomas Jefferson believed it was up to society to decide if patents should be granted and the only reason society would grant a patent was for the benefit of society and not for the person who had the idea. He believed an idea was like a flame in that I could have it and someone else could also. I think they would think these intellectual property laws today are a joke.<br /><br />http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070613/161904.shtmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51313213807464794152009-10-21T16:51:19.528-07:002009-10-21T16:51:19.528-07:00I happened to see a 1952 movie of TMC, Full House,...I happened to see a 1952 movie of TMC, Full House, comprised of three O. Henry short stories, including The Gift of the Magi, the male star being the gorgeous Farley Granger (Jean Crain was the bride.) Marilyn Monroe was in another one. John Steinbeck, great writer of long short-stories, narrated. The best recent short story writer I've read has been Michael Collier who was writing during the late 90s. His stories were haunting as The Dead, by Joyce. Joyce's regular, narrative writings were far better than his "innovative" bible.penrodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-17525304552597507952009-10-21T16:40:02.207-07:002009-10-21T16:40:02.207-07:00I've never seen cause and effect concerning th...<i>I've never seen cause and effect concerning the decline of short stories untangled. Did short stories become unpopular when they became depressing? Or did they become unpopular first, which then made the short story writers all depressed ... </i><br /><br />Short stories became depressing because s.s. writers became depressed because the market for s. stories was stressed and depressed due to the advent of TV.David Davenportnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-46868105620125831902009-10-21T15:59:50.561-07:002009-10-21T15:59:50.561-07:00Ben Franklin said...
Whatever, spy!<i>Ben Franklin said... </i><br /><br />Whatever, spy!JeremiahJohnbalayanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-23546683862572308222009-10-21T14:11:44.760-07:002009-10-21T14:11:44.760-07:00> I love the reference to Gowland's Lotion ...> I love the reference to Gowland's Lotion in Jane Austen's Persuasion. I wish she'd have added more references like it. <<br /><br />John O'Hara mentioned brands rather often.<br /><br />Steve, the novel is d-e-a-d. Write a screenplay for Mike Judge instead. Truth and I could play the leads. (Is it a buddy picture? Please write a buddy picture.) But only if I get as many points as he does. (PS - Svigor has buck teeth, not photogenic.)<br /><br />INT. STEVE'S CAVE - NIGHT<br /><br />3 AM. With an angry cackle, Steve deletes another crappy comment...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86814739128265687422009-10-21T12:58:01.695-07:002009-10-21T12:58:01.695-07:00It's all about STORY. Decades ago, the best-se...It's all about STORY. Decades ago, the best-seller lists were dominated by literary writers--Steinbeck, Heminway, Fitzgerald--who were first and foremost storytellers. Today, literary fiction is a pile of pretentious nonsense. <br /><br />This is especially apparent (and repellent to the average reader) in the short story form. Why waste your time on a New Yorker short story that doesn't tell a story, doesn't have a beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't engage the reader? <br /><br />It's more socially acceptable to put literary fiction on your shelf (whether you read it or not). You don't get the same social atta-boys for reading short stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-56587470194008192732009-10-21T12:07:13.939-07:002009-10-21T12:07:13.939-07:00This piece about Jack London has interesting infor...This piece about <a href="http://www.jacklondons.net/writings/shortFiction/part1.html" rel="nofollow">Jack London</a> has interesting information about word rates in the 1900's.C. Van Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09918883799053031223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-41972575460947298822009-10-21T11:39:36.630-07:002009-10-21T11:39:36.630-07:00Two thoughts:advertising and Science Fiction short...Two thoughts:advertising and Science Fiction short stories.<br /><br />As you point out, TV took all the ad dollars from magazines and then the Saturday Evening Post and Look folded. We are seeing something like this happening again. All the big daily newspapers are now suffering. A lot of right wingers attribute these woes to the editorial policy of these papers and I'm sure there is some of that going on. But I suspect that the emergence of services like Craig's List are more important.<br /><br />By the turn of the century most technical jobs in the Bay Area were being filled for free on Craig's List. Just a few years earlier the San Jose Mercury and the San Francisco Chronicle were fat with job ads.<br /><br />Similarly Web based car services have eviscerated another source of newspaper's revenue. Just a decade ago if you needed a job or a used car the first thing you did was to buy a daily paper and go through the ads. No more. <br /><br />Mitch points out that short stories still prosper in SF. Maybe, but the major trend is in the other direction. SF writers are busy producing huge multi volume novels. The best new SF author Peter Hamilton can't seem to write a story that is less than a thousand pages. Almost all of his stories take place over three to nine volumes.albertosaurushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13209465319904999278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-69130051231423803802009-10-21T11:19:38.304-07:002009-10-21T11:19:38.304-07:00I thought it was a settled point all the short sto...I thought it was a settled point all the short story authors switched to soaps, sitcoms, and movies.<br /><br />I guess if you prefer the written word for the sake of culture and progeny it was a faustian bargain. If you are an author aspiring to live like the next Gatsby, rather than be the next Fitzgerald, it's been a pretty good deal.AllanFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-24481578267638007292009-10-21T10:03:30.876-07:002009-10-21T10:03:30.876-07:00Steve, if you ever write that novel, you could sen...Steve, if you ever write that novel, you could send it out to agents under a pen name. If no puplisher picks it up, you could always fall back on your own name and the Stevosphere for distribution. However if they do pick it up, you'd enjoy their distribution machinery - reviews in the major papers, Barnes & Noble, the whole thing - and THEN, after the paychecks are collected, you'd get the satisfaction of saying "psyched! It was evil Steve all along!" to them.<br /><br />Joe Klein made boatloads off an asnonymous book without ever having to show his face to anybody as recently as the 90s. <br /><br />Of course that would not work if your novel is going to be seriously politically incorrect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-43649245055181783522009-10-21T09:36:22.187-07:002009-10-21T09:36:22.187-07:00"People used to like to read short stories be..."People used to like to read short stories because each one was a story and it was short."<br /><br />Steve, never let anybody tell you you're not funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com