tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post8466341256249303834..comments2024-03-29T08:45:57.792-04:00Comments on Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Short Story Wednesday: "Just a Little Fever" Sheila Hetipattinase (abbott)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-40804216357681667842022-05-18T23:55:27.410-04:002022-05-18T23:55:27.410-04:00Which is why I read genre stories, I want a story,...Which is why I read genre stories, I want a story, not "literature".Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-45122199511805508182022-05-18T19:44:50.475-04:002022-05-18T19:44:50.475-04:00I never felt Time Inc. (and the variations) ever g...I never felt Time Inc. (and the variations) ever got fully behind it...they had tried in the '80s to launch a more or less direct competitor to TV GUIDE with EW-like articles (as in, taking up more of the pages than articles did in TVG) and it was a colossal failure, and I'd wondered if the ghost of that collapse had lingered in the boardrooms as Time/Warner and AOL Time/Warner and so galumphed into destiny. Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-43888484763053224292022-05-18T19:19:28.957-04:002022-05-18T19:19:28.957-04:00We got EW from the first issue almost to the last....We got EW from the first issue almost to the last. It was useful for informational purposes more than the quality of the writing. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-14665079027043457802022-05-18T16:05:11.656-04:002022-05-18T16:05:11.656-04:00And, of course, the MILLENNIUM trilogy, MEN WHO HA...And, of course, the MILLENNIUM trilogy, MEN WHO HATE WOMEN/THE GIRL (sic) WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and its following volumes.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-28857335747288402522022-05-18T15:58:12.012-04:002022-05-18T15:58:12.012-04:00I will say this much for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY...in...I will say this much for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY...in the early years, they would hire an occasionally interesting reviewer, such as Thomas Disch, for a brief while at least, and Stephen King's column wasn't bad while it lasted. That was a lot of years ago.<br /><br /> Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-70153898662641386842022-05-18T15:08:22.356-04:002022-05-18T15:08:22.356-04:00Lethem, maybe on some level, but THE CURIOUS INCID...Lethem, maybe on some level, but THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME probably more widely read. There is certainly a lot of it now.<br /><br />We used to subscribe to a few magazines. Now I am thrilled (I guiltily admit) to get none. When I was a teenager working in a Midtown office, a friend introduced me to Billboard, which I subscribed to (I LOVE lists) for a number of years. Then it was The Sporting News (I love baseball and statistics). But if you fall behind on these weekly magazines, you can never recover. There was briefly Newsweek. There was New York magazine for many years, until all the critics I read and liked left one by one. There was EQMM and AHMM for years. (I subscribed for a friend in England, and before sending the magazines on to him, I read the stories that interested me.) Never, ever crap like People or Entertainment Weekly. The ones I hate are where you unknowingly get a "free" subscription by ordering concert tickets (hello, Rolling Stone) and sweat blood trying to unsubscribe.<br /><br />I've never subscribed to The New Yorker. I've read many, many collections of stories culled from their pages, however. I'm sure there were others which escape me now. To be honest, I miss none of them. <br /><br />I do read a lot of straight fiction stories, and whenever I find an author I really like, I will read everything available. But in general, I'd mostly agree with George about mystery stories. I'm reading Bill Pronzini's SMALL FELONIES 2 now. Graham Swift's ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES had a few good stories towards the end (not the title story), but overall I was not very impressed.<br />Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-39389800493906618532022-05-18T13:54:25.359-04:002022-05-18T13:54:25.359-04:00And cheap subs, particularly at Conde Nast, will, ...And cheap subs, particularly at Conde Nast, will, it's hoped, lead to full-price renewals. I'm getting (mostly! One or more might be missing) a free sub of WIRED that my friend Laura aimed at me, as a Bonus for her for renewing her sub. Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-52937444451156728922022-05-18T13:44:42.420-04:002022-05-18T13:44:42.420-04:00As I mentioned above, the Triumph of Minimalism in...As I mentioned above, the Triumph of Minimalism in workshop culture.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-38127711915306639032022-05-18T11:50:02.076-04:002022-05-18T11:50:02.076-04:00That's true, Steve. Having taken 3 workshops a...That's true, Steve. Having taken 3 workshops at WSU plus attended Breadloaf, that is the goal. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-79352706264027164762022-05-18T10:52:59.102-04:002022-05-18T10:52:59.102-04:00Seldom read a story in the New Yorker unless it is...Seldom read a story in the New Yorker unless it is by T.C Boyle. I think a lot of these types of stories are generated by writers who have taken college creative writing classes were plot and story were downplayed, and character and language were emphasized. Steve A Oerkfitznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-72566309181668231132022-05-18T09:10:23.547-04:002022-05-18T09:10:23.547-04:00Someday I will write a 16,000 word story about pai...Someday I will write a 16,000 word story about paint drying and THE NEW YORKER will publish it.Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-20166116886065989222022-05-18T08:00:53.486-04:002022-05-18T08:00:53.486-04:00I share your dismay with many contemporary stories...I share your dismay with many contemporary stories. Nothing happens. There's no development. Perhaps that's why genre fiction like mysteries and science fiction and romance continue to be popular...and sell.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-12205340406376329702022-05-18T07:50:14.161-04:002022-05-18T07:50:14.161-04:00And you do wonder how they survive. A woman told m...And you do wonder how they survive. A woman told me yesterday that she was getting PEOPLE MAGAZINE for the first time ever (at age 86) and now knew who the Kardashians were. She was paying almost nothing for it. It's about advertising rates, I guess. THE NEW YORKER is always offering me VANITY FAIR for $6 a year but it's too much advertising inside for me. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-28160821280055260482022-05-18T07:32:25.283-04:002022-05-18T07:32:25.283-04:00This is a really thoughtful critique, Patti. And I...This is a really thoughtful critique, Patti. And I enjoyed your comments about magazines. I used to subscribe to a few, but not so much anymore - not sure why, really. There are still a few good ones out there.Margot Kinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08599589137890528065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-17071920635157905152022-05-18T04:44:48.844-04:002022-05-18T04:44:48.844-04:00Good luck with the eyes, Tracy!
I'm not sure...Good luck with the eyes, Tracy! <br /><br />I'm not sure I could list all the magazines my folks took for themselves before I began adding o the tinder in the household...I didn't get too far with RADIO-ELECTRONICS nor BETTER HOMES & GARDENS, except in an emergency pit stop of some duration. Claire also added (and eventually edited one of) a few computer-related magazines, but was mostly of he more digital generation.<br /><br />But the magazines I would read were those with fiction in them, even if most of the fiction so labeled in READER'S DIGEST was in the jokes columns. Donna took in mostly punk rock fanzines when we lived together; Alice would like to stop getting anything, after recently try THE NATION and TNY again.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-50959728128409859512022-05-18T04:16:30.669-04:002022-05-18T04:16:30.669-04:00In high-profile literature, it would probably make...In high-profile literature, it would probably make more sense to "blame" Jonathan Lethem. Though we've had Asperger's folks going back at least as far as "Bartleby the Scrivener" and all those Kafka characters several decades later. The minimalists taking over the writing programs and the first-reader jobs at various journals, not least THE NEW YORKER, probably has some effect on the slice of eccentric but only quasi-boho life stories you find there and in a fair amount of similar markets. I can find them kind of fascinating...particularly when they aren't excessively cartoonish, as with one of my least favorite examples, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, or most of what I've tried of John Irving's work. Attempts to do a more sophisticated, more internal, as plotless as possible prose version of, say, BROAD CITY has been a goal since writers started to note how airless what we can call "classic" minimalism too often was, while the lazier surfiction and magical realism could devolve to Irving or LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-7531691930924455732022-05-18T01:58:55.100-04:002022-05-18T01:58:55.100-04:00I am going to the eye doctor early Wednesday a.m.,...I am going to the eye doctor early Wednesday a.m., and then my eyes will be dilated forever, so I am leaving a comment now.<br /><br />We used to get a lot of magazines although maybe not that many. My grandmother loved to read (she even read Rex Stout mysteries) and loved magazines. She lost her sight (at least to the point where she could not read) when I was in my twenties and she asked me if I could imagine not being able to read magazines any more. At the time, I couldn't.<br /><br />Convenience Store Woman was a book with a more than quirky character, probably Asbergers. I enjoyed that a lot and it did motivate me to look for more books like that. I now have Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and want to get The Maid. From my perspective, I think I am interested because I always felt like I did not fit in and mostly did not like to socialize unless necessary. <br />TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.com