All the rules for the final story

1. 210 words
2. First sentence must contain the word "blender"
3. 12 sentences long
4. The 7th sentence must be, "The aardvark ate my balloon."
5. Something has to be parenthetical
6. 1 sentence must be void of indefinite articles
7. 2 sentences must be palindromes (by words, not letters)
8. Include a non-primary color
9. Include one German word
10. Mike Bezemek must feature
11. The story must take place in 1950
12. Include the word "homunculus"
13. Include an American flag
14. No intensifiers

re: "Don't Call Me by My Right Name"

So I read the story. I'm not a huge fan of it, honestly. I was irritated by the characters. Though we are introduced to Mrs. Klein immediately, and though she says interesting things ("I would like you to change your name") I'm not sympathetic to her. I'm not drawn in by this story. The characters felt like stick-figures to me instead of plush and round. The end was unsatisfying.

However, I will be seeking out "Why Can't You Tell Me, Why?" Since the stories are linked it might be worth reading (read: redeeming for this story). On a random note, is it just me, or would a whole collection of stories with long-"catchphrase"-titles get redundant and kitschy?

The Gordon Lish connection(s) sounds interesting. (a) I wish this story was half as interesting as the title suggests & (b) I really like Raymond Carver. I wonder what his work looked like -- read like -- pre-slash & burn.

"The Distance of the Moon," Calvino

I gave you guys this story because... because reading it made me smile. This story stradles the ridiculous and the purposeful, literalizes metaphor, and pokes fun at our understanding of the cosmos even while the story (the whole collection, actually) derives its meaning from our faith in the true stories of science.

I hope it makes you smile too.

BRR

Ok, so.

So, ok. Purdy, James. Interesting fellow. I mentioned this to Kellie already, but I figure I will put this little spume of fact up. This story, from collection of same name, came out in the 50s and wasn't very big. He has since garnered a cult-like reputation. That aside, the collection is linked, I believe. As I was going thru it I saw the same characters popping up. I found out about this collection and Purdy via an article I read about this whole Carver/Lish editing row. If you haven't heard about it, Google it. The argument is worth perusing. Anyway, turns out, Gordon Lish, the editor of Carver's earlier work, i.e. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, chopped up a fair amount of Carver's work, slashing and burning, if you will. Removing 30-40% of whole stories, adding lines, removing lines, switching titles around (I believe Lish named the aforementioned collections). Well, I am obsessed with titles, and when I saw that Lish nabbed some ideas of titles from James Purdy, well, I just had to check this guy out. Sometimes a title can seal the deal for me. And how many times have any number of us discriminated between a throng of pleading stories in a journal or collection solely on the shininess or coyness of a title? Am I fetishizing a bit? I am. I am fetishizing. But it's OK! Cause here we are now. "Don't Call Me By My Real Name" is the first in the collection. Next was "Why Can't They Tell You Why?" Let me say, that this second story is worth searching out as well if only for the amazing ending. As with the story I passed out. The titles are long and winding and, in some cases, have nothing directly to do with the story, at first blush anyway. Enough hemming and hawing. Read it already!

Yrs. flushedly,
Kyle

Hi Gang

Coupla things:
1. For now, this is a private blog. We can change that, but I thought we could start that way for now, then decide if we want to change it.
2. I started to crib links from a couple of sites last night for our sidebar/blogroll. If you have others you want people to know about, please send 'em and I'll post 'em.

Finally, my uncle used Captain Mervyn Klagman as a pen name and I took it on when I came of age.
Best,
Amy