Don, if you haven’t already ready it, I recommend The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. I loved Crossroads, especially having grown up in the Midwest in the exact same timeframe. Franzen has been called the modern day Updike. His prior book The Corrections is superb.
Thanks Scott. It’s my era too, though a somewhat different location. I was commenting to my wife yesterday that his writing reminds me of Updike. Fancy that! I’ll look for The Corrections. He won the Pulitzer for it, didn’t he?
My son’s prep school in the fall of 2004 landed John Updike for a day of classes and readings. I was invited to the dinner, where he signed my copy of Villages. I was in awe. Over dinner with my son’s English teacher, I brought up The Corrections, and she reflected on its brilliance. Later the Headmaster pulled me aside and said something like, “The Sox win the Series and dinner with Updike … could it get any better?”
Like Franzen, Updike was a product of the small-town Midwest (PA), and his writing often reflected that upbringing (e.g., Rabbit Angstrom), and he could really pull at my heartstrings. That’s why I liked Crossroads so much.
Nice reflection on the art of writing. I started as a journalist and did not enter law school until age 30. I wrote a few college papers (none nearly as big as IS) on the Lost Generation of post-WWI authors. Two things served me well in my legal career: (1) the journalism/editing background, and (2) two years as a law clerk for a federal judge, reading hundreds of good (and dozens of bad) legal briefs. There’s no substitute for reading, reflecting, writing and re-writing. Don, you say you may not be cut out for fiction, but many would benefit from a self-authored autobiography!
My best writing lesson is from AP English class in high school (in John Updike’s hometown!) circa 1978 - all of Strunk and White boiled down to “write tight”!
Don, if you haven’t already ready it, I recommend The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. I loved Crossroads, especially having grown up in the Midwest in the exact same timeframe. Franzen has been called the modern day Updike. His prior book The Corrections is superb.
Thanks Scott. It’s my era too, though a somewhat different location. I was commenting to my wife yesterday that his writing reminds me of Updike. Fancy that! I’ll look for The Corrections. He won the Pulitzer for it, didn’t he?
My son’s prep school in the fall of 2004 landed John Updike for a day of classes and readings. I was invited to the dinner, where he signed my copy of Villages. I was in awe. Over dinner with my son’s English teacher, I brought up The Corrections, and she reflected on its brilliance. Later the Headmaster pulled me aside and said something like, “The Sox win the Series and dinner with Updike … could it get any better?”
Very special! I read all the Rabbit books and a few others. Would have loved to meet him.
Like Franzen, Updike was a product of the small-town Midwest (PA), and his writing often reflected that upbringing (e.g., Rabbit Angstrom), and he could really pull at my heartstrings. That’s why I liked Crossroads so much.
Nice reflection on the art of writing. I started as a journalist and did not enter law school until age 30. I wrote a few college papers (none nearly as big as IS) on the Lost Generation of post-WWI authors. Two things served me well in my legal career: (1) the journalism/editing background, and (2) two years as a law clerk for a federal judge, reading hundreds of good (and dozens of bad) legal briefs. There’s no substitute for reading, reflecting, writing and re-writing. Don, you say you may not be cut out for fiction, but many would benefit from a self-authored autobiography!
Gosh, Bob. I can imagine spending a lot of time writing that and then selling one copy!
My late dad, a WWII veteran, wrote one and made a few dozen copies at Kinko's. It will be a keeper for generations in my family. Just sayin'. 😊
My best writing lesson is from AP English class in high school (in John Updike’s hometown!) circa 1978 - all of Strunk and White boiled down to “write tight”!