(no subject)
Dear Chris Abani,
I figure that you probably get email messages like this all the time, but I'm hoping that
one more won't hurt. Here it goes:
So, I'm an English major, which (obviously) means I have to read a lot of literature.
Most of the time my university wants me to read old literature from books that smell
vaguely of mold and/or attic. I'm not very interested in that kind of stuff, because
although I understand WHY it's important to learn about the history of literature, I just
plain don't like reading old books because I find (most of) them stiff and awkward. I
think my favorite books are ones in which the meaning of the language is gritty (what
this adjective is going for is to say not flowery or romantic or obviously/classically
beautiful) but the writing and how the words look and sound (with no content attached)
are surprising and beautiful and also surprisingly beautiful.
Anyway, I think you probably get what I'm saying because the whole point of this email is
for me to tell you that I think that is exactly how you write. I read GraceLand for a
class, and I think it was only about 15 pages in that I started crying...and then I cried
about 10 times more...then I emailed my professor telling him to start telling the class
when they shouldn't read the assigned novels in public because it gets embarrassing to be
crying in front of strangers after awhile. I don't often cry about novels (actually,
GraceLand was only the second novel to make me cry), so I'm trying to offer this as a
complement despite how bizarre of one it may be.
What I'm really trying to go for here can possibly be summarized (in a way) by an
anecdote: I was sitting at a coffee shop reading books with my friend, and he
stopped reading to ask me how I liked my book (I was reading The Virgin of Flames). I
told him that I think you write your books specifically for me because everything about
them is everything I have ever been wanting to get out of a novel for my whole reading
life. I told him that I don't think I've ever been as satisfied with reading as I am when
I read your books.
I tutor writing at my university, and we always talk about how writing of any kind is
never really done because something can always be improved. Writing is basically like a
marathon with no finish line, but I think that you're probably the closest to the finish
that I've ever seen. And I think if I could write like anyone it would be you.
In Summary: I love your writing and I'm glad you got published because I really like
reading your words.
-Colleen
I figure that you probably get email messages like this all the time, but I'm hoping that
one more won't hurt. Here it goes:
So, I'm an English major, which (obviously) means I have to read a lot of literature.
Most of the time my university wants me to read old literature from books that smell
vaguely of mold and/or attic. I'm not very interested in that kind of stuff, because
although I understand WHY it's important to learn about the history of literature, I just
plain don't like reading old books because I find (most of) them stiff and awkward. I
think my favorite books are ones in which the meaning of the language is gritty (what
this adjective is going for is to say not flowery or romantic or obviously/classically
beautiful) but the writing and how the words look and sound (with no content attached)
are surprising and beautiful and also surprisingly beautiful.
Anyway, I think you probably get what I'm saying because the whole point of this email is
for me to tell you that I think that is exactly how you write. I read GraceLand for a
class, and I think it was only about 15 pages in that I started crying...and then I cried
about 10 times more...then I emailed my professor telling him to start telling the class
when they shouldn't read the assigned novels in public because it gets embarrassing to be
crying in front of strangers after awhile. I don't often cry about novels (actually,
GraceLand was only the second novel to make me cry), so I'm trying to offer this as a
complement despite how bizarre of one it may be.
What I'm really trying to go for here can possibly be summarized (in a way) by an
anecdote: I was sitting at a coffee shop reading books with my friend, and he
stopped reading to ask me how I liked my book (I was reading The Virgin of Flames). I
told him that I think you write your books specifically for me because everything about
them is everything I have ever been wanting to get out of a novel for my whole reading
life. I told him that I don't think I've ever been as satisfied with reading as I am when
I read your books.
I tutor writing at my university, and we always talk about how writing of any kind is
never really done because something can always be improved. Writing is basically like a
marathon with no finish line, but I think that you're probably the closest to the finish
that I've ever seen. And I think if I could write like anyone it would be you.
In Summary: I love your writing and I'm glad you got published because I really like
reading your words.
-Colleen