In other news...
Ancient dating
dianora2 posted it first, but I saw it today on the news and knew I wanted to mention it here: scholars think they have determined the date when King Odysseus returned from the Trojan War. Now that's some mighty fine sleuthin'. This is one of the reasons I love living when we're living; we figure out cool stuff like this.
This American Lie
In less awesome, sort of headscratching news, a New Republic writer decided to fact-check humorist David Sedaris' book Naked and discovered--shock!, dismay!--that his creative nonfiction isn't always 100% completely, totally true! Even though it says so, right there in the book! (Sedaris, for those of you who don't know, is a humorist and essayist who often appears on the wonderful Chicago Public Radio show, "This American Life," hence the title of this section of tonight's entry.) I gotta say that my first reaction upon hearing about this story (via coverage on KUOW-FM) was to think, "Ah, yes, another sign of the dumbing down of America." And after hours and hours of thinking about it, I still feel that way. This writer picks apart all of Sedaris' books seeking the truth and trying to draw the line between fiction and nonfiction.
Except, last time I looked, essays of this sort aren't written to cast a clear eye on the hard, cold facts. They're not intended to be reportage. Essays like this are based in truth, embellished and embroidered for dramatic or comic effect, to shed light on less tangible but more essential truths. And they're called creative nonfiction because while they have a certain narrative structure, they're written to present an argument, even a subtle one, with insight and often--especially in Sedaris' case--humor.
Spare me the literalists. This sort of thing makes me crazy ... and in today's climate, sadly, doesn't surprise me in the least.
ETA: webcowgirl pointed me to this New York Times article about what she calls the "foo fraw." Good stuff.
I know this feeling
The Web site I work on recently ran an article about online addiction. Wanted to share the article 'cuz it's so good and, well, it rang a little too familiar....
dianora2 posted it first, but I saw it today on the news and knew I wanted to mention it here: scholars think they have determined the date when King Odysseus returned from the Trojan War. Now that's some mighty fine sleuthin'. This is one of the reasons I love living when we're living; we figure out cool stuff like this.
This American Lie
In less awesome, sort of headscratching news, a New Republic writer decided to fact-check humorist David Sedaris' book Naked and discovered--shock!, dismay!--that his creative nonfiction isn't always 100% completely, totally true! Even though it says so, right there in the book! (Sedaris, for those of you who don't know, is a humorist and essayist who often appears on the wonderful Chicago Public Radio show, "This American Life," hence the title of this section of tonight's entry.) I gotta say that my first reaction upon hearing about this story (via coverage on KUOW-FM) was to think, "Ah, yes, another sign of the dumbing down of America." And after hours and hours of thinking about it, I still feel that way. This writer picks apart all of Sedaris' books seeking the truth and trying to draw the line between fiction and nonfiction.
Except, last time I looked, essays of this sort aren't written to cast a clear eye on the hard, cold facts. They're not intended to be reportage. Essays like this are based in truth, embellished and embroidered for dramatic or comic effect, to shed light on less tangible but more essential truths. And they're called creative nonfiction because while they have a certain narrative structure, they're written to present an argument, even a subtle one, with insight and often--especially in Sedaris' case--humor.
Spare me the literalists. This sort of thing makes me crazy ... and in today's climate, sadly, doesn't surprise me in the least.
ETA: webcowgirl pointed me to this New York Times article about what she calls the "foo fraw." Good stuff.
I know this feeling
The Web site I work on recently ran an article about online addiction. Wanted to share the article 'cuz it's so good and, well, it rang a little too familiar....