The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
serious crayons:
David Sedaris' piece on his mother's alcoholism is remarkable on several levels. 1) Straightforwardly, it's his own story of sadness and loss. 2) Less directly (possibly not even deliberately -- I can't tell) it's his mother's story. That a woman who was used to having six children sit around with her at the dinner table every night to hear her stories and hang on her every word, eventually reduced to living alone with a man who sounds kind of annoying -- it's not surprising her alcoholism took a turn for the worse and her moods turned angry. Sedaris always portrays himself in his writing as obnoxiously self-centered and oblivious to others' feelings, but his essays show this isn't true. 3) You know how in Norah Ephron's family everyone always said "Everything is copy"? In David Sedaris' family, clearly the tradition was that you could embellish a true story if it made it better/funnier. Sedaris has been criticized for not adhering strictly to the truth in his supposedly nonfiction essays, but he's the one writer I can forgive for this. Now I know why!
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on June 15, 2017, 05:02:25 pm ---David Sedaris' piece on his mother's alcoholism is remarkable on several levels. 1) Straightforwardly, it's his own story of sadness and loss. 2) Less directly (possibly not even deliberately -- I can't tell) it's his mother's story. That a woman who was used to having six children sit around with her at the dinner table every night to hear her stories and hang on her every word, eventually reduced to living alone with a man who sounds kind of annoying -- it's not surprising her alcoholism took a turn for the worse and her moods turned angry. Sedaris always portrays himself in his writing as obnoxiously self-centered and oblivious to others' feelings, but his essays show this isn't true. 3) You know how in Norah Ephron's family everyone always said "Everything is copy"? In David Sedaris' family, clearly the tradition was that you could embellish a true story if it made it better/funnier. Sedaris has been criticized for not adhering strictly to the truth in his supposedly nonfiction essays, but he's the one writer I can forgive for this. Now I know why!
--- End quote ---
I'm looking forward to reading Sedaris. I always read him.
Front-Ranger:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on June 13, 2017, 06:57:36 pm ---I saw that cartoon. I wondered if it was supposed to be a parody of one author in particular.
--- End quote ---
I like to see it as a more generalized "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" kind of cartoon.
Opiod addiction, alcoholism, I wonder if the New Yorker is reporting on a trend or trying to create one. With our country in such a mess, it's no wonder people are turning to drugs.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on June 16, 2017, 08:55:59 am ---I like to see it as a more generalized "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" kind of cartoon.
Opiod addiction, alcoholism, I wonder if the New Yorker is reporting on a trend or trying to create one. With our country in such a mess, it's no wonder people are turning to drugs.
--- End quote ---
Oh, no, it is definitely a trend. And not a good one. :(
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on June 16, 2017, 08:55:59 am ---I like to see it as a more generalized "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" kind of cartoon.
--- End quote ---
I saw it as a fish out of chronological water situation.
--- Quote ---Opiod addiction, alcoholism, I wonder if the New Yorker is reporting on a trend or trying to create one. With our country in such a mess, it's no wonder people are turning to drugs.
--- End quote ---
Opioid addiction is definitely a trend, even an epidemic. And it started long before our country was in the current mess -- sometime during the Obama Administration, I think.
Come to think of it, why didn't it start years ago? Opioids have been around for decades. Oh wait, I guess I read somewhere that it had to do with Big Pharma pushing it or something.
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