[Transcribed discussion of “Speaking in Tongues,” by Zadie Smith, published in The New York Review of Books and based on a lecture given at the New York Public Library in December 2008.
In this piece, Zadie Smith argues that Obama’s potency as a president lies in his ability to move between seemingly disparate groups of people, to speak in many voices. By this she means, “Obama can do young Jewish male, black old lady from the South Side, white woman from Kansas, Kenyan elders, white Harvard nerds, black Columbia nerds, activist women, churchmen, security guards, and bank tellers.” Because Obama is “a man born and raised between opposing dogmas, between cultures, between voices,” she believes and hopes he will not be able to help “but be aware of the contingency of culture.” Like William Shakespeare, suggests Smith, Obama represents “a mass of contradictory, irresolvable voices that speak truth plurally.”]
Will: This is a great piece because this is one of the big issues that people have had and still have with Obama. Who is he? Even though he’s president, I still don’t really know who he is.
Fiona: I thought the writing was really excellent, too.
[But will anyone, the students were asked, be interested in this piece when the anthology comes out months from now, a year after the election?]
Fiona: I think so. The piece doesn’t start out with Obama, it starts out with her, and with things from her personal life. It only segues into Obama later.
Yael: I agree, and I like this one a lot, too. I don’t even think it’s that much about Obama. Sure, it’s about Obama in lots of ways, but what I mean is I think everybody’s going to find something they love about this. You don’t have to be biracial to relate to this. It’s basically about having different personalities and faces and everyone has that. It makes Obama more understandable, too.
Tanea: It really spoke to the fact that all people are hypocrites in a way. We all want to point out when someone’s not being consistent. At the same time, we aren’t that way ourselves. Everyone has different personalities in different settings.
Adrianne: And it relates to people more on a human level. It’s not such a historical piece. It’s just making one big point, that people have different voices in one self. I think this piece will fit in the book because it will relate to all people. It has universality.
Vicky: It was like listening to someone speak, which I liked. And I liked all the quotes from poems and from Shakespeare.
Eli: She brings her own original analysis to the whole thing, and it’s so impressive. The quote from Keats on page 7—about how Shakespeare was “capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason”—fits Obama so well.
Molly: I agree with Adrianne. The whole piece has a very human tone. It’s introspective. It’s not really political. It looks more into why people are thinking this way or that about Obama. It gets into the origins of our obsession with him. We’re all trying to figure him out.
Will: Yeah, it seems like you can’t really know who Obama is—and it doesn’t really matter. But I think what Zadie Smith is saying is that he’s kind of the vehicle for all American thought. He can look at every different perspective.
[The students were asked if they noticed themselves, in their own lives, having to move back and forth between different identities.]
Vicky: I have to act differently when I visit family in Mexico. Not in big ways, but it’s different. They treat me differently, too, because I live here.
Yael: Definitely. My mom’s side of the family is really, really religiously Jewish. When we get together with them I have to put on a different face than when it’s just my immediate family. Or maybe it’s just that I say less around that side of the family. Anyway, I’m different around them versus how I am around my friends from suburbia, versus my friends from the city, or my family, or my teachers, or the kids I babysit. In life you have to please different people. And so you have to put on different faces. Zadie Smith is saying that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s human.
Meeting 5/5/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “Wild Berry Blue,” by Rivka Galchen, published in Open City.
In this story, the narrator—a girl in elementary school—falls in love with a cashier at McDonald's called Roy. Every Saturday morning she goes for cookies and milk with her dad. One day she notices Roy working. She describes seeing him for the first time: “In a trembling moment I shift my gaze up to the engraved nametag. There’s a yellow M emblem, then Roy.” She is overcome, she says, by “this beautiful feeling. I haven’t had it about a person before. Not in this way.” She spends the rest of the story trying to catch his eye, trying to make conversation, or pining over him, or searching for the perfect present for him—a wooden puppet from the medieval faire is what she settles on. In the end though, the puppet has a crack. She doesn’t give it to Roy. She realizes things aren’t going to work out. She tries to move on.]
Chloe: I have a weakness for really emotional stories like this, so I loved it. I love stories where it seems like the narrator is talking straight from her consciousness. And there are enough really interesting parts to this piece—the way the little girl introduces people in the story, the way she describes characters, like Roy with that Tattoo, or the ugly puppet stand vendor fiddling with his collar—to keep me really interested the whole time.
Roxie: I like it because she’s so serious. The author is fully in the fifth grade self. I totally hear this little girl talking when I read this story. The author shows us the pure emotion and the outburst of need a little girl can have inside her. I mean, this is the girl’s first love. It was convincing. This is how it felt to be a girl in fifth grade, I think.
Fiona: The writing was good. It all felt really real. That was important, I thought. That it felt real.
Yael: One of the things I thought was very real was the way she has this sense security with her dad. The girl feels dangerous for breaking out and liking this Roy character. That’s such a true, typical feeling for a daughter to have.
[The students were asked what the wooden puppet’s role in the story is.]
Bora: The doll is a physical representation of the mistake that she’s made in loving Roy. Once she notices that there’s a crack on the hand, she doesn’t want it. And she starts to notice that there’s a mistake in the way she’s looking at things with Roy. It can’t work out. The way the author uses a doll to convey this is so well done. I thought the writing in general was excellent. Her description of herself on page 80 reminds me of myself: “I was always that kind of kid who crawled into bed with her parents, who felt safe only with them.” Or her description of the McDonald's scene, it’s amazing the way she captures a child’s perspective. She makes dipping cookies in milk interesting to read about: “Sometimes, dipping my McDonaldland cookies—Fryguy, Grimace—I’d hold a cookie in the milk too long and it would saturate and crumble to the bottom of the carton. There, it was something mealy, vulgar. Horrible. I’d lose my appetite. Though the surface of the milk often remained pristine I could feel the cookie’s presence down below, lurking. Like some ancient bottom-dwelling fish with both eyes on one side of his head.”
Roxie: I also like how, throughout the story, the girl connects things to the future. Like when she says at the end, “I never got over him. I never get over anyone.”
Charley: This girl is such a specific and whole person. She has little tics, like how she likes to wash herself in the sink, that round her out. Her very specific personal preferences like that make her come to life for us as we read.
In this story, the narrator—a girl in elementary school—falls in love with a cashier at McDonald's called Roy. Every Saturday morning she goes for cookies and milk with her dad. One day she notices Roy working. She describes seeing him for the first time: “In a trembling moment I shift my gaze up to the engraved nametag. There’s a yellow M emblem, then Roy.” She is overcome, she says, by “this beautiful feeling. I haven’t had it about a person before. Not in this way.” She spends the rest of the story trying to catch his eye, trying to make conversation, or pining over him, or searching for the perfect present for him—a wooden puppet from the medieval faire is what she settles on. In the end though, the puppet has a crack. She doesn’t give it to Roy. She realizes things aren’t going to work out. She tries to move on.]
Chloe: I have a weakness for really emotional stories like this, so I loved it. I love stories where it seems like the narrator is talking straight from her consciousness. And there are enough really interesting parts to this piece—the way the little girl introduces people in the story, the way she describes characters, like Roy with that Tattoo, or the ugly puppet stand vendor fiddling with his collar—to keep me really interested the whole time.
Roxie: I like it because she’s so serious. The author is fully in the fifth grade self. I totally hear this little girl talking when I read this story. The author shows us the pure emotion and the outburst of need a little girl can have inside her. I mean, this is the girl’s first love. It was convincing. This is how it felt to be a girl in fifth grade, I think.
Fiona: The writing was good. It all felt really real. That was important, I thought. That it felt real.
Yael: One of the things I thought was very real was the way she has this sense security with her dad. The girl feels dangerous for breaking out and liking this Roy character. That’s such a true, typical feeling for a daughter to have.
[The students were asked what the wooden puppet’s role in the story is.]
Bora: The doll is a physical representation of the mistake that she’s made in loving Roy. Once she notices that there’s a crack on the hand, she doesn’t want it. And she starts to notice that there’s a mistake in the way she’s looking at things with Roy. It can’t work out. The way the author uses a doll to convey this is so well done. I thought the writing in general was excellent. Her description of herself on page 80 reminds me of myself: “I was always that kind of kid who crawled into bed with her parents, who felt safe only with them.” Or her description of the McDonald's scene, it’s amazing the way she captures a child’s perspective. She makes dipping cookies in milk interesting to read about: “Sometimes, dipping my McDonaldland cookies—Fryguy, Grimace—I’d hold a cookie in the milk too long and it would saturate and crumble to the bottom of the carton. There, it was something mealy, vulgar. Horrible. I’d lose my appetite. Though the surface of the milk often remained pristine I could feel the cookie’s presence down below, lurking. Like some ancient bottom-dwelling fish with both eyes on one side of his head.”
Roxie: I also like how, throughout the story, the girl connects things to the future. Like when she says at the end, “I never got over him. I never get over anyone.”
Charley: This girl is such a specific and whole person. She has little tics, like how she likes to wash herself in the sink, that round her out. Her very specific personal preferences like that make her come to life for us as we read.
Meeting 4/7/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “Welcome to Your Life and Congratulations,” by Ramona Ausubel, published in Green Mountains Review.
In the opening paragraphs of this story, the narrator—a young boy—watches his cat Houdini get hit by a car. The narrator, his parents, and a weird friend named Belbog debate whether to resuscitate the animal. In the end, they decide the cat is too old. Next they debate how to dispose of the cat, and the boy is angry with his parents for not being more heartbroken about his dead pet. Callously, his mother and father tell him this is just how life goes: “Welcome to your life,” they tell their son. Eventually, the family cremates Houdini. In the final scene, the narrator bursts into the room where is parents are making love. He throws the cat’s ashes into the air, covering their sweaty bodies, shouting “Welcome to your life!”]
Chloe: This story was very weird and that’s why I liked it. It’s visceral. It’s entertaining and kind of disturbing. It grabbed me and I can’t totally explain why. I had a good gut reaction to it. The characters are really good, and not predictable. I thought the parents were hilarious.
Bora: It’s just so twisted. Which is a good thing in this case. I mean, while they’re deciding what to do with the cat’s body they put it in the freezer. Who does that? And I agree, the interaction between the boy and his parents is really funny.
Chloe: I think it’s the dialogue that makes it good. And Belbog. His dialogue is so random and weird. Like when he explains what his name means, on page 31, he says, “My name means White God, did you know?” And then he randomly jumps to selling lemonade: “I hope we will be friends. Perhaps this summer you can come and together we can sell beverages on the side of the road?”
Sophia: I think the short sentences are really effective. Like when the father just says “You’re hot,” or the mother says, “He’s frozen,” on page 30. The short sentences leave a lot to the imagination.
Roxie: I thought the ending was perfect. The imagery there was really cool. The way his parents are so bewildered, it’s great. You don’t know why exactly he’s throwing the ashes in the air. Is he sad? Is he angry? He says, “Houdini is dead! I love you and I hate you! Welcome to your life!” It’s so full of emotion.
Sophia: Yeah, it’s interesting to wonder if he threw the ashes on his parents to spite them or whether it was some form of celebration.
[The students were asked the significance of the cat’s name, Houdini.]
Chloe: It’s because the cat performs a disappearing act. The cat is never alive in the whole story. At the beginning of the story Houdini can’t be found. And at the end Houdini is just a cloud of dust. This piece reminds me of a zombie story.
Will: Actually, I thought Houdini was going to show up alive at the end.
Adrianne: What I liked about this story is how it’s told through the eyes of a child. Things that might seem obvious to us as older people are really exciting and strange to this young boy. It’s a good point of view for a story.
In the opening paragraphs of this story, the narrator—a young boy—watches his cat Houdini get hit by a car. The narrator, his parents, and a weird friend named Belbog debate whether to resuscitate the animal. In the end, they decide the cat is too old. Next they debate how to dispose of the cat, and the boy is angry with his parents for not being more heartbroken about his dead pet. Callously, his mother and father tell him this is just how life goes: “Welcome to your life,” they tell their son. Eventually, the family cremates Houdini. In the final scene, the narrator bursts into the room where is parents are making love. He throws the cat’s ashes into the air, covering their sweaty bodies, shouting “Welcome to your life!”]
Chloe: This story was very weird and that’s why I liked it. It’s visceral. It’s entertaining and kind of disturbing. It grabbed me and I can’t totally explain why. I had a good gut reaction to it. The characters are really good, and not predictable. I thought the parents were hilarious.
Bora: It’s just so twisted. Which is a good thing in this case. I mean, while they’re deciding what to do with the cat’s body they put it in the freezer. Who does that? And I agree, the interaction between the boy and his parents is really funny.
Chloe: I think it’s the dialogue that makes it good. And Belbog. His dialogue is so random and weird. Like when he explains what his name means, on page 31, he says, “My name means White God, did you know?” And then he randomly jumps to selling lemonade: “I hope we will be friends. Perhaps this summer you can come and together we can sell beverages on the side of the road?”
Sophia: I think the short sentences are really effective. Like when the father just says “You’re hot,” or the mother says, “He’s frozen,” on page 30. The short sentences leave a lot to the imagination.
Roxie: I thought the ending was perfect. The imagery there was really cool. The way his parents are so bewildered, it’s great. You don’t know why exactly he’s throwing the ashes in the air. Is he sad? Is he angry? He says, “Houdini is dead! I love you and I hate you! Welcome to your life!” It’s so full of emotion.
Sophia: Yeah, it’s interesting to wonder if he threw the ashes on his parents to spite them or whether it was some form of celebration.
[The students were asked the significance of the cat’s name, Houdini.]
Chloe: It’s because the cat performs a disappearing act. The cat is never alive in the whole story. At the beginning of the story Houdini can’t be found. And at the end Houdini is just a cloud of dust. This piece reminds me of a zombie story.
Will: Actually, I thought Houdini was going to show up alive at the end.
Adrianne: What I liked about this story is how it’s told through the eyes of a child. Things that might seem obvious to us as older people are really exciting and strange to this young boy. It’s a good point of view for a story.
Meeting 3/17/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “Further Notes on my Unfortunate Condition,” a self-published comic by Nick St. John.
This comic is a series of loosely connected vignettes. The drawings are black and white. The words and pictures convey simple, elegant narratives. In one, for instance, the narrator recalls how he and his sister were lying in their beds once when they were young. She woke up in the middle of the night and said, “Get up, we have to do something.” Because she was “perfect and infallible,” he followed without question. The older sister led her brother into the backyard to dig for “the lost corpse of our great uncle Xavier,” a sea captain, and a man who’d been buried with a treasure map in his pocket. In the next short story, however, the children are visited by a different uncle: the mischievous uncle Manta Ray, who declines to spend the night only because he doesn’t have pajamas that fit his odd body shape.
The students were asked for their general impressions of the comic.]
Fiona: I really liked the digging story. I liked how it was a memory, a letter to his sister years later.
Sophia: I loved the whole thing. The drawings remind you of other things that make you happy. The waves reminded me of being a kid. The beginning of it reminds me of The Road, which we’re reading in school now.
Charley: I really liked it. It was pure.
Vicky: I like the drawings a lot. It looks like they were done on scratchboard. We’re doing scratchboard stuff in art class at school right now.
[The students were asked if it’s unified enough, if the series of stories holds together as one piece.]
Charley: The stories are sort of related. They’re all surreal memories of things. They’re all dreamy.
Vicky: They are short but if you were to open the [BANR anthology] and see this comic, you could just stop on one of the stories or you could read them all. I think that’s cool.
Molly: I thought it held together. I loved the artwork, too. Those waves in the last story were great. I felt the drawings physically.
Chloe: And the writing’s so pretty.
Tanea: I agree, the writing is so good.
Adrianne: This piece felt really sincere, and sweet.
Bora: I like the title. And some of the characters were just hilarious. I loved uncle Manta Ray. Who would have thought of a “community uncle” who just happens to be manta ray? That cracked me up. And the manta ray said the best things. Like on page six he says, “I have been alive for a thousand years and I have more friends than Jesus.” The fact that he’s a manta ray and he’s comparing himself to Jesus is hilarious.
Sophia: And I love that the reason he can’t sleep over is that he doesn’t have PJs that fit.
Bora: The shapes of the faces are great. They’re long and thin and cartoony but not in a dumb way.
Molly: I love this piece so much, I just want to hug it.
This comic is a series of loosely connected vignettes. The drawings are black and white. The words and pictures convey simple, elegant narratives. In one, for instance, the narrator recalls how he and his sister were lying in their beds once when they were young. She woke up in the middle of the night and said, “Get up, we have to do something.” Because she was “perfect and infallible,” he followed without question. The older sister led her brother into the backyard to dig for “the lost corpse of our great uncle Xavier,” a sea captain, and a man who’d been buried with a treasure map in his pocket. In the next short story, however, the children are visited by a different uncle: the mischievous uncle Manta Ray, who declines to spend the night only because he doesn’t have pajamas that fit his odd body shape.
The students were asked for their general impressions of the comic.]
Fiona: I really liked the digging story. I liked how it was a memory, a letter to his sister years later.
Sophia: I loved the whole thing. The drawings remind you of other things that make you happy. The waves reminded me of being a kid. The beginning of it reminds me of The Road, which we’re reading in school now.
Charley: I really liked it. It was pure.
Vicky: I like the drawings a lot. It looks like they were done on scratchboard. We’re doing scratchboard stuff in art class at school right now.
[The students were asked if it’s unified enough, if the series of stories holds together as one piece.]
Charley: The stories are sort of related. They’re all surreal memories of things. They’re all dreamy.
Vicky: They are short but if you were to open the [BANR anthology] and see this comic, you could just stop on one of the stories or you could read them all. I think that’s cool.
Molly: I thought it held together. I loved the artwork, too. Those waves in the last story were great. I felt the drawings physically.
Chloe: And the writing’s so pretty.
Tanea: I agree, the writing is so good.
Adrianne: This piece felt really sincere, and sweet.
Bora: I like the title. And some of the characters were just hilarious. I loved uncle Manta Ray. Who would have thought of a “community uncle” who just happens to be manta ray? That cracked me up. And the manta ray said the best things. Like on page six he says, “I have been alive for a thousand years and I have more friends than Jesus.” The fact that he’s a manta ray and he’s comparing himself to Jesus is hilarious.
Sophia: And I love that the reason he can’t sleep over is that he doesn’t have PJs that fit.
Bora: The shapes of the faces are great. They’re long and thin and cartoony but not in a dumb way.
Molly: I love this piece so much, I just want to hug it.
Meeting 3/10/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “The Good Word,” by Yannick Murphy, published in One Story.
While on vacation, the narrator of this story and her friend Iris, both American, meet a German named Jurgen. Jurgen goes on and on about an untranslatable German word meaning “a good feeling people have when they are together.” The next day, Jurgen and the two women travel to a beachside boarding house. There they encounter an old man who covets Iris and, seemingly inexplicably, despises Jurgen. The four keep uneasy company—they go swimming, they eat together, and they talk about the untranslatable German word. The narrator asks Jurgen if the “good feeling” was present in Germany when Hitler reigned. Jurgen admits it probably was. Sometime later, the old man’s son—called the Connector—shows up. He, too, wants Iris. In the end, the Connector and the old man get into a brawl and Jurgen and the two women leave them behind.]
Eli: I liked it. It was really succinct writing. It was very unique. It’s almost like a series of frames, taken one by one and then pieced together. The sentences are so matter-of-fact and simple.
Roxie: Yeah, I thought the writing style worked well. It was really good at building suspense. It didn’t tell too much. On page nine, when it says the old man “had Iris up against the wall and was pushing on her hard” and “her eyes were closed because of the pain,” I thought he was raping her. But it turns out that he was just helping her pop her dislocated shoulder into place. The style worked really well there and elsewhere to build suspense.
Vicky: I agree. The writing makes you jump to conclusions, but then when you read a little further, it doesn’t turn out the way you thought it was going to. I kept being surprised.
[The students were asked why the author’s simple sentence structure is so effective.]
Molly: It’s because she holds off until the very end. And then you really appreciate it when she changes the style a bit. Up until the end, though, she’s very objective. You’re supposed to interpret for yourself. But then she reveals how the narrator feels. When she does that she uses longer sentences that aren’t just descriptions of what’s happening. That’s when she touches on the meaning of the story.
[At the end of the piece, the narrator reveals her frustration with Iris. To the narrator, Iris is the embodiment of the German word. Everyone wants Iris, everyone wants to be around her, but at the same time, says the narrator, this creates tension and quarrelling—like between the old man and his son. In light of this, the students were asked what they thought the meaning of the story was.]
Molly: When you read this story, you think about the feeling of the word Jurgen keeps talking about. The story is about that feeling. It’s something that brings people together and also tears them apart. Iris is nice to everyone and she draws everyone to her, but she also drives people apart.
Roxie: Iris causes a problem because everyone wants to be with her but they can’t all have that. It doesn’t work out. I think the author mentions Nazi Germany to point out the fleetingness of the good feeling, and to show that there’s a difference between real love and this kind of fake good feeling that actually drives people apart or causes tension.
Eli: And the good feeling is a ubiquitous feeling. Throughout the story they all feel good together. But at the same time there are these tensions under the surface. They have this sexual tension. It escalates. It reaches a breaking point. The father and his son have their scuffle. The good feeling isn’t so good after all.
[The students were asked if the author is putting forth a dark view of humanity.]
Eli: No, just a realistic view. In Nazi Germany, for example, you like to think it was a different feeling they had. That it was different from anything we feel. You like to think they had some kind of pride in their malevolence. But that’s not true. They actually had a genuine feeling of pride in their nation. They could justify what they were doing. And in this story, all the characters could justify their actions, too. Their motivations made sense. You knew why they went here or there, or why the old man and the son got in a fight.
Will: I think the word is about reaching out to people and being happy together. Having good feelings with a bunch of people. Jurgen starts out telling them about it, but at the same time he wants to have sex with the women so I think he has corrupted motives. The same thing goes for everyone. Iris is reaching out to people. But Iris likes all the attention and so I think she has corrupted intentions as well.
[The students were asked if at any point in the story the characters are actually feeling the sense of fellowship or togetherness described by the German word.]
Roxie: No, I don’t think so. I think that’s the point. They can’t have this good feeling together. There is too much tension.
Will: I disagree. I think at the end, because they’re all thinking about the word and saying it and talking about it, they are really feeling it.
While on vacation, the narrator of this story and her friend Iris, both American, meet a German named Jurgen. Jurgen goes on and on about an untranslatable German word meaning “a good feeling people have when they are together.” The next day, Jurgen and the two women travel to a beachside boarding house. There they encounter an old man who covets Iris and, seemingly inexplicably, despises Jurgen. The four keep uneasy company—they go swimming, they eat together, and they talk about the untranslatable German word. The narrator asks Jurgen if the “good feeling” was present in Germany when Hitler reigned. Jurgen admits it probably was. Sometime later, the old man’s son—called the Connector—shows up. He, too, wants Iris. In the end, the Connector and the old man get into a brawl and Jurgen and the two women leave them behind.]
Eli: I liked it. It was really succinct writing. It was very unique. It’s almost like a series of frames, taken one by one and then pieced together. The sentences are so matter-of-fact and simple.
Roxie: Yeah, I thought the writing style worked well. It was really good at building suspense. It didn’t tell too much. On page nine, when it says the old man “had Iris up against the wall and was pushing on her hard” and “her eyes were closed because of the pain,” I thought he was raping her. But it turns out that he was just helping her pop her dislocated shoulder into place. The style worked really well there and elsewhere to build suspense.
Vicky: I agree. The writing makes you jump to conclusions, but then when you read a little further, it doesn’t turn out the way you thought it was going to. I kept being surprised.
[The students were asked why the author’s simple sentence structure is so effective.]
Molly: It’s because she holds off until the very end. And then you really appreciate it when she changes the style a bit. Up until the end, though, she’s very objective. You’re supposed to interpret for yourself. But then she reveals how the narrator feels. When she does that she uses longer sentences that aren’t just descriptions of what’s happening. That’s when she touches on the meaning of the story.
[At the end of the piece, the narrator reveals her frustration with Iris. To the narrator, Iris is the embodiment of the German word. Everyone wants Iris, everyone wants to be around her, but at the same time, says the narrator, this creates tension and quarrelling—like between the old man and his son. In light of this, the students were asked what they thought the meaning of the story was.]
Molly: When you read this story, you think about the feeling of the word Jurgen keeps talking about. The story is about that feeling. It’s something that brings people together and also tears them apart. Iris is nice to everyone and she draws everyone to her, but she also drives people apart.
Roxie: Iris causes a problem because everyone wants to be with her but they can’t all have that. It doesn’t work out. I think the author mentions Nazi Germany to point out the fleetingness of the good feeling, and to show that there’s a difference between real love and this kind of fake good feeling that actually drives people apart or causes tension.
Eli: And the good feeling is a ubiquitous feeling. Throughout the story they all feel good together. But at the same time there are these tensions under the surface. They have this sexual tension. It escalates. It reaches a breaking point. The father and his son have their scuffle. The good feeling isn’t so good after all.
[The students were asked if the author is putting forth a dark view of humanity.]
Eli: No, just a realistic view. In Nazi Germany, for example, you like to think it was a different feeling they had. That it was different from anything we feel. You like to think they had some kind of pride in their malevolence. But that’s not true. They actually had a genuine feeling of pride in their nation. They could justify what they were doing. And in this story, all the characters could justify their actions, too. Their motivations made sense. You knew why they went here or there, or why the old man and the son got in a fight.
Will: I think the word is about reaching out to people and being happy together. Having good feelings with a bunch of people. Jurgen starts out telling them about it, but at the same time he wants to have sex with the women so I think he has corrupted motives. The same thing goes for everyone. Iris is reaching out to people. But Iris likes all the attention and so I think she has corrupted intentions as well.
[The students were asked if at any point in the story the characters are actually feeling the sense of fellowship or togetherness described by the German word.]
Roxie: No, I don’t think so. I think that’s the point. They can’t have this good feeling together. There is too much tension.
Will: I disagree. I think at the end, because they’re all thinking about the word and saying it and talking about it, they are really feeling it.
Meeting 2/24/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “Catching Earl,” by Ryan Stone, published in Natural Bridge.
In this story, a man named Ted participates in an anger management group at the local Methodist Church. Ted used to beat his wife, but these days he’s sadder and older and trying to keep things under control. Across the street from him live Earl and his wife, Susan. They are younger and Ted suspects Earl abuses Susan. Ted decides to make it his mission to get Earl to come to the anger management group.]
Adrianne: This story really stood out for me. I always find these kinds of group settings interesting. Support groups, “Hi, my name is Earl”—that kind of thing. I don’t know how to describe why I liked it so much. I guess because it was very straightforward. The language wasn’t hard. I just like looking at people and hearing their stories and their background. This story let me do that.
Molly: I liked getting to see inside Ted. To see his progression from being someone who beats his wife to being the sad old man in the neighborhood. That was interesting. He used to be really angry and then he just kind of retreated into himself. Except he reaches out to Earl.
Yael: I felt for Ted. Once he exhausted all his rage he just got really sad.
Fiona: I thought that the simplicity of the writing worked well in this story. I really felt for both of them. For Ted and Earl. And especially Earl because he’s a lot younger, and he’s having so much tension with his wife.
Bora: There were certain sentences I highlighted that were great. Like this one on page 77: “Steak offers him a hand, trying to preserve trust, but to no avail because when something bigger than you asks you to trust it, it’s just a little too damn heavy.”
[Steak is the nickname for another man in the group. Ted and Steak are partners in “the old fall-into-your-partners’-arms-game” during one session in the basement of the church.]
Virginia: This sentence on page 80 was my favorite: “The tree blooms once a year in spring, and when it flowers it smells wonderful, like sweet apple spice, and the blooms are light pink, the color of a baby’s cheek.”
Bora: Actually, I was wondering about all the tree references. There are lots of trees in this piece—pecan, crab apple, chestnut… Why is that?
Roxie: I thought that was connected to this whole thing about how trees age and give something back. Like how the tree in front of Ted’s house is the prettiest on the block but only for a couple weeks. It only blooms for that long. I think he thought of his mission with Earl that way—something he could give the world, even if it was a small thing.
Bora: It’s like The Giving Tree.
[Ted succeeds in convincing Earl to come to the anger management group. The students were asked what they thought of this: Is Ted trying to save himself by saving someone else? Is Earl beyond repair?]
Tanea: Yeah, I think Ted was trying to save himself by saving Earl.
Fiona: But I don’t think Earl is beyond repair. Ted wants to help him before it’s too late.
Bora: It seemed like Ted was just trying to be Earl’s father figure. He wanted to help Earl before Earl turned into a sad old man, too.
[In the story’s final scene, Ted and Earl are at the support group. They are partners. Ernie has again instructed everyone to play “the old fall-into-your-partners’-arms-game.” Earl falls into Ted’s arm but Ted can’t keep his footing. They both fall. The story ends. The students were asked what they made of this finish.]
Tanea: When they both fell—it says, “they tumble, both of them, to the ground”—I think it represents united struggle. It represents how they are connected. They go down together.
Yael: I took it differently. I saw it as a control thing. Ernie had said that this game was about control. Ted and Earl were both out of control. The author is saying that you can’t save someone else from being out of control if you’re out of control yourself.
Adrianne: I think it’s a good ending because it keeps you questioning.
In this story, a man named Ted participates in an anger management group at the local Methodist Church. Ted used to beat his wife, but these days he’s sadder and older and trying to keep things under control. Across the street from him live Earl and his wife, Susan. They are younger and Ted suspects Earl abuses Susan. Ted decides to make it his mission to get Earl to come to the anger management group.]
Adrianne: This story really stood out for me. I always find these kinds of group settings interesting. Support groups, “Hi, my name is Earl”—that kind of thing. I don’t know how to describe why I liked it so much. I guess because it was very straightforward. The language wasn’t hard. I just like looking at people and hearing their stories and their background. This story let me do that.
Molly: I liked getting to see inside Ted. To see his progression from being someone who beats his wife to being the sad old man in the neighborhood. That was interesting. He used to be really angry and then he just kind of retreated into himself. Except he reaches out to Earl.
Yael: I felt for Ted. Once he exhausted all his rage he just got really sad.
Fiona: I thought that the simplicity of the writing worked well in this story. I really felt for both of them. For Ted and Earl. And especially Earl because he’s a lot younger, and he’s having so much tension with his wife.
Bora: There were certain sentences I highlighted that were great. Like this one on page 77: “Steak offers him a hand, trying to preserve trust, but to no avail because when something bigger than you asks you to trust it, it’s just a little too damn heavy.”
[Steak is the nickname for another man in the group. Ted and Steak are partners in “the old fall-into-your-partners’-arms-game” during one session in the basement of the church.]
Virginia: This sentence on page 80 was my favorite: “The tree blooms once a year in spring, and when it flowers it smells wonderful, like sweet apple spice, and the blooms are light pink, the color of a baby’s cheek.”
Bora: Actually, I was wondering about all the tree references. There are lots of trees in this piece—pecan, crab apple, chestnut… Why is that?
Roxie: I thought that was connected to this whole thing about how trees age and give something back. Like how the tree in front of Ted’s house is the prettiest on the block but only for a couple weeks. It only blooms for that long. I think he thought of his mission with Earl that way—something he could give the world, even if it was a small thing.
Bora: It’s like The Giving Tree.
[Ted succeeds in convincing Earl to come to the anger management group. The students were asked what they thought of this: Is Ted trying to save himself by saving someone else? Is Earl beyond repair?]
Tanea: Yeah, I think Ted was trying to save himself by saving Earl.
Fiona: But I don’t think Earl is beyond repair. Ted wants to help him before it’s too late.
Bora: It seemed like Ted was just trying to be Earl’s father figure. He wanted to help Earl before Earl turned into a sad old man, too.
[In the story’s final scene, Ted and Earl are at the support group. They are partners. Ernie has again instructed everyone to play “the old fall-into-your-partners’-arms-game.” Earl falls into Ted’s arm but Ted can’t keep his footing. They both fall. The story ends. The students were asked what they made of this finish.]
Tanea: When they both fell—it says, “they tumble, both of them, to the ground”—I think it represents united struggle. It represents how they are connected. They go down together.
Yael: I took it differently. I saw it as a control thing. Ernie had said that this game was about control. Ted and Earl were both out of control. The author is saying that you can’t save someone else from being out of control if you’re out of control yourself.
Adrianne: I think it’s a good ending because it keeps you questioning.
Meeting 2/10/09 (San Francisco)
[Transcribed discussion of “Hair Types,” a comic by Olivier Schrauwen, published in Mome.
In this sequence, the artist depicts a workroom of men drawing. They are dressed in suits and a couple wear mighty beards. It seems to be taking place circa 1900. One man draws a diagram of hair types—Docile, Rigid, Frivolous, Intrusive, Wild, Crazy—and the kind of head that each hair type sits on. Another man in the room—a man with blond, spiky hair—sees the diagram. He and the fellow who drew it get into an argument about what kind of hair type the blond man has. Others join in the debate. Soon everyone in the room is drawing hair diagrams and interpreting them. The supervisor hears the commotion and barges in. He wants to know what’s going on. He looks at the hair drawings. The supervisor is pleased with the industriousness of his drawing-men.
The students were asked if they followed the story.]
Will: It made sense to me. They’re all workers working and then the supervisor comes in.
Sophia: I think it’s not supposed to make that much sense but you can make a lot of sense out of it. [Laughs] Does that make sense?
Molly: I thought the drawings paired with the words this way were really funny, even if I didn’t understand all of it.
Sophia: Yeah, I thought the drawings were hilarious.
[The students were asked what the men were doing.]
Bora: I thought it was kind of a think-tank. I don’t know why. Maybe all the high-backed chairs? All the stern faces?
Roxie: I took it differently. I thought they just had some super normal desk job and they were messing around. I thought they were just goofing around. Bored at the office. And I think the drawing at the end is a drawing of their ideal women, how they each want their woman’s hair to look. I think this piece really stands out. I think it’s well drawn and it’s mysterious enough that you want to keep reading.
[The final drawing in the sequence is a diagram of women. Each one wears a different example of the hair types—Docile, Rigid, Frivolous, and so on.
Throughout the piece, the drawings are done with a charcoal-like pencil. The lines are sometimes smudged artfully.]
Sophia: I liked the blur effect. It made it like watching TV. But at the same time the facial hair wasn’t modern so it looks like it was some time way before TV.
Bora: The whole piece is just a little odd. In a good way, I think. And it’s an unusual length.
[The students were asked if someone reading the anthology would take the time to read the piece, even though it’s strange.]
Charley: I think there are a lot of good things to catch in this story, so yes, definitely. I mean, there are all these corresponding types of hair throughout the story to pay attention to. And there are words I didn’t know like “toxicomany.” There are lots of levels. It’s a puzzling piece but it’s really good.
Roxie: I think even if you were just flipping through the book, the drawings would be enough to stop you and make you want to read it.
Adrianne: I like that the piece has so few words. It’s a break from words.
[The very last frame of the piece is dots. It’s a frame of oversized pixels. The students were asked why the artist ended with this drawing.]
Yael: Maybe it’s hair follicles. It looks like a shaved head up close. A shaved head has little dots if you look closely.
Will: The artist does this elsewhere. It seems like he’s trying to create a different mood whenever he uses dots in a frame’s background. So I think he’s setting the mood he wants to end on.
Roxie: Or maybe he just had an extra panel and had to fill it.
Molly: Or maybe it’s like static on a television.
In this sequence, the artist depicts a workroom of men drawing. They are dressed in suits and a couple wear mighty beards. It seems to be taking place circa 1900. One man draws a diagram of hair types—Docile, Rigid, Frivolous, Intrusive, Wild, Crazy—and the kind of head that each hair type sits on. Another man in the room—a man with blond, spiky hair—sees the diagram. He and the fellow who drew it get into an argument about what kind of hair type the blond man has. Others join in the debate. Soon everyone in the room is drawing hair diagrams and interpreting them. The supervisor hears the commotion and barges in. He wants to know what’s going on. He looks at the hair drawings. The supervisor is pleased with the industriousness of his drawing-men.
The students were asked if they followed the story.]
Will: It made sense to me. They’re all workers working and then the supervisor comes in.
Sophia: I think it’s not supposed to make that much sense but you can make a lot of sense out of it. [Laughs] Does that make sense?
Molly: I thought the drawings paired with the words this way were really funny, even if I didn’t understand all of it.
Sophia: Yeah, I thought the drawings were hilarious.
[The students were asked what the men were doing.]
Bora: I thought it was kind of a think-tank. I don’t know why. Maybe all the high-backed chairs? All the stern faces?
Roxie: I took it differently. I thought they just had some super normal desk job and they were messing around. I thought they were just goofing around. Bored at the office. And I think the drawing at the end is a drawing of their ideal women, how they each want their woman’s hair to look. I think this piece really stands out. I think it’s well drawn and it’s mysterious enough that you want to keep reading.
[The final drawing in the sequence is a diagram of women. Each one wears a different example of the hair types—Docile, Rigid, Frivolous, and so on.
Throughout the piece, the drawings are done with a charcoal-like pencil. The lines are sometimes smudged artfully.]
Sophia: I liked the blur effect. It made it like watching TV. But at the same time the facial hair wasn’t modern so it looks like it was some time way before TV.
Bora: The whole piece is just a little odd. In a good way, I think. And it’s an unusual length.
[The students were asked if someone reading the anthology would take the time to read the piece, even though it’s strange.]
Charley: I think there are a lot of good things to catch in this story, so yes, definitely. I mean, there are all these corresponding types of hair throughout the story to pay attention to. And there are words I didn’t know like “toxicomany.” There are lots of levels. It’s a puzzling piece but it’s really good.
Roxie: I think even if you were just flipping through the book, the drawings would be enough to stop you and make you want to read it.
Adrianne: I like that the piece has so few words. It’s a break from words.
[The very last frame of the piece is dots. It’s a frame of oversized pixels. The students were asked why the artist ended with this drawing.]
Yael: Maybe it’s hair follicles. It looks like a shaved head up close. A shaved head has little dots if you look closely.
Will: The artist does this elsewhere. It seems like he’s trying to create a different mood whenever he uses dots in a frame’s background. So I think he’s setting the mood he wants to end on.
Roxie: Or maybe he just had an extra panel and had to fill it.
Molly: Or maybe it’s like static on a television.
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