I am surprised that I still have Blue Men wandering into my life.
I am a fairly private anti-social person but from time-to-time a person who should not cross my path does, and that they have an impact upon my life, really should come as no surprise.
We all have these encounters with Blue Men and it’s up to us as to what we do when we meet them.
Sometimes I think that these stories are my Blue Men. I read them; ponder them for days, weeks and months sometimes attempting to figure out what they could be telling me. What message they are trying to impart. Perhaps some of the instability in my psyche lately has to do with the lack of exposure to these stories. I need to find the time at work to unplug and to enjoy my lunch with a story. But, that will take a lot of convincing…I seem to have trouble operating that way.
Sorry about the wording of the above couple of paragraphs – it’s late and my mind is a little slow.
Joy Williams in undoubtedly one of the best practitioners in America of the art of the short story. Although she has written novels, I still think that her literary genius lies in the short fiction form, and it's sad that we've never heard much from her lately. The last collection of stories she had was with the book "The Honored Guest," which came out back in 2000/2001.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous - Thank you for your comment. I agree with your thoughts on Williams and am sorry too that she has disappeared from the scene. What upsets me even further is that Williams was a guest at the annual literary festival of the University where I work part-time and I failed to attend her session! Aghhhhh!
Deletehttp://www.lib.odu.edu/litfest/34th/people.htm
You're welcome, Nokaj. As I've said in my previous post, I'm a follower of the BASS series just like you and I enjoy reading this annual anthology although we cannot expect to like every single story included. However, in the case of Ms. Williams, her stories deserve the honor not only for her unique plot and theme but also in her style of telling and presenting these stories to her readers---sometimes odd tales told in a funny, ironic way; and sometimes just another "everyday" stories, ordinary tales narrated with flashes of sadness, disappointment, and regret. Ms. Williams is one brilliant writer who can assume a great variety of narrative voices.---Ced
ReplyDelete