Re: one better


Subject: Re: one better
From: jason varsoke (jjv@swl.msd.ray.com)
Date: Thu Apr 13 2000 - 08:57:13 EDT


On Wed, 12 Apr 2000, Scottie Bowman wrote:

> For the benefit of that small handful of people
> who may not have heard it, here in 230 words,
> is the greatest short story ever told - in any language.
>

And in 11 words, the shortest story ever told:

   The last man on earth heard a knock at the door.

Speaking of great writers, Swedish, Cornish or not, are there any Thom
Jones fans out there? I just picked up _Pugilist at Rest_ and damn that's
some bare knuckle puncher prose. Does anyone know of a Jones listserv?
Litzs.com doesn't liszt one.

   I picked him up because I was cutting out clippings of advice to
writers. (ah what we'll do to avoid a blank page) I found several were
all from this guy Thom Jones. So I looked him up. My favorite quote goes
something like this: "Writing is hard because a writer has to
know everything. I mean, a dentist has to know teeth. But a writer has
to know the heart. I guess that's why I work so hard at it. I write five
hours a day. Some of my students will come and ask me to go backpacking
with them. I never do. I need to write. But if your the type that goes
backpacking, I don't know if you're going to make it in the business,
because your going to have to deal with obsessive people like me. I'm
your competition. And while you're out backpacking I'm in writing. And
while your getting weaker, I'm getting stronger." Like I said, a
bare-knuckle puncher.

now back to the blank page,

-jason

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