Re: Answered Prayers
Camille Scaysbrook (the_globe@hotmail.com)
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 23:25:10 -0800 (PST)
OK, so it did get through ... anyway, what about this one (the
formatting will suck, I already know that):
Mattis Fishman wrote:
> I liked the tone of the dialogue, and ironically it struck me
> as Salingeresque, shades of Uncle Wiggly. But then the idea that
> he was using real people and their names kept getting in the way.
> I mean, if this is supposed to be an accurate retelling of the wit
> and wisdom of these celebreties, then I felt as though I was
reading
> a literary gossip column. On the other hand, if it is imagination
> projected onto the personae of the beautiful people, it looks like
> name dropping snobbery.
Well, I think it's a bit of all of those things. Capote would have been
the
first to admit he was a shameless media slut (:.Personally I think there
is
something very postmodern and clever about blurring the lines between
those
real and false personas and anecdotes- it asks a question of gossip
itself,
which is by nature a highly apocryphal,inaccurate,
semi-fictional-semi-non-fictional form of communication. It asks us to
remember that what passes into gossip folklore is notoriously unreliable
and unverifiable, just as these stories are. And - like with real gossip
-
there is undeniable fun in the sport of separating the real from the
false,
or the puzzle of the `roman a clef' - trying to decide which fictional
persona represents which real one. Which is, when you think about it, a
play with very similar ideas to the ones Salinger plays with in the
character of Buddy Glass.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest
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