The Beiderbecke Affair got me to thinking about writers and readers and me.

I once attended a writer’s conference solely to hear David James Duncan speak*.

As I recall, there were three sessions in which he either participated or was the subject of discussion. One was called “Is David James Duncan a Christian?”, a question that is beside the point, unless you’re a teacher at a Christian college and need to justify teaching his books.

He spoke at another session, in which he also read from The Brothers K, after which I became an even more devoted fan. In the third session, a professor from the English department interviewed him.

Fortunately, at least in public speaking DJD did not disappoint (and I never even considered the possibility that he might). He was funny, engaging, and honest, and I wanted more. More reading from him, and more writing for me to read. Fiction, preferably, but there has been no fiction since, even though he spoke of a novel in progress.

I’d actually like to meet DJD; I’m curious about both his writing and his background as a Seventh-day Adventist. I want to hear him read the Attaboy section of The Brothers K, an incident which for humor can stand entirely on its own but as a part of the larger whole hits the reader right where she’s not expecting it. I’d like to hear him read the Ma Huang story from The River Why. I’d like to know more about his spiritual journey. I’m even willing to take the chance of disillusionment (being married to a pastor can make one simultaneously more cynical and more realistic about human nature).

A cousin to being disillusioned by a writer’s reality is being afraid that what comes next can’t be any better. Fortunately, I’ve been stricken by this ailment only once. I’ve been a longtime fan of John Irving, but since A Prayer for Owen Meany, I have been unable to read any new John Irving. I suffer from a fear that the new writing will not measure up to the old. Since no one I know reads John Irving, no one has been able to tell me otherwise.

This is oddly contrary to wanting (nay, even demanding) more from a writer like DJD, or Susan Howatch (even when her “more” doesn’t measure up to the old), or Jasper Fforde, or even Gord Sellar, whose unpublished work I’ve recently begun to admire. Readers can but wait.

*At this same writer’s conference I also heard Elie Wiesel, even though I hadn’t come to hear him. I ignored John Updike; I’d never heard of Philip Yancey, though now I’m enjoying his work; and I avoided Ralph Wood, who I met once through Mr. Cuccu #1, as I still wasn’t up to explaining his absence.

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 10:20 AM
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1. I am not a people // I am a Turing test proof loosed upon the world // fall before the awesome power of the Singularity //

   Hey, you’re sweet to mention me in a paragraph with such illustrious authors. There’s a new story up, and this one’s even in a big mag’s slushpile as I type. You’ll have to login to see it. Unfortunately, it’s even crueler than the last one I posted, but with as much or more just cause, I think… best of all, it’s ridiculously short!

   Posted by gordsellar on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 9:41 AM

2. Yes, I read the story earlier today and am still digesting it. ;)

   Have you read any of the authors I mentioned?

   Posted by Cuccu on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 4:54 PM

3. Actually, the only person among those mentioned whom I’ve even tried to read was Updike. I don’t know which book it was, since it was so long ago, but I remember only one thing: it was boooooooooooring, I was glad I’d only paid fifty cents for it, and I threw the book into the “get rid of/avoid from now on” pile within the first 50 pages. 

   I also read a little of Wiesel but it was a book I picked up for a friend who was praising him and wishing he could get more, so I ended up posting it to him. (It was in Korea, where it’s somewhat harder to find used books of any kind, let alone those of Elie Wiesel.)

   But of the links I followed, I have a feeling that Jasper Fforde would be someone whose work I could enjoy. Y’think?

   Posted by gordsellar on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 6:25 PM

4. I tried Updike, too, with the same results (Mr. Cuccu #1 was a fan). But I’ve wondered if he might be someone I might appreciate later.

   You might like Jasper Fforde. Although I’m a big fan, I have my own criticisms of his writing, but overall he’s just plain fun.

   Posted by Cuccu on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 6:57 PM

5. Seems to me as if he’s mining out the territory of that novel At Swim-Two-Birds in a more straightforward, comedic vein; but then again, that sounds good to me, if it’s done well. I’ve added The Eyre Affair to my read-sometime list.

   Posted by gordsellar on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 7:20 PM

6. At Swim-Two-Birds sounds interesting (from research subsequent to your comment). Am picking up a copy later today.

   Posted by Cuccu on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 11:39 AM

7. Cool. Let me know what you think. I especiall got a kick out of the use of Chapter<s>s</s> Heading<s>s</s>. As for the rest of the book, it’s just weird, and I found myself rereading bits to make sure I understood. I think I liked the concept a little more than the execution, but that I thought the execution pretty good by the end.

   Posted by gordsellar on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 6:18 PM
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