--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: > > Oy, I've never even heard of your favorite writers! Which > I'm sure sez way more about me than about them (-:
Not really. Chris' books sell well, but he's not as well known as many American humorists. Dorothy wrote primarily historical fiction, which is not everyone's cuppa tea. > Anyway, I do the same thing. I read/watch stuff over and over. > Same with music. Some people don't understand how I can watch > a movie over and over once I know the story. Or reread a novel. > It's that my enjoyment is derived not only from the story, but > also from how it's told. Exactly. > And I'm also sensing that my taste is a little more low brow > than yours. Vive la difference! Not necessarily. Chris writes very middlebrow humor, with occasional forays into brilliance, such as his "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal." It's one of the most spiritual books I've ever read. Really. As for Dorothy, she was a trip. She was the wife of Lord Alistair Dunnett, editor of The Scotsman, and real-life model for Ian Fleming's James Bond. She only started writing in her late 30s, but developed a rather fanatical following, among whom she is regarded as the best writer of the English language in the 20th century. It's the mastery thang, as I suggested before. She writes the best plots in the world, her history is always impeccable (far better than historians'), but above all it's about her characters. They're like peeling an onion. You think you know them when you first meet them, but 2000 pages later she can make you gasp and say, "Jesus...I never saw that coming. Now I have to go back and read the book from the beginning." Suffice it to say I have done just that, many times. > ________________________________ > From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 11:16 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: RIP Nora ques to Barry > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> wrote: > > > > Ok, thanks for explaining. So, who IS one of your favorite > > writers? I mean, that I might be familiar with given my > > limitations, weirdness, Domeness, etc. (-: > > I'd rather not say, because there are some here who > will leap upon them as a way of leaping upon me. But > there are a few I've mentioned in the past. For funny, > it's hard to beat Christopher Moore. For mastery, > Dorothy Dunnett. > > The bottom line for me when it comes to "Favorite > Writers" is the same as for "Favorite Movies or TV." > Repeatability. That is, do I want to read it twice, > or even more than twice? As much as I liked Nora > Ephron, she never met that criterion. The corollary > to this criterion is whether the writing in question > gets *better* with every reading. For Chris Moore, > and for Lady Dunnett, this is always true. > > > ________________________________ > > From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 10:40 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: RIP Nora ques to Barry > > > > > > ÃÂ > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> wrote: > > > > > > Ok, Barry, now I'm really confused. You say her writing style > > > was superb and she always made you laugh. BUT, she was not > > > one of your favorite writers! > > > Huh? What am I missing here? > > > > Many writers, few spots on the "Favorites" list. > > > > > ________________________________ > > > From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 8:11 AM > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] RIP Nora > > > > > > Nora Ephron was never one of my favorite writers, but I > > > can say of her something I can't say about many others -- > > > she always made me laugh. Whether it was in the scripts > > > of her movies or in articles for Esquire or the New Yorker > > > or Huffington Post, she was a hoot. Her writing style was > > > superb, and no matter how serious the subject, it almost > > > always seemed to be almost-but-not-quite-concealing-a- > > > smile. If you don't know her except as the author of > > > "When Harry Met Sally," here are a couple of short > > > pieces to hopefully make you smile as well. > > > > > > Her recent hilarious short parody of Stieg Larsson: > > > http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2010/07/05/100705sh_shouts_ephron > > > > > > Nora's famous slightly longer piece on becoming an heiress: > > > http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_ephron > > > > > >
