>From time to time on the list, people write about coming across references to
Joni in modern works of fiction. I posted something about a year ago when I
stumbled upon a couple of Joni mentions in a book I would not recommend
called _Pool Boy_ by someone whose name I've forgotten. And a few weeks ago,
I think MG and/or Bree mentioned something about Joni in a trashy novel.
So I got to thinking . . . if Les thinks it's a good idea, and if you all can
let me know about Joni literary references you've come across, maybe we can
add a new section to the JMDL devoted to Joni mentions in fiction. I would be
glad to volunteer to take on the project.
I think it's pretty impressive that so many writers have been choosing to
include Joni in their stories lately. For example, today I was reading a
short story by Roddy Doyle, the Irish author of such great novels as _The
Commitments_, _The Van_, and _The Snapper_ (which comprise his Barrytown
Trilogy and have all been made into movies), plus _Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha_,
and _A Star Called Henry_. I have transcribed most of the paragraph in which
Joni appears below, but before I get to that I'd like to tell you a little
bit about the short story collection in which Doyle's story appears.
Edited by Nick Hornby, author of _High Fidelity_ (which was also made into a
film that had a memorable scene that involved Joni), the book is called
_Speaking with the Angel_. Hornby decided to put the collection together
after being inspired by the success of Bono's Jubilee 2000 campaign, which
was created to reduce the Third World's debt to the West. The purpose of the
book is to raise funds for Hornby's autistic son's school -- called TreeHouse
-- in London. If you purchase the book in the UK, one pound goes to the
school, and if you buy it in the US, two dollars from the cost of the book
will be split between TreeHouse and a similar school in Queens called the New
York Child Learning Institute. Hornby writes in the introduction about the
experience of parenting an autistic child and the difficulties in finding
schools for these children, which is what led him and other parents of
autistic children to establish TreeHouse. Anyway, I digress. But my point is,
if you buy this book, it's for a very good cause.
The other news is, the book is great. I love modern fiction, but I am no big
fan of short stories because I have thought for years that the format pretty
much died out about 50 years ago. Well, Hornby has gathered some of the
funniest writers out there for a short story collection that is a very
entertaining -- sometimes even laugh-out-loud-funny -- read from beginning to
end. The writers are mainly British, although there are some Irish and
American writers in the mix. Besides Hornby and Doyle, the book features
Zadie Smith (_White Teeth_), Dave Eggers (_A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius_), Helen Fielding (_Bridget Jones's Diary_), Giles Smith (Midnight in
the Garden of Evel Knievel_), Jonh O'Farrell (_The Best a Man Can Get_), and
Melissa Bank (_The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing_), among others.
The Roddy Doyle story with Joni in it is called "The Slave." Here's about one
third of the paragraph in which her name appears:
"I bought a CD today. I went down to Virgin during the break. I was going to
get one of the old ones, something I loved but didn't have on CD. Dylan or
Bob Seger or the Eagles or Bob Marley or Joni Mitchell -- I could go on
forever. But I didn't. I had "Blue" and "Blood on the Tracks" in my hand -- I
was going to get the both of them. But I didn't. I went for something
completely new. I bought an album by Leftfield, this band that isn't really a
band. They're a pair of young lads who do this sampling and mixing, you know.
Robbing other people's ideas and making their own thing out of it . . ."
Take care,
--Bob
