One of my favorite authors Alice Munro, was 92 years old, and died on May 13, 2024 in Port Hope, Ontario.
I’ve collected her works of short stories and novels bounded together under such titles as The Progress of Love, Runaway Stories, Open Secret Stories, Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You, Away from Her. Alice Munro wrote unexpected plots with unapologetic people, whose flawless dialog was realistic and shocking. She pitted a character’s frame of mind into unwavering life challenges; Alice Munro won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. Her style, compared to Earnest Hemming’s, wrote a character’s thoughts with precise, sparse, and un-frilled clarity. Alice’s storytelling was like ice water poured over a naked body. Another comparison was to author John Updike, both wrote about social complexities and sexual relationships as backdrops. Also, as with author Flannery O’Connor, Alice’s vivid creation of eccentric, independent individuals filled the imagination. Alice was either loved for her graphic portrayals, or disliked for the quickness in moving her characters from one place to another, without allowing the reader to settle too comfortably in each scene. One of her books should be on a must-read list!
Another recent news feature that caught my attention was about Lauren Groff, a bestselling novelist and three-time National Book Award finalist. She opened a 2,300 square foot bookstore in Gainesville, Florida. More than 3,000 people showed up throughout the first day for a series of author readings, folk music, live poetry composition and, of course, book buying. The numbers haven’t swayed, as the store’s title WATCH US BITE BACK, required no explanation. More than 5,100 books were banned in Florida schools from July 2021 through December 2023 — the highest number in the country, according to PEN America. Lauren’s pride, as walk into the bookstore, displayed frequently challenged books across the United States, among them The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Tricks by Ellen Hopkins and All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and Flamer by Mike Curato. With its focus, WATCH US BITE BACK hopes to help Gainesville more of a literary destination — a hub for author readings, book club gatherings and workshops.
Words won’t vanish when there’s a willingness to read, listen, and learn.
Dear Cheryl,
Why is it that so many cherished American rights are threatened today? Have they always been threatened and I just didn’t notice? Or has something toxic been dumped in the water that infects us all? As I work on my novel and short stories, I don’t think about censors, but I suppose I should. After all, will a simple love story between two gay men be banned just because it’s about two gay men? If a character in an earlier era parses the difference between interracial and interreligious marriage, will a rewrite be demanded? I hope I don’t have to worry about pleasing the censorious among us while trying to find an audience for my writing.
I believe in live and let live. It’s one of my core beliefs. I try hard to live it in my daily life although I still need to judge right from wrong. What would it look like if everyone had a little more “live and let live” in their life and a little less “judge right from wrong”? Some posit chaos, other posit nirvana. No doubt the reality would be somewhere in-between, but I have to think it would be better than what we have now.
Steve
Steve, I can’t answer with 100% clarity WHY and WHAT has happened in America. It’s a slow crawl into the unbelievable where the FAR Right, MAGA Extremists, Heavy-Handed Christians, Fears of Liberal Thinking, and Stupidity have snow-balled into destructive avalanches, burying those who are no longer considered American. I think of what it is to feel American, the country I was born in, and I can’t see past the color of my skin and deafen the sound of racism pricking my bones until the pain is unbearable. Many books have been on the chopping block and continue to be dismissed as garbage and un-American because of their subject manner dealing with race, sex, and inequality. My journey as a writer, on my own forthcoming projects, has forced me to seek publication outside of the country…this is a sad fact and reality.
I like the way you talk about your favorite authors, it gives me inspiration to read their books, thanks, Florence
Thank you Florence, because to publish your book at 90 years old, for sure an inspiration.