Nath Jones's Blog - Posts Tagged "art"
Curation
Titling this fourth short story collection is becoming a bit of an issue. There are several people involved in the project and their opinions are various:
Sally likes How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken but didn't for a while.
JT does not like How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken (and really neither do I.)
A case can be made for leaving the title as How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken since 40,000 flyers have gone out with a mention of its forthcoming status. Except, I think we can all agree that the cover isn't going to do much to sell this collection to any reader who has millions of options.
David likes Acquainted with Squalor
Chris likes Acquainted with Squalor
I like Acquainted with Squalor in contrast to the formality of the woman's dress on that cover Chris designed.
But that's undermined by the fact that Mom HATES Acquainted with Squalor
I liked Shoot the Diamond
Chris does not at all like Shoot the Diamond
Nate says maybe Roast Beef & Havarti and Other Stories, which sure but why?
Several other people had several other suggestions to which I should have been more receptive because I can't recall any of them at this moment.
Similarly, I had a bevvy of other ideas which are all now mainly forgotten.
Everyone LOVES Blessed Rat Bastards, which will not work to help garner either self-respect or literary credibility. (Plus, my grandmother would roll over in her grave.)
Just now in the shower I thought, "Maybe it should be The Damnation of Certainty." Except I'm not really sure about it, which points more to the damnation of uncertainty.
Sally likes How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken but didn't for a while.
JT does not like How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken (and really neither do I.)
A case can be made for leaving the title as How to Cherish the Grief-Stricken since 40,000 flyers have gone out with a mention of its forthcoming status. Except, I think we can all agree that the cover isn't going to do much to sell this collection to any reader who has millions of options.
David likes Acquainted with Squalor
Chris likes Acquainted with Squalor
I like Acquainted with Squalor in contrast to the formality of the woman's dress on that cover Chris designed.
But that's undermined by the fact that Mom HATES Acquainted with Squalor
I liked Shoot the Diamond
Chris does not at all like Shoot the Diamond
Nate says maybe Roast Beef & Havarti and Other Stories, which sure but why?
Several other people had several other suggestions to which I should have been more receptive because I can't recall any of them at this moment.
Similarly, I had a bevvy of other ideas which are all now mainly forgotten.
Everyone LOVES Blessed Rat Bastards, which will not work to help garner either self-respect or literary credibility. (Plus, my grandmother would roll over in her grave.)
Just now in the shower I thought, "Maybe it should be The Damnation of Certainty." Except I'm not really sure about it, which points more to the damnation of uncertainty.
Decisions
Art is the decision you don't want to make.
Title-wise, things have solidified for this fourth collection. Acquainted with Squalor has lingered longer than the rest, which is enough of a determinate for me.
So now it's about the epigraph. There's:
But then there's this Salinger passage:
The collection of stories isn't as angry as it was when Sarah's Facebook status seemed so perfect as a lead-in to the book. But I still love the transience of writing online, how a moment gets captured.
This whole collection--and series, really--has been intimately entwined with Facebook. I love the image Sarah creates. Still, avenging angels aren't quite what I've got as the women in this book. These characters are less convicted, less capable.
Plus, angel is so loaded.
So this thing about squalor, about stories for others, and about why I'm doing any of this in the first place--I don't know.
It becomes a matter of where to cut the Salinger quote.
is quite different from:
or just simply:
which is what I'm leaning toward.
Title-wise, things have solidified for this fourth collection. Acquainted with Squalor has lingered longer than the rest, which is enough of a determinate for me.
So now it's about the epigraph. There's:
The snowplow is an avenging angel.
Sarah Strange Harding’s Facebook Status, for a moment on 2/21/2011
But then there's this Salinger passage:
I told her that I'd never written a story for anybody, but that it seemed like exactly the right time to get down to it.
She nodded. "Make it extremely squalid and moving," she suggested. "Are you at all acquainted with squalor?"
I said not exactly but that I was getting better acquainted with it, in one form or another, all the time, and that I'd do my best to come up to her specifications.
The collection of stories isn't as angry as it was when Sarah's Facebook status seemed so perfect as a lead-in to the book. But I still love the transience of writing online, how a moment gets captured.
This whole collection--and series, really--has been intimately entwined with Facebook. I love the image Sarah creates. Still, avenging angels aren't quite what I've got as the women in this book. These characters are less convicted, less capable.
Plus, angel is so loaded.
So this thing about squalor, about stories for others, and about why I'm doing any of this in the first place--I don't know.
It becomes a matter of where to cut the Salinger quote.
"Make it extremely squalid and moving," she suggested. "Are you at all acquainted with squalor?"
is quite different from:
"Are you at all acquainted with squalor?"
I said not exactly but that I was getting better acquainted with it, in one form or another, all the time.
or just simply:
"Are you at all acquainted with squalor?"
which is what I'm leaning toward.
