Re: Book of the month quote?

I always thought it as it's not right to name living authors because they're
still alive, and they still have time to write. Giving them the ability to
either write something fabulous or write something terrible. Imagine saying,
"oh my favorite author is _______" and having someone reply, "oh he wrote
that novel ______. worst book i ever read!" That would be a slap in the face
to me, although probably not to most people. Maybe he just doesn't want to
name living authors in case they become a disgrace.

>From: lray <lray@centenary.edu>
>Reply-To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
>To: bananafish <bananafish@roughdraft.org>
>Subject: Book of the month quote?
>Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 22:49:20 -0600
>
>From Sonny's page apparently I saw this quote from the Book of the Month
>club:
>"I enjoyed the day but it isn't something I'd ever want to do again. I got
>very oracular and literary. I found myself labelling all the writers I
>respect...A writer, when he's asked to discuss his craft, ought to get up
>and
>call out in a loud voice just the names of the writers he loves. I love
>Kafka,
>Flaubert, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Proust, O'Casey, Rilke, Lorca,
>Keats,
>Rimbaud, Burns, E.Bronte, Jane Austen, Henry James, Blake, Coleridge. I
>won't
>name any living writers. I don't think it's right."
>I am particularly interested in JDS's not thinking it is right to name his
>favorite living writers. Why is this? He is merely making a joke or does
>he
>find flattery rude? Or maybe my being young I have missed something rather
>obvious. Would naming someone make that person more self-conscious or does
>it
>have to do with someone not yet having thought they reached their peak or
>perfection and somehow injuring them and/or their craft by naming them.
>Sorry
>if this is a bit too obscure of a thread to start. Nonetheless, I would
>like
>to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Hopefully we can all discuss
>something
>without insulting each other. We are all bananafish.
>-Levi
>
>Check out my site at http://ruonthelevel.com/
>and if all else fails this might work http://ruonthelevel.no-ip.com/
>
>-
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Received on Thu Dec 5 11:20:00 2002