Solo Voices - E.L. Doctorow

A group of us attended a lecture by author E.L. Doctorow last night at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Doctorow is perhaps best known for penning Ragtime (you may recall the 1981 movie of the same name - Doctorow told us he hated the movie) and Billy Bathgate (made into a movie in 1991). He's won numerous awards, among them the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Doctorow read a short (actually, kinda long) story from his latest book, Sweet Land Sories. The bittersweet tale enititled, Jolene: A Life, was a moving, depressing yet somewhat hopeful account of a young girl's repeated destructive relationships and her attempts to find something better. Doctorow's speaking rhythm while reading somehow gave a depth and aliveness to Jolene.

Doctorow took a couple of questions from the audience. He said doing too much research can ruin your story. He also told us that his only inspiration for the story was seeing a gym employee's name tag that read "Jolene" - he did no other research. That that was enough for him to create the tale was incredible to us considering he's a 70+ year old man and Jolene's tale takes her from age 15 to 25.

It was an interesting event that led to lots of group discussion afterwards and it was one of a series presented with the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. For more on the center, see http://www.asu.edu/clas/pipercwcenter/.

Comments

Crime Dog said…
Nicely done! Your blog is the intelligent antithesis to my brainless ramblings. You must consume books at the pace of a sprinter. It takes me a couple of weeks. Maybe I should read at times other than on the john.....

My favorite author: http://www.jamesleeburke.com/
5:04 PM
Cheesehead said…
Or maybe you need to spend more time on the john. :-)
7:58 PM
Crime Dog said…
Mrs. Crime Dog would disagree.
3:44 PM
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