James Frey blah blah admits some aspects of book fabricated, but the interesting part of the novel is how if affects marriages. Gay Talese, author and former NY Times reporter, believes "it was unacceptable for an author or a publisher to present as nonfiction a work that . . . otherwise blurred the lines between truth and fiction." His wife, Nan Talese, publisher of James Frey's book, believes that memoirs are "not absolute fact. It's how one remembers what happened. . . This is a debate that we've been having for 40 years."
I sense some tension in the household. Or, at least, in the categorizing the books in the library. For instance, where would Proust fit into the couple's divide? (As usual, it all comes back to Proust).
Today, both NHPR and the Concord Monitor reported on the 4th graders lobbying the state government to make the pumpkin the New Hampshire state fruit. However, apple growers are supporting the apple (natch) as the state fruit. In the pumpkin's favor is that Vermont already designated the apple as its state fruit, and New Hampshire has a habit of forging its own path.
The downside of the debate is that the students seem to have also discovered ennui with a dose of Weltschmerz:
After the hearing, students like 9 year old Madison Norris said she didn't expect any opposition to the pumpkin plan: "When we heard [the apple supporters] going against the pumpkin, we were all like bummed out, because he was going against us... I think it should work out. I think I was bummed out because Ms. Frick said don't be bummed out. But it was hard not to. I don't know why. But I just was."
As I am on break before classes begin again, I am using this opportunity to give the apartment some much needed therapy. Yesterday the kitchen was cleansed of grease demons and clutter. Today my office area was made lighter of a bag bound for recycling and some frames had to be rearranged. I was also going to go through the hall closet, but realized that would require going through the living room closet as well.
Instead, I took a nap and watched Martha's Homemade Holidays because I am suffering from holiday withdrawal. Or, rather, sugar withdrawal as I haven't had a cookie in two days after nearly two weeks of constant cookie consumption. (Slightly related, anyone know of a good book that gives basic fitness tips?)
More importantly, I know that everyone is chomping at the bit to find out the fruit of the year after 2005's Year of the Fig. And the winner is: the quince! While I personally did not receive anything quince scented, trend reports show that quince is up and coming. So if I say it, and then two more people say it, we have a trend for the NY Times Styles section.
