Tom Bissell is a fantastic essayist. I quite enjoyed this book and might even put it into my reread pile. Having said that, here is a short summary of the essays.
For those of you that say that you don’t have time to read, I read this book in pieces— in the middle of 15 minute journeys back and forth on the streetcar, twice per week, for the past 7 or 8 weeks. This is time I otherwise would have spent mindlessly scrolling on my phone.
“Unflowered Aloes”
A summary of the not uncommon phenomena where well known authors might remain in obscurity for many years, even through their death, and then become popular, respected, or both.
Sample quote: “Art lives uncertainly, and not for long”
“Escanaba’s Magic Hour”
Memories of a film making project in and around the upper peninsula town of Escanaba, MI (which I visited many years ago as part of my sales job).
Sample quote: “Whether one is from Nashville or the Upper West Side, one’s hometown means something that often outstrips our ability to explain what.”
“Grief and the Outsider-The Case of the Underground Literary Alliance”
Examples of how the Underground Literary Alliance (ULA) activist group attempts to separate art from commercial success, focusing instead on “emotion and purity of intent” from its members.
Sample quote: “Literature is always written by outsiders. Even lousy literature is written by outsiders”.
“Writing About Writing About Writing”
The author’s own experiences in working through various books to learn the art of writing.
Sample quote: “unlike math or music, the adolescent prodigy is virtually unknown in literature…writing is based on a gradual development of psychological perception, which takes time and experience.”
Side note: Mary Warnock in her book “An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Ethics” points out that there aren’t any child prodigies in moral thinking either–it takes life experience to gather the needed perspective.
“Rules of Engagement-The Iraq War and Documentary Films”
The author compares and contrasts several documentaries on the Iraq war, attempting to identify some of the unique characteristics of each of the documentaries.
Sample quote: “any honest documentary film about war must address the question about human suffering, given that human suffering is war’s distillation. But who’s suffering?”
“Euphorias of Perrier-the case against Robert D Kaplan”
A scathing critique of the writer Kaplan, who seems well respected by some as a travel writer or as a commenter on world affairs.
Sample quote: “Throughout his long career Robert D Kaplan has consistently benefitted from the fact that no one has any idea what, exactly, he is. A humble travel writer? A popular historian?”
“Still Rising”
A short reflection of Hemingway’s life, as well as his book “The Sun Also Rises”, which is lauded by Bissell.
Sample quote: “The Sun also rises has now been with us for eighty years. What one imagines seemed irrepressibly fresh to its readers then and feels deathlessly relevant now”.
I haven’t read this in a long time. Maybe I need to pick it up again?
“The Secret Mainstream-Contemplating the Mirages of Werner Herzog”
A stimulating overview of the life and work of film maker Werner Herzog. Before reading this I had never heard of him but I’m inspired to watch some of his films. Amazon Prime has a few.
Sample quote: “What, indeed, would future historians make of our civilization if the frustrating, beautiful, always mesmerizingly strange films of Werner Herzog were their primary cinematic witnesses?”
“Kapuscinski’s Last Journey”
A short essay on the life and works of Polish author Ryzard Kapuscinki. I must admit I’ve never heard this name, but Bissell has a lot of respect for him. Maybe I should add one of his books (translated from Polish to English) to my ever lengthening books to read list.
Sample quote: “Kapuscinski saw more, and more clearly, if not always perfectly, than nearly any writer one can think to name.”
“Great and Terrible Truths-David Foster Wallace”
A short analysis of a graduation speech for Kenyon College written and delivered by the author David Foster Wallace, several years before Foster’s death by suicide.
Sample quote: “…the address was obviously the work of a wise and very kind man. At the edges, though, there was something else, the faint but unmistakable sense that Wallace had passed through considerable darkness.”
“Cinema Crudité”
A commentary and analysis of the cult film “The Room” by film maker Tommy Wiseau. I need to see this! The opening scene is at Cinema 21 in Portland, OR where movie goers are prepared to interact with the movie in key scenes, analogous to the behavior of Rocky Horror Picture Show fans.
Sample quote: “…places where truth begins to lose access to the photosynthesis of fact”.
Footnote. Bissell compares “The Room” (“…so bad it’s good”) to other bad films like Showgirls and Road House. I’ve seen both of those. Maybe I’m a sucker for bad films?
“A Simple Medium-Chuck Lorre and the American Sitcom”
A short bio of sitcom producer Chuck Lorre, who has produced shows such as Mike and Molly, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory. The essay highlights several instances where Lorre and his writers craft new lines on the fly, in the middle of filming, when needed. Fascinating stuff.
Sample quote: “You keep tweaking until you run out of time”
“Invisible Girl-Jennifer Hale, the Queen of Video Game Voice Over”
Who knew that there was such a thing as “voice actors”? I sure didn’t. Never, or rarely, shown in person, they are recognizable by their voice and have mastery over inflection, volume, and other devices of speech. I had never considered the scope of dialogue that is required for many immersive video games, and the voices need to change as the story line meanders through its various branches in the game.
Sample quote: “The script for the first Mass Effect ran to three hundred thousand words…by comparison, a typical English translation of War and Peace has around half a million words.”
“The Theory and Practice of Not Giving a Sh*t”
A short bio of prolific writer Jim Harrison, who used to live in the UP of Michigan and was a friend of Bissell’s father. 17+ books of fiction and 14+books of poetry are attributed to him. Harrison seems like an interesting, no BS type of character
Sample quote: “States do not get prettier than Montana. Driving across its landscape is like being trapped in a beer commercial wrapped in the National Anthem.”