So far, starting this newsletter has been exactly what I’d hoped: a conversation. I’ve received several emails from friends new and old, reconnecting over a shared interest in reading, writing, and watching movies/series’. In one case, I learned that an old friend now lives ten minutes away from me and neither of us had any idea!
Last week, after my Leonora Carrington newsletter, I got a recommendation from one of my “other mothers” (as I like to call them). When I think of the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child,” the people that come to mind are the women that my mom cultivated close friendships with over the years. They are the Sacred Circle of maternal figures who I came to love and trust, and, in college, relied upon for the occasional home-cooked meal.
The recommendation was John Cheever’s short story The Enormous Radio. And what a fantastic story it was. I also happened to listen to it in an audiobook collection of Cheever’s work read by none other than Meryl Streep. And, oh, man, what a difference having one of the greatest actors of all time reading a story makes. I listen to a lot of audiobooks—some of which on open source, volunteer read archives like LibriVox—and as a result I have developed a high tolerance for sub-par readings. But having Meryl Streep read me a story might have done some damage to that tolerance, because now I know how much better all audiobooks could be.
I won’t try and encapsulate the story for you. If you like Leonora Carrington, you will definitely like The Enormous Radio. It’s short and sweet and you should just read it. It will take you thirty minutes. But isn’t that the true magic of short stories? There are long novels, 600+ page whoppers, and good ones too, that I don’t think about half as much as I think about certain short stories. And besides Leonora Carrington, Cheever’s short story reminded me of one of my other favorite short story writers whose work I think about all the time: Richard Matheson.
Matheson wrote a lot of short stories, some of which were turned into well known Twilight Zone episodes. But he is probably best known for his book I Am Legend, which has been adapted—unsuccessfully, in my opinion—into film at least three times.
Something that Matheson, Carrington, and Cheever (at least in this one short story I’ve read of his now) have in common, is an ability to boil an idea down to its essence without losing its nuance, its idiosyncrasies, its humanity. They achieve what I think all stories try to achieve: what Werner Herzog refers to as an ecstatic truth. It’s an almost ineffable quality that has to do with balance.
What other other stories have you read that hit that sweet spot? Let me know!
Also, here’s Keanu.
What I'm Reading Now:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (this is a re-read for me)
Tanglefoot by Cherie Priest (short story, collected in The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures)
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
What I'm listening to:
Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams
Boxer, The National
District Line, Bob Mould