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To: Borges

He was not alone in that. It was a movement. The modern short story was structured by many writers all adding and taking away pieces of straw and mortar.

Subtlety, nuance, and paradox are all part of the modern formula.

As I said, he was a good writer. To me (as a professional and creative writer), what you define is a good writer, but not a great one (as Melville, McCarthy, Wolfe, and, yes, I hate to admit, Hemingway, too).

If people like him, fine. I would never try to take that away. I just don’t like the way several groups rise up as soon as a writer dies and (usually with an ulterior motive) start declaring him/her “One of the top 5 American authors.”


28 posted on 01/29/2010 5:59:21 PM PST by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe
As far as short stories go, Shirley Jackson's The Lottery still creeps me out.
29 posted on 01/29/2010 6:01:23 PM PST by wimpycat (Hyperbole is the opiate of the activist wacko.)
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