I'm borrowing heavily from the Writers Almanac this week.
Today is Nelson Algren's birthday. He's the guy who said "Never eat at a place called "Mom's," never play cards with a guy named "Doc," and never go to bed with anyone who has more troubles than you." The Chicago Tribune offers the annual Nelson Algren Award for short fiction in his honor, even though he was born in Detroit.
And today is the birthday, also, of Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, another one of my all-time favorites. His hilarious book, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, which is about a young man who falls in love and runs away with his aunt, is...tada...more than a little autobiographical. Technically, she was his aunt-in-law before she became his first wife.
Ah, literachoor....
I keep trying to get people to read Aunt Julia and have no luck getting them to slog thru the early part trying to keep all the characters and the plots straight. They give up and I absolutely refuse to tell them the wonderful payoff. Hilarious wonderful book and I'm so glad to know of another fan.
ReplyDeleteRonnie
i KNEW there was something special about you, even apart from all the CI stuff.....
ReplyDeleteOops! Wrong Ronnie. Not our beloved ronniecat. She says you can tell the difference because I don't have a kitty on my comments. Also, I'm a million years older but I hope that's not too obvious. I certainly followed her whole CI story with great concern and have been so interested to learn of the rest of you. That family you just wrote about is extraordinary!!
ReplyDeletefaked out again. how nice of you to visit the old blogstead! do you have ur own blog apart from sherwood's? (i have a feeling i got that name wrong...)
ReplyDeleteNo, not a blogger, just an addict. My middle son, Mike, is NellieBlog, referenced by ronnie and Sherwood, and I have met ronnie face-to-face!
ReplyDeleteAnd I share another enthusiasm with you: Almodovar. I think my children have gotten over being shocked by their mother.
How does one qualify to be invited to your other blog? At 83, may I?
my other blog....you're 83, you say? and an almodovar fan? you're too cool for words! ok, send me your info and i'll invite you.
ReplyDeleteronnie (not the one in canada)....send me you info via my hotmail address...that should be in my "complete profile"....thankx
ReplyDelete