I must say that, despite raising my blood pressure, the short paper assignment turned into one of those rare assignments that I truly appreciate. Since declaring my major as English Literature four years ago I’ve spent significantly less time in bookstores. One might say I actively avoid them. It’s been far too long since I’ve read for pleasure. My excuse is my dining room table. Which probably doesn’t make much sense to you – so let e explain. My dining room table boasts four stacks of reasonably thick texts from September until April. Come May I shelve all the texts and spend the next four months giving my brain a break. Sure, I’ll sit by the pool with a good novel every once in a while but how I read these days as opposed to how I used to read in my younger years has changed dramatically. Forgive that tangent. Classes have just ended and I am more than ready for Reading Week. Alas, this post must be up by midnight.
On with the show.
I appreciated the short paper assignment because it required that I spend some time in an actual bookstore. Wandering the biography section I came across a number of familiar names and familiar faces. Some texts I had read before, many (most) I had not. As the point of the assignment was to take into consideration the epitext and paratext, I spent a great deal of time examining individual texts and making notes. I came across the most bizarre life narratives as I read through references, acknowledgments, reviews, removed dustjackets, compared hardcover and softcovers among other suspicion inducing actions. I also came across a number of life narratives that made me ask “Why?” More specifically “Why was this life narrative published?” I was content to answer my own question with “Why not?”. However, browsing review sites (Amazon, Chapters and Goodreads) I found my answer.
No matter how bizarre (or in some cases ‘ordinary’) a life narrative – there was the potential to reach people. I came across countless reviews for the text I selected (Piece of Cake: A Memoir) that claimed the text inspired or influenced the reader’s (or someone known to the reader’s) life in a positive way.
TBC (Before Midnight Obviously)