Aaaaaaand now for: The Book Dance

This is honestly about how the dance goes. Depending on the mood I’m in, there may be less shaking on my part. And there’s always that chanting. Always.

NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a memoir that recounts the journey that Dave Eggers took in the years after his parents’ deaths–becoming an adult while raising his kid brother. It is an honest, self-deprecating, and creatively unconventional memoir, but it’s not for those who prefer to distance themselves from profanity. There are passages that extensively use the F-word, although I believe its usage is appropriate in the sense that it best reflects the exterior (and interior) state of the writer.

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34 thoughts on “Aaaaaaand now for: The Book Dance

  1. (this is alece. on tam’s computer. i read the eggers’ book. so good. although it got drifty and long-winded by the end. but i liked it. and i like you. even though you can’t dance.)

  2. So this might be a strange reaction to your post….I’m struck (in a really, really positive way) by your description of Eggers’ word choice. I can’t really explain it, but your insight helped me. So thanks.

    Also? You’re pretty. :)

    • Thanks Steph. :)

      I have a slightly unconventional approach to violence & profanity in what we would consider to be “entertainment” media… There are stories that can only be told with honesty. And there are lives and cultures that we can only understand if depicted with accuracy. Yes, this may award the movie an R-Rating, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching, even for the purest of saints. Examples: We Were Soldiers & Gran Torino. I’ve heard that some Vets were unable to watch We Were Soldiers due to the highly graphic and extremely realistic filmography. But, for those of us who want to better understand exactly what in the heck happened, we need to watch that movie. It’s an education in and of itself.

      Notice that I didn’t include “sex” in the list of acceptable depictions… Sex has a stronger pull, and has a much more hooking hook, than language and/or violence. Because of this, I think it’s unnecessary to extensively depict such acts… We can get enough of the story from seeing before/after shots. There’s no need for the “during”… Granted, I once read a report of an abolitionist’s visit to a sex-trafficking house. It was a pretty graphic description of how they “break in” the new girls. I’m intentionally sparing you the details, but if I just retyped one core sentence of his report, you’d to be completely rattled… This information, while extremely difficult to read and utterly unforgettable, gave me more compassion and conviction than any numerical report. In that sense, it is wholly justified in its conveyance.

    • Rules. Y’all have lots of rules. Those black nails didn’t last long on me, mind you. They chipped after like two days. Probably from all the guitar playing or whatever…

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