Emily and I often agree about books, but one where we didn’t was NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST, the first Rachel Cohn – David Levithan collaboration, which became a movie with Michael Cera. Emily liked this a lot more than I did, and I’ll let her say why, but one reason I didn’t is that Rachel Cohn’s chapters in particular, especially early on, felt way too self-conscious.* I should have loved it — it’s all about my life! They even had a character from Emily’s and my high school (Hunter from Hunter)! — but it just felt like name-dropping to me.
And I think one reason is that even though it was supposed to be So Very New York, it didn’t really capture New York as I experience it. (Possibly this is because I was not really connected to the private school scene, but hey; there are reasons I’m grateful for that, and some of them I was reminded of reading this book.) What makes New York what it is, for me, is not the fact that you can apparently go see stripping nuns at 3 AM in midtown should you so desire. It’s littler stuff.
Like, Emily and I and everyone else we know from high school all had a problem when we got to college and realized that for normal people, interrupting them is not a sign of enthusiastic engagement with what they’re saying. It’s just… rude. And instead of riffing off our interruption to escalate the intensity of their storytelling, they would politely fall silent and wait for us. It was terrible! We started interacting with others and realized we were all That Guy.
Since I moved to Madison two and a half years ago, I recognize New York less by seeing its absence in other people than by seeing it lacking in myself. Like, when I was home for Christmas I found myself waiting for the light to change to cross the street in the second place, and doing so on the actual curb instead of a third of the way into the street in the first place. It’s like I don’t even know myself!
So how would you guys want a book set in New York to establish its world? Any you think do it particularly well?
Bonus question: How would you convey being in Madison? The only kids’ book I can think of set around here is Betty Ren Wright’s THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS, which I like for a lot of reasons. Here’s how I would start setting a book in Wisconsin: with the observation that my entire state suffers from a bizarre conceptual difficulty. You’ll hear even the most intelligent and thoughtful of Madisonians say things like, “…a high of -12.” Am I the only one who sees that -12 degrees is, by definition, not high?!
* ReviewerX, whose reviews I generally quite enjoy, agreed with me on Cohn’s early chapters being particularly weak, and has a pretty funny review dramatizing one complaint I didn’t have — maybe because I, too, curse like a motherfucker.
-->Feed me text
January 27, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Well one way to capture the on-campus atmosphere of Madison would be to include choice snippets of overheard conversation on state street, such as “I feel that I’ve analyzed myself out of sexuality” or “I prefer Beckett because most people don’t like him” or “I think my thesis really engages the question in Foucault-Derrida kind of way.” (two of these three I actually heard outside of Espresso Royale. cookies to anyone who guesses which two.)
Also, lots and lots of white people.
January 27, 2009 at 4:42 pm
You remind me of (my current writing hero) M.T. Anderson. When he was writing FEED, set in a dystopian future in which we all speak in IM and advertising language, he hung out at malls to steal teenspeak like “I think the truffle is seriously undervalued.” Which made me laugh because it’s exactly the kind of offbeat and pretentious thing I said all throughout middle and high school.
January 27, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Hey guys! I just wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed that review and also how much it truly helped me in my personal life. Specifically, I was able to finally prove to my fiance that it’s not that I want to dominate our conversations or drown her out with my shouting. In fact, on the contrary, I want her to come back at me even louder! It was indeed the culture we were brought up in… “if it ain’t worth yelling about, it ain’t worth talking about.” I really do feel like a sellout now that I engage in quiet, civilized, adult conversation rather than the all out verbal dogfights I grew so fond of in high school. Anyway, she now understands that I am simply a product of my upbringing rather than a full-fledged dickhead. Thanks!
January 27, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Wow, I had no idea our blog would so so socially useful so soon! Tell your fiance that you were actually one of the politer people at our school (at least, that’s how I remember it), and any residual shouting is an expression of enthusiasm about talking to her.
I have to say that I’ve had the same problem with people who did not grow up with a culture of teasing. I come across as just plain mean. It’s not on purpose!!
– Elizabeth, still proud that our blog is working toward the common good on its very first day
January 27, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I’ve had to train myself a bit about the interrupting, but I still maintain that if its not worth saying LOUDLY its not worth saying at all! Civilized is way overrated. So is adult for that matter. Which could, of course bring us back to the joy of kids books!
January 28, 2009 at 10:11 am
I can verify for those who don’t know her that Emily is, indeed, loud.
So pauly, what are the two real ones? I’m guessing Beckett is made up, only because it’s more mundane; I bet people say a variant of that every day on State St.
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