Friday, August 06, 2010

Poetry Friday: Her First Novel


Every writer has felt it.

This poem is hilarious.
And true.
And kind of heartbreaking, in the way that writers understand heartbreak.
But funny. Really funny.
And don't you want to go have a drink with Connie, too?
And maybe buy her something really chocolatey.


Her First Novel
by James Tate

When Connie finished her novel she came
over to my place to celebrate. I mixed up a
shaker full of Manhattans and we sat out on the
porch. "Here's to … What's the title?" I
asked. "Well, that's a problem. The title's
kind of awful. It's called THE KING OF SLOPS."
"Gosh," I said, "that's unfortunate. I think
you can probably do better than that." We took
a drink and reflected. "It's about a hospital
orderly." "Ouch," I said.
....
(Read the rest here, at The Writer's Almanac.)

Laura has the round up at Author Amok.

3 comments:

jama said...

:D :D :D! I LOVE JAMES TATE!

Thanks so much for the laugh. Just what I needed today.

Author Amok said...

I love poems that are conversations -- Tate makes it look so easy!

Karen Edmisten said...

He does make it look easy, doesn't he?

Glad it gave you a laugh, Jama!