Just watched a documentary called “Stone Reader.” I’m probably late in the game since it came out in 2002. There is no film more about “After the MFA” than this.
Morbidly, I watched and learned about a brilliant writer from the Iowa Workshop, who published a first novel in 1972 called “The Stones of Summer.” The novel receives a handful of reviews, they are mostly strong.
We later learn that the Mossman burnt himself out writing his first novel out of grad school. “The Stones of Summer” isn’t published by one of the big houses. Mossman doesn’t promote the book. Then novel winds up filed on the Obscurity shelf. The writer goes on to a life of anxiety attacks, 20 years of welding, and caring for his elderly mother before the film director tracks him down.
All of this is woven around the discussion of one-hit wonder novels, from Harper Lee to Joseph Heller (sort of) to J.D. Salinger (technically) to a few other writers I had heard of but haven’t yet read. Now many of those books are on my Amazon list and I somehow, strangely, feel more charged (or thankfully just as charged as I did before) about keeping up with my craft.
I could have shuffled off to bed after watching “The Stone Reader” feeling like the game is tricked against me and so many of us post-MFA writers. I could have looked at the view of the publishing world as the driven-by-chance, cannibalistic venture that it appears to be. There’s plenty of testimony to that effect. In the moview, the writer’s teachers, colleagues, even his agent add evidence to the fact that Mossman was an inevitable victim of the writing and publishing process. But — and here’s the rub — for all of them he was also that brief champion of art, unforgettable yet forgotten, burning like fire, and yet ultimately dimmed. We could all end up like this. But the trying, the effort, the possibility of one person reading that book and feeling something… It’s all worth it.
Check out the film, if you haven’t. Let me know what you think.
Comments 7
Sounds like a fascinating documentary; I’ll check it out.
How writers handle their desire for a long career of artistic achievements that are publicly validated is central. Whether we get was we think we want or not in this regard doesn’t matter - either can feed us or destroy us.
Tillie Olsen’s book, *Silences,* talks about the silences, imposed from within and without, that writers struggle with; so does *On Writer’s Block.* In fact, whenever we teach writing to others, we should talk about this. People’s aspirations differ, obviously, and we’re shy about admitting that we’d like to be bestselling novelists, or critically acclaimed (and making a living), but if we don’t acknowledge our ambition, we can’t deal with its downside: depression.
Writers pride themselves on their writing. But what happens when it’s not going well? We feel awful. It’s all very well to talk about process — and in the end, that has to be what we take pleasure in, because it’s what we have control over — but we also want external validation. When it doesn’t come at the level we’d like or it’s withdrawn, that can be devastating.
Ask serious writers how they feel about going to bookstores, and they’ll tell you of their struggles to master their feelings of envy and insignificance. But uncoupling one’s self-worth from dreams of literary stardom can have the unintended consequence of eliminating one’s drive to write. (Take it from one who knows.)
All that said, wouldn’t you rather write one fabulous book, like *To Kill a Mockingbird* than a whole string of well-regarded-but-not-widely-read books? I’ve always admired Harper for not writing a second book. She hit the target once, and that was — apparently — enough. That sort of self-knowledge and restraint strikes me as indicative of a person whose life is in balance.
After all, why should writers necessarily write more than one book? Some of us don’t have more than one in us, and some of us don’t even have one. That’s okay. The idea that we should or must produce and produce is based on a distorted idea of ourselves, and our creativity.
So here’s to more silence, and the confidence to choose it.
Posted 29 Sep 2007 at 4:28 pm ¶Nice review. This was such a unique film and I’m not sure which was more fascinating to me, Mossman’s story or the filmmaker’s. I’m not entirely sure how I ended up at this post tonight, but I’m glad I found your blog. Not only do I own Stones of Summer on DVD, but I also keep Kurt Vonnegut’s “Creative Writing 101″ rules posted in front of me on a white board — kind of spooky!
Posted 01 Oct 2007 at 12:32 am ¶Benjamin — thanks for your comments.
In particular, I appreciate this:
“The idea that we should or must produce and produce is based on a distorted idea of ourselves, and our creativity.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Posted 01 Oct 2007 at 10:14 pm ¶Lisa — Glad you found the site. “Stones” was surely as much about the filmmaker’s life of reading as it was about Mossman’s life of writing that one book.
Hope to see you coming back.
Posted 01 Oct 2007 at 10:15 pm ¶Been a fan of the site for a while, and I enjoyed the posting on Stone Reader. I discovered the film late, but it is something that I go to once or twice a month when I need inspiration. In fact, I just put it on my iPod, and it is nice to have it travel around with me. What I find more inspirational than the film is the second, companion disk of author, agent, literary interviews and inside industry stories! I earned a MFA in Writing in 2004, and I have been in self-imposed literary exile for about a year, trying to wrap up my novel. When I need recharging, this is a great place for me to go, and I encourage others to do the same!
Also, I am interested in exchanging a few emails with anyone who has read the book and either liked it or disliked it. My feelings go both ways on it.
From a creative writing career POV, what I took away from the movie and all of the additional interviews and stories was…..well….hhhhhmmm, I write to tell stories. If I generate cash along the way at some point, great! If not, then fine. I don’t have a financial relationship with what I write. (I think I am rambling, so, I will shut up.)
And like the person who posted the initial blog entry, the movie added many books to my to-read shelf above my desk.
Anyway, good blog entry. Anyone read the book? Thoughts on it?????
Posted 02 Oct 2007 at 5:04 pm ¶I saw the documentary when it first aired, and then went out and bought the book. I’m embarassed to say I still haven’t read it, but offer as an excuse the fact that shortly after its purchase I started the Bennington MFA program, from which I graduated in January. While I do intend to read it, I was moved to buy it out of support for the author. I’m halfway through the latest rewrite of my novel, and driven by a self-imposed deadline that doesn’t have to do so much with fame as just the desire to submit my best work. This site is a great source of community as well as information. Keep up the good work.
Posted 10 Oct 2007 at 8:25 pm ¶Thanks for the encouraging words.
Congrats on graduating.
Let us know about the novel as you progress, if you desire. I would love to get some more thoughts about people finishing their work here.
Posted 10 Oct 2007 at 9:27 pm ¶Speak Your Mind