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So, uh, what do you do for a living?
Writing about jobs is difficult to do well. I wonder if people think that since their employment is something they aren’t passionate about (“just payin’ the bills”), it’s more acceptable to ramble on about it in an unmediated voice which they might not otherwise write in? Like, when you’re writing about something that everyone automatically understands — devoting half our lives to some company we hate, say — it’s easier to take artistry for granted.
I don’t know what I’m saying but I feel like if I keep saying it, I’ll start to make sense. Writing about writing about jobs is difficult to do well.
Anyway, if you think you got the knack, old boy Josh Maday and Jeff VandeZande are putting together an anthology of the stuff for Bottom Dog Press. “In short, [they] want modern stories about people and their work.” The nice thing is that acceptance pays $50 — so work hard for the money.
And, btw, what’s the greatest work story ever told? Below the fold I’ve listed some good ones.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
or
At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy. First, Turkey; second, Nippers; third, Ginger Nut. These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters.
or
“You’ll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?” said Scrooge.
“If quite convenient, sir.”
“It’s not convenient,” said Scrooge, “and it’s not fair. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it, you’d think yourself ill-used, I’ll be bound?”
The clerk smiled faintly.
“And yet,” said Scrooge, “you don’t think me ill-used, when I pay a day’s wages for no work.”
or
Still, I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.
or
[that part in Factotum where Chinaski cleans the blinds in the bar really fast]
am i the only one who doesn’t automatically understand “devoting half our lives to some company we hate, say”
am i the only one who doesn’t automatically understand “devoting half our lives to some company we hate, say”
No. (Rhetorical device, maybe ill-used.)
No. (Rhetorical device, maybe ill-used.)
i suspect so many writers avoid tackling the subject of work because they’re writing to escape mundane/routine jobs in the first place!
i suspect so many writers avoid tackling the subject of work because they’re writing to escape mundane/routine jobs in the first place!
Hey just FYI to Josh & Jeff- my man David Gates edited a similarly-themed anthology in 2004, called LABOR DAYS. I’m sure the world is big enough for 2 of this kind of book, especially since ya’lls will presumably include few or none of the same authors as Gates did (his list included Burroughs, Saunders, DeLillo, Faulkner, Ellison, you get the idea) but one thing I found while editing the two anthologies I did is that it’s helpful to know what’s out there, just so you have a sense of the virgin territory vs the well-trod ground. Maybe the most useful is Gates’s introduction, which speaks to several of the points Adam raises in this post about depicting work and jobs in literature. Unfortunately Amazon doesn’t have the intro up as part of their preview, but they have the TOC at least-
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Days-Anthology-Fiction-About/dp/0812971612/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247068747&sr=1-2
Hey just FYI to Josh & Jeff- my man David Gates edited a similarly-themed anthology in 2004, called LABOR DAYS. I’m sure the world is big enough for 2 of this kind of book, especially since ya’lls will presumably include few or none of the same authors as Gates did (his list included Burroughs, Saunders, DeLillo, Faulkner, Ellison, you get the idea) but one thing I found while editing the two anthologies I did is that it’s helpful to know what’s out there, just so you have a sense of the virgin territory vs the well-trod ground. Maybe the most useful is Gates’s introduction, which speaks to several of the points Adam raises in this post about depicting work and jobs in literature. Unfortunately Amazon doesn’t have the intro up as part of their preview, but they have the TOC at least-
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Days-Anthology-Fiction-About/dp/0812971612/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247068747&sr=1-2
I am a cubicle monkey. I don’t know that I would want to write about it, as it is simply too fucking painful. Each day at my job is 8 to 10 hours of being raped by a criminal corporation instead of lying on the couch with my wife and our dogs. I’ve traded perfect happiness for slavery so that we can eat.
I am a cubicle monkey. I don’t know that I would want to write about it, as it is simply too fucking painful. Each day at my job is 8 to 10 hours of being raped by a criminal corporation instead of lying on the couch with my wife and our dogs. I’ve traded perfect happiness for slavery so that we can eat.
David foster wallace often writes about corporate settings, which i really love. he seems interested in other vernacular which isn’t literary. Gaddis’ JR has a large part at the office, and he is said to have quoted what he heard at his own job at a law firm in his books. Bukowski’s depiction of work as a mailman is endearing, hilarious, and very memorable.
David foster wallace often writes about corporate settings, which i really love. he seems interested in other vernacular which isn’t literary. Gaddis’ JR has a large part at the office, and he is said to have quoted what he heard at his own job at a law firm in his books. Bukowski’s depiction of work as a mailman is endearing, hilarious, and very memorable.
i tend to write about past jobs of mine, rather than my current one. but i tend to find i’m more interested in something when i have some distance on it.
i tend to write about past jobs of mine, rather than my current one. but i tend to find i’m more interested in something when i have some distance on it.
wow, they pay 50 whole dollars? i better get to work on that.
wow, they pay 50 whole dollars? i better get to work on that.
I like it when young David Copperfield gets a job at the bottle factory. But then he keeps spending a lot his hard earned cash money buying pudding skins or something silly like that.
Bartleby is the best job story ever told–no question.
I like it when young David Copperfield gets a job at the bottle factory. But then he keeps spending a lot his hard earned cash money buying pudding skins or something silly like that.
Bartleby is the best job story ever told–no question.
I don’t recognize the fourth- tell me?
I don’t recognize the fourth- tell me?
Hey PR – The 4th one isn’t a quote. It’s just a reference to that scene in Bukowski’s book, Factotum. Sorry, I didn’t think I could track the quote down via Google.
Hey PR – The 4th one isn’t a quote. It’s just a reference to that scene in Bukowski’s book, Factotum. Sorry, I didn’t think I could track the quote down via Google.
Still, I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.
That one?
Still, I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.
That one?
Bottom Dog put out a “work” anthology back in the mid-90s. It’ll be interesting to see what new work stories they’re able to dig up. Best of luck with it.
Bottom Dog put out a “work” anthology back in the mid-90s. It’ll be interesting to see what new work stories they’re able to dig up. Best of luck with it.
Oh duh. Sorry — that’s Down and Out in Paris and London.
Oh duh. Sorry — that’s Down and Out in Paris and London.
that’s what i thought… edited by bonnie jo campbell, right?
that’s what i thought… edited by bonnie jo campbell, right?
Bukowski’s POST OFFICE is pretty great. I laughed out loud when he got locked in the stairwell.
Bukowski’s POST OFFICE is pretty great. I laughed out loud when he got locked in the stairwell.
Ryan,
Bonnie Jo Campbell has an essay in it, but the anthology was edited by Larry Smith and David Shevin.
Ryan,
Bonnie Jo Campbell has an essay in it, but the anthology was edited by Larry Smith and David Shevin.
i heard that god created man in his image, i.e. conventional mimesis, to support his more experimental ambitions, as seen for example in the platypus and dodo bird.
i heard that god created man in his image, i.e. conventional mimesis, to support his more experimental ambitions, as seen for example in the platypus and dodo bird.
me too. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.
me too. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.
i have been unemployed for maybe 4 years and write about it constantly…. is that the same thing as writing about a job?
i have been unemployed for maybe 4 years and write about it constantly…. is that the same thing as writing about a job?
I think so. Which isn’t to say it’s always bad, just that it might be more difficult to write something exceptionally good about it than it would be to write about something more universally interesting.
I think so. Which isn’t to say it’s always bad, just that it might be more difficult to write something exceptionally good about it than it would be to write about something more universally interesting.
How to write story about calculating the angles of two lines using gear-notches and wire-steam in my head?
How to write story about calculating the angles of two lines using gear-notches and wire-steam in my head?
Of course ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’ by West.
Of course ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’ by West.
I’m a contracts lawyer for the government. I wrote one story that involved a bureaucrat who imagines sucking his boss off and killing him via pencil to the head. It’s ingeniously called “Carl’s Head”. The boss’s are an amalgam of many federal supervisors I’ve had.
Uninteresting sidenote — A guy who used to work with me is nicknamed Carl. He hates my stories. As such, I have begun naming all the really fucked up characters in my stories “Carl”. The boss in the story above is named Carl.
I’m a contracts lawyer for the government. I wrote one story that involved a bureaucrat who imagines sucking his boss off and killing him via pencil to the head. It’s ingeniously called “Carl’s Head”. The boss’s are an amalgam of many federal supervisors I’ve had.
Uninteresting sidenote — A guy who used to work with me is nicknamed Carl. He hates my stories. As such, I have begun naming all the really fucked up characters in my stories “Carl”. The boss in the story above is named Carl.
“The boss’s are an amalgam of many federal supervisors I’ve had.”
Ha, I wish. Actually the boss is more like some of the private sector law firm bosses I’ve had mixed in with a few of the federal ones.
Also, the quoted sentence above makes me want to shove a pencil into my eye. What is it about posting on HG that makes me write like a nitwit? Please don’t answer.
“The boss’s are an amalgam of many federal supervisors I’ve had.”
Ha, I wish. Actually the boss is more like some of the private sector law firm bosses I’ve had mixed in with a few of the federal ones.
Also, the quoted sentence above makes me want to shove a pencil into my eye. What is it about posting on HG that makes me write like a nitwit? Please don’t answer.