I saw the legendary Richard Ford read in the Garden District tonight, just a few minutes from my house. Readings, well, good ones, come so seldom here I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. It was a gift to leave inflated by the joys of literature and to mull some questions over as I walked past Lafayette Cemetery, the wrought-iron adorned mansions on Washington, and back home to my chair and a glass of sangria.
First, an old favorite about New Orleans from his essay in The New York Times, post Katrina:
"It is - New Orleans - the place where the firm ground ceases and the unsound footing begins. A certain kind of person likes such a place. A certain kind of person wants to go there and never leave."
From the reading tonight, he said the following about writing:
"Writing a novel is like making a mosaic that turns out to be linear. It is not at all the same as just telling a story to someone you know."
Re: Story & Why He Writes: "There is a commotion kicking in the soul. The writer's job is to find a vocabulary for that feeling."
From his latest Canada, "Children know normal better than anyone."
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