The Tao of Crutcher

Chris Crutcher's YA novel, set in Spokane about a decade ago, still ranks right up there with the very best fiction for young people.  Drawing on his background as a family therapist and a child protection specialist, Crutcher gets everything about teenagers just right, without ever seeming forced or patronizing.  And the protagonist here, T.J. Jones, immediately captures both our attention and our admiration without ever coming across as too perfect.  In fact, T.J.'s quick temper, the product of abuse in his toddler years, acts as a realistic catalyst for some of the action in Whale Talk, which centers around the ragtag swim team he and his English teacher pull together in a sports-dominated high school, as well as the racism T.J. regularly deals with as one of the few mixed-raced people in his town. 

If you haven't read much realistic YA fiction and you're a stickler for a strong read, I suggest starting here.  You'll see all the typical tropes and themes of the genre done as well as they can be done, given their inherent limitations.  Crutcher is always pitch-perfect where many other solid writers strike a cheesy chord, and while you'll see every aspect of typical teenage life here - even some that many adults would rather not know about - you'll also catch a glimpse of the true, often-understated heroism that teenagers are also fully capable of. 

I don't want to give too much more away, so I'll just say: Whale Talk is a quick and gripping read, so if you're traveling this season, it might be just the thing to make a long plane ride fly by.

L

p.s. My action?  Humbled by the work ethic of the swimmers in Whale Talk, I have taken a personal vow to re-double my own "practices", hitting weights and additional strength on the days I don't do my bodyflow class.  That means working out 7 days a week.  If they can do it, I can try!  AND I will also make it a point to notice those people who often go unnoticed this week, to offer them my mindfully curious gaze.  If I make both these steps into habits, just imagine the positive impact I could have on my own wellbeing and others' too...
As always, I'll let you know how it turns out.

A Ritual to Read to Each Other

If you don't know the kind of person I am

and I don't know the kind of person you are

a pattern that others made may prevail in the world

and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,

a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break

sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood

storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,

but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,

I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty

to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,

a remote important region in all who talk:

Though we could fool each other, we should consider-

lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake

or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep,

the signals we give - yes or no, or maybe -

Should be clear; the darkness around us is deep.

                                 - William Stafford

I've been rereading this poem again and again, fascinated and convinced.  Of what, I know not.

Might we puzzle this out together?  Interesting that - or at least as it seems to me - much of this poem might be read multiple ways, yet his final urging is to be clear.  Or does he mean "should" not as a directive but as a wish counter to experience, as in "it should be this way, yet it isn't"?  The darkness within us is deep?

Ah, those first few reads are the falling in love bit:  the vigilant awareness of the other, noting every turn and glance, parsing the signals, making the leap toward a hoped-for truth, landing in uncertainty, letting time pass, returning to clues, a letter under the desk , a quick unnecessary smile, then misreading the cues, then stumbling upon a long electric gaze, then puzzling again.  Joy of the chase.

L

And I'm serious:  What do you make of this poem?  Tell me.

Gnomens

What do you get when you read Gnomes & Good Omens at the same time?

                                         This guy.

And magic.

So that's my action for the next two weeks (at least):  Practice seeing the world as governed not by action-reaction in the visible realm, but by magic.  That's it.  Every day, every hour, stop and look around and imagine that whatever's going on was created by all of us beings (sentient and non-sentient alike perhaps) AND ALSO by somewhat (usually) benevolent beings or forces. 

I wonder what living in that mindset will do.  And don't worry: I'll let you know.

L

p.s.  I know, I know:  Where's the wit?  I'm finding that earnestness plus wit is a tough combo for me to muster:  I'm either rushing headlong into the silly or mindfully stepping through the sincere.  "More Fail Better" = my mantra.  If you see MFB in future posts, that's what I'm talking about.

p.p.s.  More on why both books are well worth just about anybody's time (if they're open-minded about religion and enjoy both a rip-roaring laughfest and a gently smile-inducing feast for the eyes) later in the month.

Made A Difference.

Are you a teacher?  Writer?  Entrepreneur? Businessperson?  Reporter?  Community organizer?  Politician?  Earth mover and world shaker?  Parent?  Child?


Do you want people to remember what you're telling them? 




Then take a few moments to indulge in this breezily written and award-winning book that follows its own formula: 

To make your ideas stick, you must...

Keep it Simple yet
grab attention with the Unexpected.
Stay Concrete yet Credible.
Add dimension and stickiness with Emotion,
and wrap it all up in a Story.

Then your ideas will be stickily SUCCESs-full.

And these authors walk their talk:  They use all the SUCCESs principles to craft every chapter in this book.

My Actions: 

First, I wrote my November Story as a narrative (I wouldn't have otherwise), which was an Unexpected form for anybody who's been reading my blog thusfar.  And I kept the plotline Simple while attempting to generate at least a little Emotion in the reader by exaggerating character traits and the conflict.  Then I added the Concrete list to increase Credibility and create stronger emotional pay-off.  I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, but it's stickier than it would have been had I simply posted a reflection or just the list. 

Then, I began using the SUCCESs principles to enhance the stickiness of my marketing and business plans (stay tuned for your opportunity to benefit!) AND I passed the book on to my Dave, who's also reading and using it.

Finally, I attended a gathering today about the battle over extending tax cuts for the rich, and I shared both the principles and a pertinent excerpt with many of the folks there as well. 

And in this case, the actions came entirely effortlessly.  This book has legs! 

L

Here's the authors' website for a taste of what they're talking about: 
Made to Stick.

Buy Made To Stick on Amazon

TEACHERS:  Talk to me about this.  I think the principles could help all of us trouble-shoot our lessons: they're worth revisiting on a weekly basis at minimum. 

The Illiterate

Touching your goodness, I am like a man
Who turns a letter over in his hand,
And you might think that this was because the hand
Was unfamiliar but, truth is, the man
Has never had a letter from anyone;
And his is both afraid of what it means
And ashamed because he has no other means
To find out what is says than to ask someone.

His uncle could have left the farm to him, or
his parents died before he sent them word,
Or the dark girl changed and want him for beloved.
Afraid and letter-proud, he keeps it with him.
What would you call his feeling for the words
That keep him rich and orphaned and beloved?



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The more often I read this sonnet by William Meredith, the more exquisite it seems.  I memorized the poem last year for Poetry Out Loud! and still it takes my breath away.  The simile is so rich and apt and closely developed that you almost forget that this is about someone touching someone - or something - they adore. 

The sonnet dead?  Fie!

I do wish Meredith were still around so I could thank him.

L

What if Holden Caulfield Wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

It'd pretty much be this. 

Only if Holden became a lot less annoying after the first fifty pages and got a terminal disease and had to save the world rather than just walk around Manhattan for a few days.  Which could only be an improvement. (Sorry, Catcher fans:  You've met the uber-Holden-hater.  Well, hate's maybe too strong a word.  Detester?  "Why did I waste my time on this book"-er?  "How in the world did this become 'an American classic'"-er?)


Anyhoo.  Two hip hip hoorah's for the breezy, often laugh-out-loud silly cross-country, cross-dimensional, darkly mind-bending Going Bovine by Libba Bray.  Can you say Twenty-First Century Picaresque?

Its 'hero' is a sixteen year old slacker with Mad Cow named Cameron Smith.  His sidekicks: Gonzo the dwarf (maybe his Marvin?) and Balder the Norse god/garden gnome. His mentor:  a punk angel named Dulcie.  His trek: from his smalltown Texas home to DisneyWorld via New Orleans and the eleventh dimension.  His task:  Rid the world of the Wizard of Reckoning and his Fire Giants plus save Dr. X and thus save his own life. (prions and black holes and snow globes have something to do with it)  It's the monomyth for sure, the ole Hero's Adventure, but with decidedly modern twists, and with allusions to Cervantes and Star Wars and Norse myth sprinkled in for good measure.  But plenty sassy and utterly engaging.  Flawed?  Absolutely.  But the most rollicking read of the year.

And it's one of those books that goes this way: 

First, you're a little skeptical of the mannered "teenager-speak" in the protagonist's voice and the gratuitous references to masturbation, but ...

Then the plot kicks in and the forced, clipped speech eases off, as does the protagonist's initially self-involved, sarcastic, entirely unappealing personality.  (I mean, I get what she's striving for: underdog, anti-hero, rudderless young'un who'll find his higher self on the journey - but it's just too blatantly annoying at first.) I'd say it's a lucky thing for readers that Bray shifts to her strong suits: impeccable pacing and an often satirically infused plotline w/the funny just flying, deepened by lots of apt pop references and literary allusions. So...

Then you start flipping the pages as fast as you can because it's actually compelling and smile-inducing and rich.

And then you simply have to slow down because you can't stop laughing.

Then you ease up to pace yourself because you want to savor this book for many days, not just a few hours.

And then you're annoyed again by more gratuitous sex and drunken shenanigans, but then it's back to the plot and you're off to the races again.

This novel brought me back to my first Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Neil Gaiman reads, that serene push-pull of the generously light-hearted yet darkly resonant novel. 

L

p.s.  My actions: 
  I'm going to work on my wit.  Bray's most memorable stylistic strength in this novel is her ability to mix a classic storyline with a contemporary sense of humor that draws on the rhythms and register of everyday speech.  Although my blogs aren't likely to approach the mythic any time soon, I can certainly work in or work from or work out a voice with more of a comic kick.  At least at times.  If the moment strikes.  Or the muses. 

   Anyhoo...

  And I'm going to refresh my understanding of Norse mythology.  It's been so long since I studied that subject that I'd forgotten about Yggdrasil.  I'm going to the library today anyway, so I'll find a book and see where it leads me.

   Or maybe I'm moved to make a Balderish garden gnome.  Stay tuned...

November Story.

       Once upon a time there was a ravenous reader.  She lived in a beautiful city by the sea, but the city was far, far from the hustle and bustle of the rest of her world.  The reader dove headlong into new realms whenever she opened a book, but when she'd resurface, she found herself back in her beautiful city, and just as far from her world as she had been a book ago.  After a time, this troubled the reader. 

    She wanted to live a life well spent, a life that touched her world.  And in her fanciful reader's heart, she imagined that her life would make her a hero of the monomyth:  She would journey forth, attract some steady sidekicks, venture with them into worlds challenging and unknown, and then return, changed, bringing back boons to elevate her city and her world.  

   But every moment she spent inside a book was a moment spent outside her world.

     So what's the rub? The reader simply couldn't give up reading, but time was running short.  She was half way through her hero's life, and she'd barely stepped upon the path. 

     It was time to make every moment count.

        The ravenous reader pondered and pondered.  She liked to think of herself as eternally well-intentioned, but she was essentially lazy at heart.  She wanted to do as little as possible.  'Baby steps' was her borrowed mantra, one she held fast to in good times and in bad.  But could it serve her in this new pickle? 

     So she pondered and she pondered and she pondered again, and she hadn't pondered all that long when she hit upon what could be called a plan.  It was simple enough really:  Every time she climbed back out of a book, she would take a step or two on a new path of the book's own making.  Wherever it pointed her, she would wend.

    And so, step after step, she journeyed forth.  And in just one lazy month she found that she had

• Struck up a friendship with a champion pigeon racer.
• Fed a bunch of juncos in a blizzard (and chickadees and finches and sparrows and wrens and varied thrushes and and towhees and Stellar's jays and squirrels) who now visit her every day. (Tip for would-be heroes: Good food's always a bonding thing, especially in a snowstorm.)
• Started a Joy.blog to celebrate play and beauty in cyberspace and to offer the world reasons to be grateful.
• Started to Twitter (finally!) - the better to spread the joy. 
• Made her first google map to trace the steps she took within books.
• Changed up her food to favor more compassionate consumption.
• Made at least 40 people she doesn't know smile.
• Made two pinecone turkeys and a Thanksgiving centerpiece, all out of salvaged materials.
• Reconnected with a friend and colleague who found her again on this blog.
• Thanked a brother, a mother, a cousin, a father, and a whole lot of folks all over the country.
• Started telling stories again.
• Asked three "critical friends" for help. (Perhaps the scariest step of the month, because it tested the premise that her friends would be willing and able to offer their time and expertise to help her. So far, so good.  Mentors and pals for the journey: check!)
• Remembered that action begets action, step follows step.  She knew this already, but she had forgotten how swiftly the Universe itself steps in. 
• Figured out that changing her own life for the better is also changing the real world.

And if she had added the steps that she took that followed on steps that she took for each book, her list would be longer than Santa's today. 

***************************************************
Now, December's dawning.  The ravenous reader's surveying her progress on the path, taking a deep breath, and striding on.