Friday, January 19, 2007

If "Seinfeld" were a novel ...

One of the publishers who rejected "The Confederacy of Dunces" did so on the basis that it wasn't "about anything." What, if anything, do you think it was about?
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4 comments:

kc said...

OK, I was having trouble posting, so I had George post this and the next two questions for me. I didn't give him titles, so he came up with his own, in case you couldn't tell. I especially admire "Dunce and Sensibility." Very nice. Here's a title, now you come up with the question, George: Dunces with Wolves

10:13 AM, January 19, 2007
Erin said...

I don't get why stuff has to be "about something." I mean, if someone asked you what this book was about, you'd say, "It's about this guy who lives with his mom..." It's a story. Do they mean it doesn't have a "message"?

10:26 AM, January 19, 2007
Ben said...

I think they probably meant that it didn't seem plot-driven. I would disagree, though. I think all of the momentum is generated by the plot, even though that isn't the most important element in the writing.

The book is about the conflict between an out-of-touch loner intellectual who lives with his mother and the outside world, and where that conflict takes him.

11:14 PM, January 19, 2007
cl said...

Maybe its meandering storytelling (and length) would confuse a publisher into thinking it's not about anything, but the ending neatly wrapped up several storylines. Thanks, directly or indirectly, to Ignatius' schemes, the evil bar mistress is jailed, the patrolman makes good, Mr. Levy gains the upper hand with his wife, Jones will receive a handsome scholarship/award, Levy Pants will manufacture Bermuda shorts, Miss Trixie can retire and have her ham, too, and, probably, Ignatius' escape with Myrna will free his mother to marry. Now that I think of it, no wonder the book was so long.

12:30 PM, January 21, 2007

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