The Elegant Variation: DO NOT RESUSCITATE

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April 29, 2005

DO NOT RESUSCITATE

Since this story won’t go die (sorry), I thought I’d share this Iowa alum’s frank and uncharitable opinion of Frank Conroy:

“He was a self-mythologizing and pitiful specimen. I like to reserve my wishes for death for the president and his cabinet, but contrary to everyone’s hard love whining, it is no loss whatsoever, either to humanity or American letters.”

Harsh? Sure, but isn’t it somewhat unflattering to describe a professional educator as a “pool shark” in their obituary?

Posted at 12:02 AM | Permalink

Comments

That depends on the particular academic discipline. Professors of Billiards Administration prefer it, actually.

Posted by: Pete | April 29, 2005 at 07:16 AM

Why is it so terrible to laud a writer, particularly when much of what is being written is being generated here in Iowa City? The director of any nationally recognized academic program would receive similar treatment anywhere in the world; that aside from the NYT obits and such afforded Conroy as a respected author. The man himself said he never saw writing as a career, but instead lived a full, interesting life in which writing and teaching were (important) components. So what if he was a good pool player? Wishing his death? Sounds like someone received some criticism they couldn't handle. Let the dead rest in peace.

Posted by: John | April 29, 2005 at 07:28 AM

I'm still trying to figure out what's so unflattering about "pool shark" myself, and why it's less flattering than "jazz pianist."

Posted by: Ron | April 29, 2005 at 08:18 AM

Pool shark has come to mean prowess at pool, but it's original definition is one who intentionally misleads someone about their chances for success and then takes all their money. My bad. That's what directors at MFA programs do.

Posted by: Jim Ruland | April 29, 2005 at 09:59 AM

I guess I'm kind of stuck in the past--I don't really care to know that much about a writer. Frank Conroy may very well have been a real jerk, but I was really touched by his books. I hear Miles Davis was a real dick most of the time, too.

Posted by: Rich | April 30, 2005 at 01:23 PM

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The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

April 29, 2005

DO NOT RESUSCITATE

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MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
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SECOND LOOK

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

April 29, 2005

DO NOT RESUSCITATE

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism