How to appreciate Richard Ford ?
August 10, 2008 9:06 AM   Subscribe

I'm reading Richard Ford's A multitude of sins short stories collection, and I find it rather dull... (less powerful Raymond carver to me) but it seems that he's considered as a "master of the short story" (Esquire), "one of the country's best writers" (San Francisco chronicle)... Could you give me elements to modify my judgement ?
posted by nicolin to Writing & Language (8 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: For what it's worth, one can find similar quotes to the two you provide on the back jacket copy of almost any work of contemporary fiction these days. These blurbs are just part of the business of marketing books, and one should not take them too seriously. Secondly, judging the value of living writers is a notoriously difficult affair. In a way, it's a fool's errand. Ford has won his share of accolades, good reviews, and awards. Does he deserve all the praise? Obviously the answer is subjective, and I would not want to venture an opinion (I read a book of his stories years ago, but can't remember much). If you find him dull, you find him dull, and no amount of "judgement-modification" can change that. Regarding Carver, I think Ford may be one of those writers whose main American models are Carver, Cheever, Updike, etc. Try Joy Williams: of all the American writers who came up in the 1980s and 1990s mining that realist/quietist/domestic/slice-of-life tradition, and there are oodles of them, I think she's one of the most underrated. Her stories stuck with me.
posted by ornate insect at 9:23 AM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Also try Frederick Exley and Richard Yates: two masters of that genre whom folks like Ford and Joyce Carol Oates really look up to. Exley's "A Fan's Notes" and Yates' "Revolutionary Road" are real reference points to a lot of the contemporaries of Carver and the post-Cheever folks. They are deserved classics.
posted by ornate insect at 9:28 AM on August 10, 2008


Best answer: You don't have to like everything, and not everything that receives critical praise will be up your alley. It doesn't necessarily mean that the critical praise is wrong (or that you are), just that your personal preferences and critical ratings don't always intersect.

That said, my feeling is that Rock Springs or The Sportswriter are better places to start with Ford.

And if we're recommending other American writers in a similar Carveresque vein, try Richard Lange's Dead Boys (disclaimer: Rich is a friend, but he's also one hell of a writer).
posted by scody at 11:05 AM on August 10, 2008


2nd Rock Springs for masterful short stories, and The Sportswriter. Richard Lange is indeed also a harrowing find.
posted by doncoyote at 1:14 PM on August 10, 2008


Best answer: After a New Yorker podcast of Richard Ford reading John Cheever's "Reunion"--beautifully--I too wanted to get into Richard Ford. I read "Rocksprings" earlier, felt so-so about it. Then I read "Reunion" which Ford wrote in homage to Cheever's story.

I admire Richard Ford as a writer and editor. Even so, his stories aren't up there on my must-read list. Maybe I fall short, maybe there just isn't a vibe.

There's so much stuff to read, someone's not liking something doesn't mean it isn't good. It just isn't good for that person at that moment.

I'm having the same issue now with Jim Shepard ["Sans Farine", "Love and Hydrogen"]. I just can't see eye to eye with his historical--not sure what to call them--re-enactments. Alice Munro is another short story writer I can't get into, god knows I've tried.

Maybe you'd like Frederick Busch ["Ralph the Duck"] or Charles Baxter ["How I Found My Brother], George Saunders ["Winky"], or Denis Johnson ["Emergency" "Car Wreck While Hitchhiking"].

I agree with the poster who mentioned Joy Williams ["Train"]--she's good. Try Kate Braverman ["Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta"]. If you like southern writers, take a look at William Gay ["Where Will You Go When Your Skin Cannot Contain You"]. And Barry Hannah ["Testimony of Pilot"].

Maybe you won't like any of them--good for you! Keep looking. When you find what you like, tell people about it!
posted by subatomiczoo at 1:29 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Best answer: nthing Rock Springs and The Sportswriter (the first of the Frank Bascombe trilogy); I didn't find A Multitude of Sins as engaging -- maybe earlier Ford is just more to my taste, maybe he tends to overwrite now, or is in need of a tougher editor. It would be interesting to see whether others feel the same. He's also a good anthologist, as demonstrated by the two Granta volumes of American short stories and the Granta Book of the American Long Story. (Now if only I could find a decently printed edition of the second Granta short story compilation -- the English hardback and paperback editions are printed on poor quality paper and inadequately bound. Sorry, rant over.)
posted by davemack at 4:13 PM on August 10, 2008


Could you give me elements to modify my judgement?

Mmm...not really. You have an opinion; deal with it *grin*
Now, if it's that you think you might actually be missing something, then we have a slightly different question, and the solution there is to do some research on what the author was trying to accomplish, dig up reviews, etc. in order to maybe figure out what it is you're not getting. I still don't like Joyce's Dubliners, but the annotations at least let me realize that yes, he showed that the place kinda sucked. (What? I'm not writing a book report here.)

Or, as some have suggested, just move on to another book of his, which you might like more. (You switch from wanting to appreciate Ford in the title to just not liking the current book in the actual question, so I'm a bit unclear which it is.)
posted by Su at 5:53 PM on August 10, 2008


I can't help with arguing about his alleged mad skillz at short story writing, but I just read Independence Day (second in the Frank Bascome trilogy) and I sure thought he was a great writer based on that. There's nothing pyrotechnic - just astonishingly detailed observations and a great creator of character.
posted by chinston at 5:56 PM on August 10, 2008


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