"Umberto Eco ain't doin' this."

April 13, 2019 10:18 AM

This is a deep cut, but can you identify a Southern woman writer/storyteller who had a very telling anecdote on Prairie Home Companion years ago? (Yes, I know, but he always had good guests.)

I don't remember what episode it was; I just remember that it was many years ago. The lady was talking about how she'd just been up scrubbing her freezer because one of her kids had left a can of Diet Coke in there to chill, and it had exploded: "And I said to myself, Umberto Eco ain't doin' this."

I thought that was a great line, and later in life I have had many occasions to say it to myself, as a woman and a writer. But I couldn't tell you who this person was. Could you?

posted by Countess Elena to Society & Culture (5 answers total)

Best answer: It appears in Jeanne Braselton's The Other Side of Air but it isn't clear from the text that it's Jeanne herself who said that.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 11:05 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: A link to the page in question, which seems to be in an afterward by Kaye Gibbons, so that may be who you're looking for.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 11:19 AM on April 13, 2019

Response by poster: This is great! Thank you!
posted by Countess Elena at 11:54 AM on April 13, 2019

"(Yes, I know, but he always had good guests.)"

I don't know! What is this line about?
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:38 PM on April 15, 2019

Response by poster: About Garrison Keillor, and the fact that he allegedly sucks. Prairie Home Companion, which Keillor developed and emceed for many years, was distinguished by the high quality of its guest performers.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:42 PM on April 15, 2019