Corrections or additions?
This column was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on July 28,
1999.
Between the Lines: Summer Fiction
One hundred years ago, the great (and solvent) Italian composer
Giacomo Puccini helped fix in our cultural lexicon the image of the
starving artist. The moment in "La Boheme" when the poet Rodolpho
thrusts the manuscript of his latest play into the stove to warm his
freezing garret continues to provoke gasps of genuine dismay. More
recently, the late American composer Jonathan Larson revivified the
image of Rudolpho and his starving artist friends in "Rent," and his
potent accomplishment promises to perpetuate this cultural icon into
the 21st century.
Here at U.S. 1, however, the adventure of our annual summer fiction
issue has given us a very different image of the life of an author.
Not one of the 39 authors who bring you the 21 short stories and 17
poems you’ll find in our third annual summer fiction extravaganza that
begins on page 26 lives in an unheated garret. They’re all out there
holding down jobs (including mothering at home jobs) to support their
love of writing. Granted, some of these jobs are modest, even
temporary, some involve the rigors of a daily commute to Manhattan,
but others come with a swish corner office and a receptionist out
front.
So although by night these authors may still be found in upstairs
rooms (lit by a bit more than a candle) hunched over their word
processors, by day you’ll find them at Educational Testing Service,
Dow Jones & Co., Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Clancy Paul Computers.
Also represented here are luminaries of the Princeton Internet Group,
Mathematica Policy Research, and Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. Add to
this hardworking group members of a Carnegie Center law firm, a
private investment company, a psychology group practice, and a
psychiatrist in private practice, and you’ll get a more accurate
picture of today’s authors and poets.
Once again, the number of submissions received surpassed the previous
year’s, and choosing from such a wealth of work was as difficult (and
in some cases serendipitous) as ever, which is why our fiction issue
continues to be our most challenging and unpredictable Preview issues
of the year.
Please don’t forget that all our readers, authors, would-be authors,
and their family, friends, and co-workers are invited to meet each
other and the U.S. 1 staff at our special annual Fiction Issue party
on Thursday, August 12, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Micawber Books, 114
Nassau Street, in Princeton. We will also have extra recycled copies
of the Summer Fiction Issue available at Micawber Books on that date,
so please postpone stocking up, and plan to pick up your extra copies
at that time.
Editors’ note: None of the stories and poems in this issue has
been made available for this website. To receive a paper copy, send $4
to U.S. 1 Newspaper, 12 Roszel Road, Princeton NJ 08540. Or stop by
our office to get one free.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
Facebook Comments