In Praise of Grace Paley
The iconic short story writer and essayist Grace Paley died yesterday at her home in Vermont. I have long been an admirer of her work, and have been such a disciple that my students over the years have probably become bored with the refrain, “If you want to learn how to write dialogue, read Grace Paley!”
I first read Paley in 1993, while living alone in a miserable little duplex in Knoxville, TN. I’d just accepted a job as a copywriter at an ad agency. I remember being snowed in during my first scheduled week of work, reading Paley on a set of Salvation Army sofa cushions I’d arranged on the floor as a bed. The crazy neighbors were screaming at each other, the snow was coming down, and I was bundled up in scarf, hat, and layers of sweats because I couldn’t afford to run the steam heat. That’s where I met Paley, in Little Disturbances of Man. I was mesmerized. Reading Paley was what taught me to write short stories. More on Paley in coming days…
View all posts in this series
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- Borges on Criticism & Compulsory Happiness - April 19, 2006
- What We Are Doing - April 21, 2006
- two links - May 30, 2006
- Teaching After the MFA – How to Get Your Foot in the Door of Academia - July 21, 2006
- selection: the memoirist’s dilemma - July 25, 2006
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- after the mfa blog - August 23, 2006
- Inside the Authors’ Studio, & Pluto’s Downfall - August 25, 2006
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- chicago tribune literary prizes announced - September 7, 2006
- good advice from Frederick Barthelme - September 8, 2006
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- interview at The Happy Booker - November 9, 2006
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- title tales - November 25, 2006
- - November 28, 2006
- the feel of the pen - December 3, 2006
- The Bear Bryant Funeral Train Revisited - December 6, 2006
- David Mamet on Hollywood - February 7, 2007
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- Theresa Duncan Suicide and the Mysteries of Blogging - August 2, 2007
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- On the Difficulty of Editing Well - August 10, 2007
- why you should work at Borders - August 14, 2007
- In Praise of Grace Paley - August 23, 2007
- Urban Adjunct - September 7, 2007
- Good Driver - September 12, 2007
- Stuart Dybek Named MacArthur Fellow - September 25, 2007
- Doris Lessing on Winning the Nobel in Literature - October 12, 2007
- Norman Mailer Has Died – Links to Interviews & News - November 10, 2007
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- best of the bay - June 26, 2008
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- Death of David Foster Wallace - September 13, 2008
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- Someone please tell me… - October 11, 2008
- The Day I Became a Debutante - October 18, 2008
- Good Reads - November 25, 2008
- Fog in Hong Kong - December 22, 2008
- “A celebration of risk and failure” - January 7, 2009
- Oh, happy day - January 20, 2009
- Writers Reflect - January 30, 2009
- Yes, Christine, you can begin writing at 60! - February 13, 2009
- 2009 Northern California Book Awards - March 23, 2009
- How Much Honesty Is Too Much? - March 24, 2009
- Tragic End to Tracy Girl’s Disappearance - April 7, 2009
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- Amazon Goes All “All” on Us - April 13, 2009
- Two From the World of Ink - April 14, 2009
- Readings for Writers - July 1, 2009
- Google Books, The New Rumpelstiltskin - August 22, 2009
- Jose Saramago quits blogging - September 2, 2009
- Flirting with Married People - April 15, 2010
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- Joshilyn Jackson, in the carpool lane - June 1, 2010
- The Untimely Death of Manning Marable - April 3, 2011
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- What writers can learn from late, great music man John Carter - August 12, 2011
- The Art of Rejection: Kathryn Stockett’s tale of never giving up - August 16, 2011
- Online Fiction Writing Course - September 16, 2011
- Story Starters: A Creative Writing Workbook - October 19, 2011
- Nanowrimo Day 1: Start Your Novel Now! - November 1, 2011
- Creative Fidgeting - January 27, 2012
- How to Start a Story - January 31, 2012
- How to Submit a Story for Publication - February 22, 2012
- How to Write a Novel: 10 Steps to Get You Started - March 20, 2012
- My Artist’s Way Toolkit Review - June 14, 2012
- The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black (or why you need an agent) - June 18, 2012
- Fiction Attic Press First Novel Contest - October 10, 2012
- Beautiful Gifts for Writers - October 12, 2012
- Interview with Louise Erdrich, San Francisco - October 18, 2012
- NaNoWriMo Day One – 2012 - October 30, 2012
- The Rumpus Interview with Thaisa Frank - December 6, 2012
- Better in French - December 21, 2012
- I am the Common Reader: Virginia Woolf on pleasure, reading, & the survival of literature - January 12, 2013
- Editor in Chief: How Obama Fine-tunes His Speeches - February 20, 2013
- How to End a Story - February 28, 2013
- The Copyright Problem: Three Myths That Are Killing Literary Culture - May 13, 2013
- Book Two of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard (A Man in Love) - May 30, 2013
- The Typewriter Project - June 12, 2013
- Book Writing – Should You Outline Your Novel? - June 18, 2013
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