“First, try to be something, anything, else. A movie star/astronaut. A movie star/missionary. A movie star/kindergarten teacher. President of the World. Fail miserably. It is best if you fail at an early age–say, fourteen. Early, critical disillusionment is necessary so that at fifteen you can write long haiku sequences about thwarted desire. It is a pond, a cherry blossom, a wind brushing against sparrow wing leaving for mountain. Count the syllables. Show it to your mom. She is tough and practical. She has a son in Vietnam and a husband who may be having an affair. She believes in wearing brown because it hides spots. She’ll look briefly at your writing, then back up at you with a face blank as a doughnut. She’ll say: ‘How about emptying the dishwasher?’ Look away. Shove the forks in the fork drawer. Acccidentally break one of the freebie gas station glasses. This is the required pain and suffering. This is only for starters.”
Η ταινία, στην οποία πρωταγωνιστεί ο Μπραντ Πιτ και θα κυκλοφορήσει σύντομα, βασίζεται σε ένα διήγημα του Φ. Σκοτ Φιτζέραλντ. Μπορείς να το διαβάσεις ολόκληρο εδώ.
Να και το τρέιλερ της ταινίας.
Πολύ παρόμοια υπόθεση είχε και ένα βιβλίο που διάβασα πέρσι, το The Confessions of Max Tivoli: A Novel του Άντριου Σον Γκριρ. Και σ’ αυτό, ένας άνθρωπος ξεκινά τη ζωή του ως γέρος και, καθώς ο χρόνος περνά, γίνεται ολοένα νεότερος. Καθόλου άσχημο δεν ήταν.
«New Journalism as I understood it is using the techniques that had hitherto been confined to fiction, such as telling a story scene-by-scene. And also the careful notation of status details. To me, that is the most important thing to spot in any situation you’re writing about. What is the status line-up? What are the rankings within the group?»