The Weekly Atticus (03/17/2018)

Finding the Story, It Will Shock You  | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

Dear ,

In the past ten years, there hasn't been a TV show that I have enjoyed as much as Mad Men. I keep hoping another one like it will come along. One that feels literary and character-driven, where the writing is important and integral to the show, and doesn't feel like an afterthought. Also, one grounded in historical context, culturally relevant, compelling. I mean, is that so much to ask? I've tried several recommendations from friends and family, but nothing has managed to trigger in my brain the same pleasure-chemical response. The show's writing and pacing set it apart. Sometimes nothing remarkable would happen in an episode; and yet, each episode was still remarkable. Sometimes a fully-developed piece unto itself. The larger Mad Men saga unfolded, and the characters developed, gradually over the ten seasons of the show. Story lines dropped off and picked back up several episodes (or seasons) later. All the while, the narrative remained grounded in a plausibility and verisimilitude that made it absorbing. The show didn't rely on gimmicks to propel the narrative—twists, cliff-hangers, big "reveals." (It's hard to shock audiences today, and Mad Men solved that predicament by not really trying.) Often an episode was filled with dull, everyday moments, and the beauty of the show was how it could still suss out movement in the story. One recurring theme, one way the show "moved," was through a character's reinvention of the self. The theme comes up again and again. Don Draper's name, his persona itself is a reinvention. Peggy Olson's pregnancy and her moving on, Don's words to her in the hospital: "It will shock you how much it never happened." Even the way the show ends is not really an ending. You get the sense that it's just another reinvention of self for Don, for Peggy.The characters embodied this idea of reinvention of self, and they also carried it out in their work: their ad writing. Like many great works of literature, whatever other themes Mad Men tackled, it was also a meta-narrative about writing, about the act of creating and the way that reflected on the self. You often got the sense as you were watching Don or Peggy come up with advertising campaigns that you were also watching them uncover thoughts or feelings about themselves. They represented the sentiment of a quotation widely attributed to Gustav Flaubert on the Internet: "The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe." One thing I believe is we create ourselves through the stories we tell. And it's an ongoing process, a slow-going, often surprising discovery. I have to remind myself of this when I'm impatiently searching for "the story," when I'm tempted to fall back on a gimmick to propel the narrative. There is no big reveal, only a gradual unfolding, a continual invention and reinvention, like the development of a character over ten seasons of a show. ...Or like an online magazine! We have another week's worth of good stuff for you to check out below. Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.

David OlimpioPublisher & Editor-in-Chief

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THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

BOOK REVIEW:A PIERCING KIND OF ATTENTIVENESSA Review of The Magician’s Handbook by Grant ClauserReview by Charles Holdefer"...a consistently inventive and rewarding collection, notable for its range and for the sympathy of its imagination."READ ON

FICTION: SIOBHAN VS. HER BABY BROTHERby Christopher James"When Siobhan was seven, she watched people for a long time before talking."READ ON

POETRY: HOW TO LOVE THE ONE WHO IS DYING by Jennifer Popa"She, the fever-born woman,me, in the wake of the belly’seye. Listen for God. Be sureto thank her."READ ON

POETRY: WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILUREby Roy White"...it’s like a fly lands on your neckand you swat it, but it isn’t a fly, it’s big,and it’s not dead, you feel squirming pointy bitsand the sticky middle under your hand..."READ ON

CNF: RADIOby Samantha Updegrave"You want to slam on the brakes. Crash your car. Anything. Stop it. But there it is: the memory."READ ON

FILM: MYSTIQUE AND BROKEN MIRRORSA Review of THOROUGHBREDS from Cory FinleyReview by Chris Gilson"...a very worthy first film by Cory Finley, who masterfully turns what could have been a dead-in-the-water thriller into something worth revisiting."READ ON

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