From the Author

Hi, I'm Sidney Thompson, the author of Sideshow. First, I'm grateful to be a Litblog Co-op finalist, so thank you, everyone, for nominating my collection (Jeff Bryant), voting for it, reading it, and giving it (so far) such high praise. Happy stuff.

Now, for today, as if I'm not grateful, I'm asking for more. As the day's guest blogger, I'm inviting any and all questions and comments about Sideshow as a whole, or the stories in particular. I'm always fascinated by readers' reactions to my work. Often I get the sense that people are hesitant to admit their reactions. (I've come to that conclusion based primarily on the queerly vague, sometimes highly positive, rejection notices I've received over the years from countless magazines and literary journals). It's obvious, I suppose, that I'm making an effort in each story to be, at some level, sensational, to elicit the reader's emotions, but my goal might be less obvious: to encourage an honest self-examination as to why the reader responded with laughter or with shock or with embarrassment, etc., and for him or her to consider what this says behaviorally or philosophically about his or her assumptions, or biases, or about our human state in general.

My father disowned me for writing one of the stories in this collection. What will your reaction be?

Comments

[Jeff]

Sidney, first of all, it goes without saying that I really enjoyed Sideshow. What you said about your father disowning you brought to mind a question: what has the reaction to Sideshow been from your current co-workers?

Also, any insight as to what Barry Hannah was like as a writing prof?

[the happy booker]

Welcome Sidney! Like Dan Wickett, I am a fan of short stories and was thrilled to have your collection in the mix. While intrigued about the disowning incident I really wanted to ask about the need for being "sensational" -- what you feel it brings to your work & how does it challenges you as a writer. Do you ever worry that you've pushed it too far or are there times you wished you had pushed further?
Thanks again for stopping by. -- Wendi

[Sam]

What is it about dads of your dad's era? Personally, I think they did too many household chores with dangerous materials, like Van with his gasoline and paint thinner in "The Counterfeiter." Environmental poisoning, was what it was. My own theory. Could you tell? ;-)

Annnnyhow, question for you: Your collection takes its epigraph from a story by Flannery O'Connor, "A Temple of the Holy Ghost." Reading your tales, I can see why you'd love O'Connor. But one big difference I notice between your stories and O'Connor's is the way the O'Connor's perspective on her characters - clear-eyed, not always forgiving, but usually sympathetic in a "what fools these mortals be" kind of way - is always there in the background. With you, on the other hand, it's hard to tell what you think. Do you consider that, when you're writing? Is there a reason you don't supply a perspective, other than the fact that it seems to be more common for storytellers these days not to do so?

[Sidney Thompson]

Jeff, my current co-workers, a bunch of car salesmen, are proud, impressed, and curious. They're a smart, highly verbal group, and refreshingly, sometimes brutally, frank, and because of the high volume of stressed-out customers, the environment is unpredictable, at times volatile. So they're not easily surprised or offended. They weren't by Sideshow. In fact, they're some of the most liberal people I've ever met. What they found curious was my desire to do all that work and make so very little money at it.

Barry Hannah was my teacher for a couple of years at the University of Mississippi, but that doesn't come close to expressing what he's really been to me. Mentor. Friend. Father figure. From the very beginning, nineteen years ago (when I first began writing the first draft of the oldest story in the collection), he challenged me to give people the unexpected. What they've never quite seen before. That readers deserve that, and they need that, for their own emotional and intellectual health. That was essentially what he stressed in class. Though not just shock. Surprise of language, surprise of insight. The unexpected can be subtle.

[Sidney Thompson]

Wendi, I think being sensational is absolutely necessary for any genre of truth-telling. Whenever a truth is revealed to us, aren't we ultimately realizing that we've been deceived--either by ourselves or by others (parents, teachers, books, the church, the governement)? Realizing one's been naive or too trusting or willfully ignorant can be crushing. I want readers reacting with their emotions, certainly, so that they are engaged in the story, but, just as much, I want them to re-evaluate their perceptions, or expectations, and consider the reasons why they reacted the way they did.

Generally speaking, in terms of pushing the envelope, I don't think a writer can ever go too far. For me, nothing is sacred except mere effectiveness. That's the only measure for sensationalism or anything else in the arts: not how far it goes or doesn't go, but how much rightness it reverberates.

[noria]

Flannery O'Connor said: "The freak in modern fiction is so disturbing to us because he keeps us from forgetting that we share in his state." Age, illness, a slip of the blade: There but for the grace of God go I. It's curious to me that people almost knee-jerkily question your need to be sensational; if so-called freaks weren't kept hidden in the shadows, would they be so sensational? To me, the freak is no different than the naked lady, titillating because we're not supposed to look. My writing initially met with a similar response from some editors, who deemed it "too driven by a desire to shock or disgust." But we're not here to talk about me. You're doing what any storyteller worth his or her salt does: revealing us to ourselves.

[Sidney Thompson]

Sam, one thing I love about Flannery O'Connor's work is her realism--when she draws a character, she marks him without cliche, in terms of both his physical and emotional attributes and his history. He's fully rendered and believable, the entire chain of cause and effect throughout his life spot-on. The one thing I can grow weary of from O'Connor, however, is her inability to be non-judgmental. If the character is prideful, will O'Connor condescend? Of course, she will. And eventually she'll prove it. But we're all prideful--as brilliant O'Connor was proud of her Christian judgment. So it's my aim to be fair and open to all my characters and let them go where they choose, where their skills and flaws direct. And that's where the fun of reading comes in, isn't it? When we're a little unsure of what the author is suggesting, and therefore unsure of where the story is going. I don't think it's my job or my place as a writer to tell the reader precisely what to think or what to expect. I'll interject my leanings, but not as absolutes.

I may be wrong, but I tend to think versimilitude depends on ambivalence. Who comes to us omnisciently and omnipresently to say what is right and who is wrong? Maybe I'm suggesting now, on second thought, that O'Connor's realism is at times problematic--not so real after all. Maybe I am. I say that, though, with regret because I do adore her work.

[Sam]

Noria, you make me think of Sherwood Anderson's "The Egg":

"At any rate he saved all the little monstrous things that had been born on our chicken farm. They were preserved in alcohol and put each in its own glass bottle. These he had carefully put into a box and on our journey into town it was carried on the wagon seat beside him. He drove the horses with one hand and with the other clung to the box. When we got to our destination the box was taken down at once and the bottles removed. All during our days as keepers of a restaurant in the town of Bidwell, Ohio, the grotesques in their little glass bottles sat on a shelf back of the counter. Mother sometimes protested but father was a rock on the subject of his treasure. The grotesques were, he declared, valuable. People, he said, liked to look at strange and wonderful things."

[Sidney Thompson]

Thanks, Noria, for your vote of confidence and like-mindedness.

[Dan Wickett]

I've not read all of Noria's collection, but do believe she's trolling in the same waters as Sidney, who I'd like to thank for taking the time to answer some questions here today.

[Anne]

Just checking in now. Thanks, Sidney. I found that I have to read these stories One. At. A. Time. They are really painful. Haunting and upsetting. So, I sit down with Sideshow and an antidote (the TLS, Newsweek, Child Magazine...). But it's the story from Sideshow that remains with me. I'm still upset about those hunting dogs...

It's a very powerful collection. Thanks to Jeff for bringing it to me & especially to Sidney for writing it!!!

[Sidney Thompson]

Anne, thank you for that. I will admit something: "The Floater" still upsets me, too. Like Larry Havard, I lost two dogs to smoke inhalation. Not two bird dogs, but two dogs I loved. It was later, during the process of rebuilding my house after a fire and learning about floating that I felt compelled to use my tragedy for gain. It was cathartic for me, sure, and that's the best benefit of being a writer--that you can convince yourself when anything bad happens that it's actually, in some portion, a good thing, because it's material. Bizarre.

Anyway, thanks, Anne. And thanks, Dan, for highlighting "The Floater" with its individual post. Thanks, everyone.

[Sam]

Thanks, Sidney!

[Inversiones en petroleo]

I think that this post is very good because has useful information.

[carpinteyroysj]

Nike Requirement allied to Jordan est une ligne de chaussures de basket-ball de marque Nike, frappees du nom de Michael Jordan.Vente de air jordan Allied Jordan de qualite bait, différents styles ainsi que les prix bon marche. Puff Jordan Basket,Air Jordan(s), also known simply as chaussure air jordan, are a brand of shoes and athletic apparel produced by Nike chaussure jordan originally designed for and endorsed by NBA.

[carpinteyrofhj]

Nike Coherence Jordan est une ligne de chaussures de basket-ball de marque Nike, frappees du nom de Michael Jordan.Vente de air jordan Environment Jordan de qualite encouragement, différents styles ainsi que les prix bon marche. Aspect Jordan Basket,Air Jordan(s), also known simply as basket jordan, are a brand of shoes and athletic apparel produced by Nike air jordan pas cher originally designed for and endorsed by NBA.

[carpinteyrojxm]

Abercrombie kids is the younger sibling of abercrombie. Acheter Abercrombie pas cher en ligne. abercrombie and fitch parisMisprise abercrombie kids embodies the form of allowing and East Coast.Messieurs, en vue de l'ouverture du flagship Abercrombie & Fitch a Paris.Abercrombie and Fitch France Officiel Underpinning,jusqu'à 60% moins cher,Les fabricants vendent directement.Nous nous concentrons sur 2011 abercrombie and fitch france.

[pletchergxs]

Abercrombie kids is the younger sibling of abercrombie and fitch. Acheter Abercrombie pas cher en ligne. abercrombie and fitch parisTrim abercrombie kids embodies the stuff of dispensation and East Coast.Messieurs, en vue de l'ouverture du flagship Abercrombie & Fitch a Paris.Abercrombie and Fitch France Officiel Process,jusqu'à 60% moins cher,Les fabricants vendent directement.Nous nous concentrons sur 2011 abercrombie and fitch france.

[Belstaff Italia Outlet Store]

So cute! I already like you on FB and also get your posts on Google Reader. :)