Quote:
Originally Posted by alecE
Always, even if it's a crap preface.I take the view that the author has taken the trouble to write it, so I should take the trouble to read it.
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Conversely, if I decide the author hasn't taken the trouble to write the preface well, then I might conclude they're a lazy stylist and choose not to read the book after all.
Lower East Side novelist, poet and mentor, Steve Cannon has a response to writers who intone long-winded prefaces, which I've heard him deliver during crowded events:
"Read the goddamned piece!"
If they don't hear him the first time, Steve usually follows with this: "If it's so goddamned important, stop tellin' us 'bout it and read it!"
You might think I'm describing the behavior of a crank, but Steve was professor of literature at SUNY for many years. He has also held writing workshops at his art gallery that were attended by people like Toni Morrison and Henry Louis Gates.