I so needed the Supermarket Sweep story after all that writer mess. The name indignation was just the topper for me - I keep thinking of Barb and Star’s Trish as the exact opposite of what Shearer thinks.
That they were both most outraged about their names was perversely endearing to me, because it's exactly the kind of detail I would fixate on. I will definitely say that, while Shearer is right to resent the name Trish, the immense class signifiers she ascribes to the name say waaaaaay more about how SHE feels about Appalachia than they do about how Hannah perceives it.
I went with Ryan because, even though, sure, he’s writing *poetry* about the whole damn thing, it still seems like he’s done the best job of moving it to the back of his mind and trying to get on with his life—and because he has the decency to do his utmost to give Hannah the clean break she says she wants.
I voted Ryan because he seemed pretty fun and not completely extractive like Hannah and Andrew. Of course we hardly heard from Anna, but she married Andrew who seemed The Absolute Worst to me, so I can't vote for her. Anyway, I think they could all benefit from trying out making stuff up from scratch for their fiction
I feel like Ryan is one drink away from telling me about sexual fantasies that would make me deeply uncomfortable. I cannot explain WHY I feel this-- the best I can guess is that this is the Gift of Fear years of dating in a major city has given me. On the page, though, he indisputably has the healthiest relationship with everything that went down.
I gave up when the author claimed that Hannah would take clothes in a dressing room and fall asleep for hours.As a retail employee, I'm calling BS. Just not going to happen, especially at an upscale store in a major city. The sales associate would have called Loss Prevention 15 minutes in. Sounds dramatic though!. And then I got bored. Wayyyy too long and I didn't care. Too bad, because I LOVED Bad Art Friend.
Oh, definitely the wronged wife, as I think she's likeliest to be telling me the truth. Though I would live in fear of being Bad Art Friended if I told her anything real about my life. Or even if I didn't! I can imagine discovering a brutal portrayal of myself as a side character in some future story.
I so needed the Supermarket Sweep story after all that writer mess. The name indignation was just the topper for me - I keep thinking of Barb and Star’s Trish as the exact opposite of what Shearer thinks.
That they were both most outraged about their names was perversely endearing to me, because it's exactly the kind of detail I would fixate on. I will definitely say that, while Shearer is right to resent the name Trish, the immense class signifiers she ascribes to the name say waaaaaay more about how SHE feels about Appalachia than they do about how Hannah perceives it.
I went with Ryan because, even though, sure, he’s writing *poetry* about the whole damn thing, it still seems like he’s done the best job of moving it to the back of his mind and trying to get on with his life—and because he has the decency to do his utmost to give Hannah the clean break she says she wants.
I do agree that him backing away from friendship with Hannah when he perceived that's what she wished is a positive sign.
I voted Ryan because he seemed pretty fun and not completely extractive like Hannah and Andrew. Of course we hardly heard from Anna, but she married Andrew who seemed The Absolute Worst to me, so I can't vote for her. Anyway, I think they could all benefit from trying out making stuff up from scratch for their fiction
I feel like Ryan is one drink away from telling me about sexual fantasies that would make me deeply uncomfortable. I cannot explain WHY I feel this-- the best I can guess is that this is the Gift of Fear years of dating in a major city has given me. On the page, though, he indisputably has the healthiest relationship with everything that went down.
And I agree that Anna could be the sleeper hit of the group once she wakes up and realizes that Andrew is the living worst.
ha you're right, Ryan totally has that vibe! Meanwhile Andrew is 0.00001 drinks away from telling you that all women are evil
I gave up when the author claimed that Hannah would take clothes in a dressing room and fall asleep for hours.As a retail employee, I'm calling BS. Just not going to happen, especially at an upscale store in a major city. The sales associate would have called Loss Prevention 15 minutes in. Sounds dramatic though!. And then I got bored. Wayyyy too long and I didn't care. Too bad, because I LOVED Bad Art Friend.
Sorry that this one didn't hit for you, Pam! I hope the next Bad Art Friend I feel I have found is more to your taste!
Oh, definitely the wronged wife, as I think she's likeliest to be telling me the truth. Though I would live in fear of being Bad Art Friended if I told her anything real about my life. Or even if I didn't! I can imagine discovering a brutal portrayal of myself as a side character in some future story.
I would feel confident that, given the kind of people to whom she's generally attracted, I would not rate as interesting enough to be fictionalized.