Re: [LM_NET] HIT: Jerry Spinelli responds to my question about Maniac Magee being Realistic Fiction...

[Dona Hartwich <shalom7x70@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks, Lori, for sharing this letter!
Dona
Want to raise test scores?  School libraries help.  Make school libraries a
priority.
Dona J. Hartwich
Senior Librarian and ICT Coordinator
Horsham College
Horsham, VIC
Australia
shalom7x70@gmail.com
03 53827177




On 11/26/08 7:45 AM, "Lori Belair" <lbelair3@TWCNY.RR.COM> wrote:

> Someone on this listserv had a great suggestion to email Jerry directly to
> find out if Maniac Magee was Realistic Fiction or not. I did and he responded
> almost immediately.
> 
> Hi Lori,
>  
> Sorry my book has caused such consternation around there. Actually, this tall
> tale vs realistic question came up shortly after publication. My suggestion
> would be to drop the word "realistic" as a focus of discussion. Terms like
> "realistic" and "tall tale" deal primarily with style, whereas I think the
> focus should be more on content and substance. The prolog warns to be careful
> "not to get the facts mixed up with the truth," and that, to me, is the issue:
> truth. Style--realistic, tall tale or whatever--is merely a means of
> dramatizing and communicating the truth. If I sound like I'm ducking the
> question, in a sense I am, as I see merit in both views. There are elements of
> both realism and tall tale in the story, although I myself would use
> descriptives such as "legend" and "myth" rather than tall tale. To me, "tall
> tale" equates to fantasy. When I think tall tale, I think of Pecos Bill
> lassoing a tornado, that sort of thing. My intention in styling MANIAC MAGEE
> was to ! give it the feel of a legend or myth, for a very simple reason: the
> story is about (and I don't believe anyone has ever detected this) childhood
> recollected. At least that was my template as I was writing. I'm simply
> playing off the common notion that as we look back on our distant childhoods,
> our memories tend to acquire a tint that is barely distinguishable from that
> of legend and myth. Things seem larger than they really were, actions more
> heroic or wicked, etc. This all came into play more directly in the first
> draft, which was more obviously told by an identifiable narrator, a
> self-appointed community historian who recalls the day this "Maniac" kid came
> to town and the events that followed. In revision, I pretty much eliminated
> evidence of a narrator (except for one little passage, which, again, I don't
> think anyone has ever noticed), leaving behind only his recollected memories,
> expressed, as I say, in a manner consistent with the language of myth and
> legend. So, in t! erms of substance, in terms of what it has to say about
> life, the stor y is absolutely true and, to that extent, realistic. And if the
> hidden narrator's voice and myth-making memory give a tall tale quality to
> pages here and there, so be it, all the better to keep us from tripping over
> realistic facts on the way to the truth.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Jerry Spinelli
> 
> Lori Belair, Librarian
> A.J. Smith & Cayuga Elementary Schools
> Union Springs, NY
> lbelair3@twcny.rr.com
> 
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