SOUNDTRACK: BARBARA MANNING-“Though with People” from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers (2009).
I have a Barbara Manning disc, although I don’t remember it very well. In this song, Manning’s voice is strong and good, but not terribly memorable–perhaps a less distinctive Neko Case? It’s a catchy cover–a good 90’s era rocker.
The original is also a 90s era rocker. The song is by Portatstic, which is a side project from Superchunk’s Mac. It doesn’t sound all that different from Superchunk (a little less manic, but Macs voice is distinctive enough that perhaps this just sounds like a slower version of their song).
I like Manning’s cover enough to go dig out 1212 to see what I haven’t listened to in a while.
[READ: April 13, 2012] “Stretch Out Your Hand”
This story came in second place in the Fall 2012 Narrative Magazine writing contest. I read this one first because it was much shorter than the other two stories and I needed a shorter piece for today !
I was disposed against the story from the start because of my own prejudices—I don’t really like stories set in the rural South from the early 20th century. It’s a combination of my inability to relate and to my overexposure to clichés about the time, where everyone says “Momma” and everything sucks.
And so, when in the first few paragraphs, a young girl named Ruth has finally broken a fever and the father calls the mother “Momma” and the mother can’t stop thanking Jesus, I was not excited to keep on.
But then I started paying attention to the writing. It was wonderful. Ruth’s brother starts watching his sister’s fever evaporate and lift into the room. Then he gives us this observation: “And which of these things is more miraculous: the incandescent movement of my sister’s fever, or the way my father held her. I can’t say. There is a place in me where these things go.”
The narrator does not conform to the stereotype of rural Southerners, which makes this transcend a story of sickness and grief. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 