Earlier today in Barnes & Noble, after peeking through Zadie Smith's new essay collection, I noticed Lorrie Moore's new book A Gate at the Stairs and decided to read the beginning. By the end of the first paragraph, I knew I had read it somewhere before. It is such a peculiar feeling to read something that you know you've seen before, but not be able to place how you know it if it's your first time reading this particular work. I placed it soon enough, though. Moore's new novel is an expansion of a short story called "Childcare" that she published in The New Yorker this past July.
Having liked the story when I read it a few months ago, I'm now more interested than ever in reading the complete novel. It's always a strange sensation to know there's more to a story than has been presented as a complete work previously. Just a reminder of how fiction is really fictional, and can be added to in any way the writer wishes.
At the top of this post is story's cover photo published in the July 6, 2009 issue of The New Yorker. After all, the title art is the first thing we notice.
It's funny how short pieces can often turn into large published works. My current fiction professor encourages us to begin our story revisions with the LAST lines of our drafts. It's a cool exercise and sometimes it helps write with an implanted sense of context.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to hear what you think of the novel compared to the shorted NewYorker piece. Maybe you could read it and let us know.
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