Short Stories

These stories really struck me. The first thing I tried to think about was how they were all linked to one another. I figured if we were reading a series of short stories there had to be some sort of thread to them, yes I know Mrs. Cardona too well. Well I think I figured it out. In the first story William Kennedy talks about the first short story he wrote, about eggs. Everyone loved this short story except for his father who happened to hate it. Why would he like it, its a story about a guy who eats eggs? Anyway, it was the last time he ever showed anything to his father, yet he didn't quit writing. He kept at it, through the writers block and became a writer.
The next story, Pat Conroy, was definitely not soft spoken. It was a very deep, almost disturbing story but it all tied back to how the two daughters became a poet and a novelist. It discussed their childhood, the struggles they face (rather extreme might I add) and how they came to be writers.
Maurice Sendak continued the trend about how she became a writer. It all started with her childhood and her grandmother and all the sudden I, as the reader, understood where it was all headed: her profession as a writer. This was when I really began seeing the correlation between all of the stories. They were flashbacks, but only critical pieces of their childhood that brought them to where they are today.
Not every story was about a writer though. Annie Dillard discusses her love of art. She talks about how when you become so focused on something it will go to your head, and you'll have to pursue it. This ties in perfectly with the other stories. Those writers had thought so long about writing that they had to pursue a career in it. Brendan Gill found fascination in the words of the world. And this is how he was led to a profession in literature.
Each story discusses a passion, a profession, a drive, and how it all came to be. Whether its a happy childhood story or a haunting memory, they were all led to where they are today, literature, art, writing, whatever it may be. It was inevitable that they would become what they are, it just took some discovering on their end. I found all of these stories very fun to read and I found the correlation between them very interesting.