"This sort of personal exceptionalism in the face of a closely held ideology is, I feel, uniquely American".
Spot on - if American exceptionalism (base level) is "America is different from other places and doesn't need to follow rules, not even the rules-based order it loves spouting truisms about", then American exceptionalism (cubed) is the personal individual variety: "I condemn this behaviour as wrong and degenerate but it's OK when I do it."
Edit: Forgot to say I loved the story and this retrospective on it.
Everything about it is American-indeed, made me think about how much context matters, and how it might take decades for a reader to understand nuances, even if he is fiercely in love with a book. Maybe he'll never discover them too-while still fiercely loving the book.
My story about similar(to me) times would not mention capitalism at all, would describe people that are younger, etc, etc.
Also, it might well be that neither bride nor groom want the expensive wedding; the pressure comes from the family, for cultural and other reasons. It's a community-dependent thing.
But from my nowadays-point-of-view-I m i g h t have written something similar, as somebody-from-different-time-different-place- recently exposed to here-wedding industry. Then though I'd sound much more surprised-and old.
Thank you-I read with much interest, and hope to read the story itself
I used to hate khakis (still have no interest in wearing them, but the hatred is gone) and I think it was because of the GAP brand; they went hard with that shit back in the day, and I couldn't relate to the folks that wore them. It all seems a little silly now...
I love these retros. Like you, I enjoy talking shop -- thanks for taking us behind the scenes!
A story about checking “mimetic desires.” Brilliant. Now maybe Khaki could become a novel or thread of a collection (I guess it is - your body of work, at least under this particular pseudonym). Bravo for the meta 👏🏽
One of my favorites, Clancy. And a keen auto-analysis. Thanks for bringing it back.
One of mine as well Sharron. Thank you for indulging my meta-analysis !
"This sort of personal exceptionalism in the face of a closely held ideology is, I feel, uniquely American".
Spot on - if American exceptionalism (base level) is "America is different from other places and doesn't need to follow rules, not even the rules-based order it loves spouting truisms about", then American exceptionalism (cubed) is the personal individual variety: "I condemn this behaviour as wrong and degenerate but it's OK when I do it."
Edit: Forgot to say I loved the story and this retrospective on it.
Everything about it is American-indeed, made me think about how much context matters, and how it might take decades for a reader to understand nuances, even if he is fiercely in love with a book. Maybe he'll never discover them too-while still fiercely loving the book.
My story about similar(to me) times would not mention capitalism at all, would describe people that are younger, etc, etc.
Also, it might well be that neither bride nor groom want the expensive wedding; the pressure comes from the family, for cultural and other reasons. It's a community-dependent thing.
But from my nowadays-point-of-view-I m i g h t have written something similar, as somebody-from-different-time-different-place- recently exposed to here-wedding industry. Then though I'd sound much more surprised-and old.
Thank you-I read with much interest, and hope to read the story itself
Thanks Chen! Interesting to hear your thoughts. Definitely check out the story itself.
Yes, for sure. The best we can do is admit to it. Thanks for reading this and the original!
I used to hate khakis (still have no interest in wearing them, but the hatred is gone) and I think it was because of the GAP brand; they went hard with that shit back in the day, and I couldn't relate to the folks that wore them. It all seems a little silly now...
I love these retros. Like you, I enjoy talking shop -- thanks for taking us behind the scenes!
Hahah they were a GAP thing weren't they? I'll wear 'em on occasion.
Thanks for reading Sean!
Thank you for this, I hadn’t read khakis. Wonderful writing and analysis.
Thanks for going back and reading the original!
A story about checking “mimetic desires.” Brilliant. Now maybe Khaki could become a novel or thread of a collection (I guess it is - your body of work, at least under this particular pseudonym). Bravo for the meta 👏🏽
Thanks Kate! I think the "Rachel and David" stories are kind of becoming a thread of their own -- couple other stories involving them.
Thanks Ahmet! Glad you like them.