Even the most alien and exotic people in Le Guin’s stories have humanity, but here she definitely takes time to listen to them, to hear their voices, and show us people with rich inner lives, especially in “Solitude.” Gender power reversal is explored through differing perspectives in “A Matter of Seggri” and marriage is redefined as a foursome in “Unchosen Love” and “Mountain Ways,” getting to the emotional cores of some very complicated relationships. Le Guin once explored genderless androgyny in Left Hand of Darkness with some explanation of kemmer, Gethenians’ sexuality. “In Coming of Age in Karhide.” a Gethenian adolescent describes hir first sexual experience, vividly told in first person. Genderlessness does not necessarily render sex neutral. “Old Music and the Slave Women” continues the post-slavery narrative of Four Ways to Forgiveness. In the title story, an ancient civilization is undone by aliens who have no intention of doing so, and Le Guin explores the cultures and religions that develop inside a multi-generational ship in “Paradises Lost,” especially with people who are more familiar to us, yet for them Earth is an abstract concept. Here, she takes a close look at a society just as she has taken a close look at individuals in some of the other stories.

With the Hainish stories, it helps to have some understanding of the Ekumen, but they stand alone very well, even “Solitude” with an Ekumenical observer. The two other stories are also very worthy of the reader’s time. Le Guin’s work is as literate and developed as any serious work of literature, and it definitely puts “literary fiction” to shame.” English professors need to put away Le Guin’s over-anthologized “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” as these stories will give them more than they need to fuel lectures and discussions. Overall, Birthday of the World is one Le Guin’s most rewarding reads, especially for short stories.

While I’m not a mystery fiction reader, I was drawn to The Writing Class mainly because I’ve been through so creative writing classes/workshops. I’ve seen all kinds of aspiring writers in my classmates, ranging from people who didn’t read at all to those who were too literate for their own good, and I suspected I’d find those types in the novel. As for the once glorious literary wunderkind who was now reduced to teaching UCSD extension courses? I could easily create an Amy Gallop-like composite based on some of the creative writing professors I’ve studied with. Students, profs, and me in the classes didn’t create murder and mayhem, but they made for some interesting times. That said, once I opened the book, I couldn’t put it down.

Amy Gallop starts off teaching this group of creative writing students like all the other courses she created. The group chemistry is good, but there’s a catch—a mysterious person torments Amy and her students, observing them and creatively honing in on their insecurities. Because the perpetrator leaves very little personal clues about him or herself, almost every student in the class is a suspect. Willett, with this ensemble, gives us samples of their writing and that of the malicious prankster. Along with their texts, the classmates’ quirks at one point or another leads us and Gallop to believe each of them could be “The Sniper.” I won’t give away who did it (the harassment and the murders), but the revelation is both surprising and inevitable.

There are some interesting discoveries. Gallop, who tries to imagine three dimensional characters, is forced to look beyond the two dimensionals views she has of real people. No one is quite what they seem on the surface, not even her. It’s tempting to say more, but how she gets there (along with solving the “who did it” mystery) is part of the fun.

I definitely enjoyed the comedy of errors and the skewering of workshops, critiques, group dynamics, bad genre fiction, literary fiction. Also, the perpetrator feels the book deals are going to the “MFA whores” with “their MFA sentences.” That was pretty funny. I’ve got to adopt that term now and reclaim it.

For anyone who’s nearly been killed by someone who sees you as the competition in the workshop, this book’s for you. And for the teachers too.

PS
A very nice touch is that the novel is set in San Diego County. While the campus where Amy Gallop teaches isn’t directly mentioned, it sounds a lot like UCSD. Amy lives in Escondido, which Jincy Willett does as well. Carla, the perennial workshop student, lives in an eccentric house in La Jolla, while her classmate Syl lives in a condo in La Mesa. That everyone’s used to driving great distances to get anywhere is characteristic of San Diego. Names, places, and even a mention of the Chargers helps with the local color. The Writing Class definitely gives a good model for writing about San Diego.

If I worked at SDSU as part of my adjunct professorhood, or if I were still a grad student doing TA work, I’d have major nightmares right now, mainly because their paychecks are issues by the State Controller’s Office. I definitely feel for friends, former professors, and others who work for the State of California right now.

* Not a fan of the former governor Pete Wilson.

** Credit unions are another option.

Part one: Hard Gay’s visits Yahoo! Japan’s headquarters, gets a headshot done with the color copier, then sexually harasses some male employees. The guy who walks into the massage room really doesn’t put up much of a fight.

Hard Gay crashes a staff meeting, sexually harasses the boss presenting, and puts his first cap up for auction on Yahoo! Japan, hoping that will be impressive enough for the ad. In the end, Hard Gay takes matters into his own hands. Ya…… hoooooo!

It has recently occurred to me that most people obsessed with grammar care less about saying something well than they do catching someone in a violation of the English language. They are superior little snots. Also, they are the type of people who would fastidiously avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Their sentence are clunky because they have correct grammar, concision be damned. Then again, these are the people who obviously suck at math and take out their insecurities on others. Subscribing to a language dogma somehow makes them feel better about themselves as they are incapable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and solving equations. That would take real mind work and knowledge.

One important thing to note is the grammar-obsessed rarely teach English or writing. They’re often not even linguists, who actually take classes on this type of stuff. They are often rank amateurs who often don’t know what they’re talking about. They may even have a dangling modifier in their sentence and might not even know it.

Self-appointed grammarians, leave this stuff to the professionals. Thanks.

General advice: DO NOT ENGAGE. They are the type of people to put up a fight, especially if they’re wrong, because, the burden of proof’s on you. It always is. Christian Lander has some further advice in his post about grammar.

• I am teaching summer school, a freshman composition course, at the urban college. I think I’ve established this earlier, but a crazy need to earn an income during the summer compelled me to do it. Taking on an eight week course that pretends to be a sixteen week one is sheer insanity, but it comes with the job. My other option – go on unemployment. Ever since I used those benefits a few years ago, I decided I didn’t want to go through that again, even if it is a union-won right. The initial processing is slow, the handling of the claims is unforgiving, the EDD staffers are nasty and condescending, and the payout isn’t great. Given that the economy’s is beyond bad and the great State of California is paying everyone in IOU’s, collecting unemployment is a nightmare. In lieu of having an easy summer (where I could do things like get writing done), I’ll go with self-respect and the treadmill of work.
• Speaking of work, I just started my now annual summer tradition of teaching at the foreign language school. While I may not have interesting tales such as that of Juju, my group of students seem like a nice bunch from Europe. I also have something to keep me occupied in the mornings for a while and more income to avoid the dole. The class is in one of San Diego’s older high-rises, so I get to reprise the fun of teaching from on high, this time on the 13th floor. I might even walk up the stairs every morning like I did last year. It sure beats the elevators, which get too crowded in the morning and early afternoon. Also, a 13 story hike has some other benefits.
• I have been continuously volunteering a few hours a week at my local branch library since March. Of course, I’ve done it to gain some experience in the library field, especially as I’ll start work on my MLIS degree in the fall. I’ve learned a lot about it, which I think about posting on. It would definitely be good material, but I’m also considering how much is appropriate. In looking for more practical experience, I’ve also been on a job search to get some experience that pays. Some openings have come up with the city library system, and I’m applying. Definitely wish me luck. Going after a civil service job in a bad economy sounds crazy, but the gamble is just as high with the private sector. Thankfully, I’m not looking for a job with the State of California.
• Comic-Con tickets sold out so early this year, so I’m not going unless A) I pay a ridiculous sum after bidding for a pass on e-Bay, or B) someone comps me. I can’t and I definitely won’t do option A, and B is iffy. Personally, I think Comic-Con held a lot of their passes to make more from auctioning them off, as they would announce the eBay listings every so often on their Twitter page. Greedy bastards. Perhaps a break from this annual event, which is outgrowing the San Diego Convention Center, is a good thing. Being at Comic-Con this year could very well induce agoraphobia for me.
• I am approaching the one year anniversary of me getting my iPhone 3G. I can’t do any upgrades without parting with a few hundred dollars, which I’m not going to do anyway. I can get a new one at upgrade price in December, but I might as well wait for July next year, as whatever model that will render the 3Gs obsolete will come out. My concession prize for upgrading the firmware for my iPhone is cut and paste (oooh! aaaah!) and a voice recorder (podcasts, here I come!). What I don’t get are the video recording capability (need new phone for that) and multi-media text messages, which AT&T will support later. Whatever!

That’s it for right now. More to come. Shindo out.

Lighting fixture at Mission Valley Library.

Miso paste, all you can buy, at Ranch 99.

My friend Jason being an attention whore. Please don’t ask to me to explain more than that.

A couple of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence fundraising for Pride.

One of the best things about living on the West Coast is seeing the sunsets.