Ethan Canin
There isn’t really much to tell about Ethan Canin’s reading. He started off with a couple jokes about the most recent elections and such. He joked that “readings are to Democrats as NASCAR is to Republicans. He then went on to read excerpts from his recent novel “Across the River�.
He described his novel as a story about a working class fellow who falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy industrial family. Ethan Canin stated that he gave up on the novel for about three years, but the events that took place on 9/11 gave him a renewed interest in politics. “Across the River� took its current form from that point on.
After the reading Ethan took a few questions from the audience. Someone asked him if he considers himself a fox or a hedgehog. Of course, this question derives from a line among the fragments of the Greek poet Archilochus which says: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing�. Many have argued about the correct interpretation of these words, which may mean no more than that the fox, despite all his cunning, is defeated by the hedgehog’s one defense. Ethan stated that he likes to consider himself a bit of both fox and hedgehog. I guess that would make him a hedge-fox, but we all know such a creature just doesn’t exist.
Overall I was a little disappointed by the reading. Ethan Canin didn’t offer anything much outside of a few quips here and there. Based on blog entries I have read about the Junot Diaz reading, I feel I missed out on a valuable experience and equally valuable advice for emerging writers by opting to attend the Canin reading instead.
- Marvin Medina