Clockwise from top left: Mark Twain, Ron Swanson, Sean Connery, Topper Hiland and Joe Hiland
It’s true, Fiction Editor Joe Hiland has discerning taste in literature, whisky, and canines, but he also has a soul. Despite his dry wit and carnivorous tendencies, Joe is a true Duke Silver: sensitive, compassionate, and as tender on the inside as a medium-rare steak. Read on to see for yourself.
JL: What is the last piece of writing that knocked the wind out of you?
JH: We usually think of writing knocking the wind out of us (or whatever image we want to use) when we read something for the first time, but it’s interesting when a familiar piece of writing knocks the wind out of you. I recently had that experience with Bobbie Ann Mason’s story “Shiloh.” I’ve read that story at least a dozen times, and I was rereading it the other day in preparation for a class I’m teaching. I was taken aback by the precision of Mason’s language and the richness of even the simplest details in her story. I’d forgotten the first line, and it caught me pleasantly off-guard during my reread: “Leroy Moffitt’s wife, Norma Jean, is working on her pectorals.” So much of what’s at stake in the story is encompassed in that simple opening line.
JL: What do you look for a good story to do?
Read more, after the jump!
