Time
by Ann Bogle
His pen isn't worth a dime at the San Jacinto War Memorial where the sailors unzip their wares for a forecast. All the movies in this world aren't worth a damn if they don't have George Clooney in them. Give me Sean Penn. Give me Bruce Springsteen. Tell Bono I want my seventy bucks back, to go against the rain to charity; tell Bono I want it to go to a non-suicidal Palestinian. Tell Johnny Cash I want my men's heroin back. Tell Jimmy Carter to stop apologizing to Bill Clinton who apologizes for stooping a proud, fat Jewish gal from California (not dead), her effervescence, as if Spiro Agnew had floated to a sea. Kn-opf. Knock. Spell anxiety when I walk down the street in New York, now at the airport in Montreal, where they didn't rebust me, a drunken driver once in Minnetonka. Son well-rehearsed. Sound nepotist.
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Author's Note
Published in Thrice Fiction, Time Issue, R.W. Spryszak, Ed., November 2011.
Other stories by Ann Bogle
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you're a master craftswoman of autobiographical flash. For me, this whole piece wondrously rotates around the word "effervescence". "Minnetonka" is another favorite, no idea why.
Ann, Marcus and I were admiring this on Twitter, so I thought I'd better come over here and make my admiration official. This is amazing. *
Wow, Ann, wonderful. All of these names, these men, work so well here. Again, wow.
every word deserves a fave every single one one at a time and all together*
slyly wonderful
incredible. wonderful.
Thank you.
Really fine writing, Ann. *
Enjoyed. Good writing.
eh did you mean "schtooping"?
I meant stoop. I wrote to the President then that I believed him, and he replied on White House stationery that he thanked me. Bruce didn't especially like this one when I read it to him at lunch.
The mixing of all these people we know and the great wordplay works so well. Amazing, wow, incredible--I agree.
"His pen isn't worth a dime at the San Jacinto War Memorial where the sailors unzip their wares for a forecast."
What a great opening!
Unusual. Arresting.
Fave, but I am waiting for the annotated version before I commit to meaningful comment.
Tantalizing, dashing, electric. Fave.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and fav'ing. I'm waiting -- almost imperceptibly -- for Bob's take. I wrote it if not for him then with him in mind.
Clever, clever! (Ah, George Clooney)
Def fav, Ann.
Intriguing
*
Unnerving. *
Thanks for reading, commenting, and fav'ing, all.
Wow, that is a lot you pack into a paragraph. I want more George Clooney in my movies.