Great, as always! I really hope we'll be able to get more frequent updates now. I know everyone following you here really appreciates your work on this story.
Awesome chapter. A connection occurred to me, though, while reading it. Matt Canetti's name is awfully similar to that of conservative "highbrow journalist" douchebag Matthew Continetti. If this is a subtle fuck you in his direction, you earn my first slow clap of 2013. If, on the other hand, you have secret knowledge of some closeted shenanigans by Continetti, then… eww. ;-)
I don't know why you find Matthew Continetti deplorable. He can be hilarious. Check, for example, his pieces "Love in the Time of Obama" or "The Obama Box." He can make fun of your milieu, or the one you aspire to, but he is still funny.
Anyway, as a huge fan of your writing I look forward for the next installment. Your should seriously think about turning it into a real book. It's much more than a gay erotic story.
This was fantastic - my heart is still racing from nearly ten months of anticipation being defused in minutes. Please don't do that to us again! Keep up the good work!
Mr. 770 (that's his actual surname - JPM is a cryptogram referring to his geographic location at the time of the story) obviously has his groove back. I predict < 90 days.
I am so bitter that I just finished this chapter. I'm not certain I can wait for more. WTF? I got started reading this story thinking it was smut. I started reading less than a week ago. If this were a paperback it would be dog-eared and sections would be highlighted.
Ugh... dude, Joe, you're fucking breaking my heart over and over. I just want to reach back in time and smack you and hug you at the same time (and then call up some college friends and tell them how much I love them). I can't believe it's basically about to be senior year.
And I just addressed a character... so for you JPM770, kudos. Amazing read. I'm just really hoping that Joe can let go of some of his issues and come out and get to a healthier place mentally. If you can accomplish that in the next few chapters throughout senior year, while maintaining the sort of bitter sweet nostalgic tone, this could be a series that makes its way into the gay literary pantheon (and I'm not trying to be hyperbolic). I don't know if this is a mostly biographical memoir, or if these characters are completely fictional, but you write them in a way that so perfectly captures the sort of paternalistic pride and disappointment that we all feel towards out younger selves.
I discovered Joe College only recently -- or I should say I've noticed the title for a long time but never imagined I should pay attention as it sounded so hackneyed. Who knew that it was meant ironically, and that it would turn out to be a novella of the highest literary merit?
What makes it so good? As one of you noted, it is snarky and erudite. Now this is good -- especially considering all the semi-literate drivel you find on these sites -- but it isn't enough to explain why I like the writing so much, why I think this work is right up there with those novels that are anointed by our literary establishment as the most exciting new work of the year etc etc. In addition to being snarky and erudite, JPM has drawn his protagonist characters beautifully, with color, detail and a knowing ear for dialogue. The language is spare and telling, every scene, however mundane, adds something to our emerging picture of these characters, whose every twitch we come to feel.
But there is something more than just the excellent style -- there is a subtlety to the content that deserves more attention. And what I see as JPMs main theme here is that human relationships are devilishly difficult to manage, not only because we never quite know what is driving the other people we are with, important as that is -- e.g. with Joe and Matt -- but even more because we don't quite know what is driving ourselves. In Chapter 22, Joe, with several years' distance, thinks that when he counseled Chris to date girls so as to throw Katie off, he was not being the good Samaritan he though he was then, but rather an "asshole" because he was really just doing whatever he had to so as not to be outed himself, and that Christian deserved better. So which Joe was right? And with a few more years' distance, might Joe think about this differently once again? Here is one of the great mysteries of life -- how can we know what make us do what we do with any certainty? And if we can't, then how do we manage? I think that this is what makes these scenes so very poignant. For me at least.
Two more points. One is that JPM surely should get some recognition for this work, outside these precincts. I see that many authors of far less talent are selling their books in Amazon Kindle format, so perhaps that is an option, if he does not want to go the conventional literary agent route.
The other point is that to my great surprise, one of the pleasures of reading "Joe College" is to find a whole community of readers, many of whom are themselves "snarky and erudite." sprung up around the work, and I totally enjoy reading all your comments on this blog. I'd bet that JPM is surprised at the volume and depth of the commentary he has evoked, and I think this is still another tribute to his talents.
That was awesome! Thanks for posting it. Nice foreshadowing. I'm kind of afraid now. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat, as always! I really hope we'll be able to get more frequent updates now. I know everyone following you here really appreciates your work on this story.
ReplyDeleteI took the morning off of work so I could stay in and read this. Worth it.
ReplyDeleteJPM you are my favorite person.
ReplyDelete<3 this story ... and you. Thank you! Worth waiting for, as always.
ReplyDeleteAwesome chapter. A connection occurred to me, though, while reading it. Matt Canetti's name is awfully similar to that of conservative "highbrow journalist" douchebag Matthew Continetti. If this is a subtle fuck you in his direction, you earn my first slow clap of 2013. If, on the other hand, you have secret knowledge of some closeted shenanigans by Continetti, then… eww. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOMG I know that the names are really similar and there is no no no no connection! Every time I see Continetti's name I wince! He's so deplorable.
ReplyDeleteI actually drew Matt's name from Elias Canetti.
I don't know why you find Matthew Continetti deplorable. He can be hilarious. Check, for example, his pieces "Love in the Time of Obama" or "The Obama Box." He can make fun of your milieu, or the one you aspire to, but he is still funny.
DeleteAnyway, as a huge fan of your writing I look forward for the next installment. Your should seriously think about turning it into a real book. It's much more than a gay erotic story.
This was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAnd so begins the daily checking for chapter 23...
This was fantastic - my heart is still racing from nearly ten months of anticipation being defused in minutes. Please don't do that to us again! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletethanks so much for this great story - this chapter felt so tense
ReplyDeleteVery tense indeed. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting a new chapter. Reading it felt like unexpectedly getting back in touch with old friends.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered but never asked, what does JPM770 stand for? Is 'J' for Joe? Just curious :)
ReplyDeleteWelp, I've always thought JPM stood for either J.P. Morgan, or Jon P. McCreary, a nod to What's Up Dude
ReplyDeleteThe real question now, of course, is when will the next chapter be posted? ;)
ReplyDeleteMr. 770 (that's his actual surname - JPM is a cryptogram referring to his geographic location at the time of the story) obviously has his groove back. I predict < 90 days.
ReplyDeleteI'm liking your explanation much better, anon
ReplyDeleteI am so bitter that I just finished this chapter. I'm not certain I can wait for more. WTF? I got started reading this story thinking it was smut. I started reading less than a week ago. If this were a paperback it would be dog-eared and sections would be highlighted.
ReplyDeleteUgh... dude, Joe, you're fucking breaking my heart over and over. I just want to reach back in time and smack you and hug you at the same time (and then call up some college friends and tell them how much I love them). I can't believe it's basically about to be senior year.
And I just addressed a character... so for you JPM770, kudos. Amazing read. I'm just really hoping that Joe can let go of some of his issues and come out and get to a healthier place mentally. If you can accomplish that in the next few chapters throughout senior year, while maintaining the sort of bitter sweet nostalgic tone, this could be a series that makes its way into the gay literary pantheon (and I'm not trying to be hyperbolic). I don't know if this is a mostly biographical memoir, or if these characters are completely fictional, but you write them in a way that so perfectly captures the sort of paternalistic pride and disappointment that we all feel towards out younger selves.
Okay, I'm going to stop now.
I discovered Joe College only recently -- or I should say I've noticed the title for a long time but never imagined I should pay attention as it sounded so hackneyed. Who knew that it was meant ironically, and that it would turn out to be a novella of the highest literary merit?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes it so good? As one of you noted, it is snarky and erudite. Now this is good -- especially considering all the semi-literate drivel you find on these sites -- but it isn't enough to explain why I like the writing so much, why I think this work is right up there with those novels that are anointed by our literary establishment as the most exciting new work of the year etc etc. In addition to being snarky and erudite, JPM has drawn his protagonist characters beautifully, with color, detail and a knowing ear for dialogue. The language is spare and telling, every scene, however mundane, adds something to our emerging picture of these characters, whose every twitch we come to feel.
But there is something more than just the excellent style -- there is a subtlety to the content that deserves more attention. And what I see as JPMs main theme here is that human relationships are devilishly difficult to manage, not only because we never quite know what is driving the other people we are with, important as that is -- e.g. with Joe and Matt -- but even more because we don't quite know what is driving ourselves. In Chapter 22, Joe, with several years' distance, thinks that when he counseled Chris to date girls so as to throw Katie off, he was not being the good Samaritan he though he was then, but rather an "asshole" because he was really just doing whatever he had to so as not to be outed himself, and that Christian deserved better. So which Joe was right? And with a few more years' distance, might Joe think about this differently once again? Here is one of the great mysteries of life -- how can we know what make us do what we do with any certainty? And if we can't, then how do we manage? I think that this is what makes these scenes so very poignant. For me at least.
Two more points. One is that JPM surely should get some recognition for this work, outside these precincts. I see that many authors of far less talent are selling their books in Amazon Kindle format, so perhaps that is an option, if he does not want to go the conventional literary agent route.
The other point is that to my great surprise, one of the pleasures of reading "Joe College" is to find a whole community of readers, many of whom are themselves "snarky and erudite." sprung up around the work, and I totally enjoy reading all your comments on this blog. I'd bet that JPM is surprised at the volume and depth of the commentary he has evoked, and I think this is still another tribute to his talents.
CLS
Thanks so much guys. Your comments and emails are my royalties.
ReplyDelete