Showing posts with label writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writers. Show all posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Calling All Readers

I'm beginning work on my graduation lecture for VCFA, and could really use your help. Can anyone recommend a book in which an urban writer has written a rural, small-town character badly, or as a caricature? (I'm thinking the book equivalent of the Cohen Bros. movie, Fargo.)

I'll be lecturing about writing rural characters -- and would love to gather some examples of authors who've done it poorly, using:

* exaggeration
* generalizations
* belitting or contempt
* humor that laughs at, rather than with, the character
* overemphasizing rural dialogue

The character can have a fleeting role in the book, or can be a main character. Please let me know if you have any recommendations. I'll be eternally grateful! Thanks!