#299 The November Story- Rebecca Makkai
Christine is a producer of a reality TV show. Her job is to
interview the contestants, get them to say interesting things, create arc and
character for the show. She often has to prompt the interviewee, make them
feel: “…compelled to say more and more interesting things—more outrageous, more
emotional. More likely to make their relatives to change their names and move
to Arizona.”
Reality TV has become such a part of our culture, that is
acceptable to cast the lowest common denominator, they look for crazy
over depth:
“The casting directors are great at spotting borderline
narcissistic personality disorder, the kind that makes you just crazy enough
for great TV but not crazy enough to destroy a camera with a baseball bat.”
As her own life starts to feel like a produced TV show, she
begins to hate her job, but she also resents her girlfriend for being unlike
some of the characters on the show: “The camera doesn’t have patience for someone who feels
iffy, weighs the options, equivocates.”
I’m sure this story has been written before, the meta-look
into a meta-art form. However, Makkai adds some layering here that makes it
more human and less pure satire.
Notable Passage: “The loneliest thing in the world is lying
awake beside someone asleep.”
Rating: 9-7-9-8 Total= 33
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