Nancy's Reads & Reels: Cheever, Bukowski, Welty & Seth Rogen

Occasionally I might write about writing in general.  My mother was a writer and two of my children and one son-in-law are writers. My granddaughter is interested in writing and we are all interested in books and movies.

About writing, in general -- lately I am concerned about letter writing. The post office is in trouble. I get mostly junk mail though I would love to get an actual letter and once in a while I do get one from my 90 year-old-aunt. 

I have books about letters written by famous authors, The Letters of John Cheever for instance. So what will happen to the correspondence of authors in this day and age, The emails of "fill in the blank"? It won’t be the same. Emails are different from letters in so many ways. Emails are usually dashed off at the last minute without the thought that goes into a letter, which has to be folded up, stamped and put in an envelope and then mailed. And the post office — I’ll miss it even though I get exasperated when there is a long line and often use the computerized mailer. Books and short stories have been written about the post office and its importance in people’s lives: Why I Live at the P.O. by Eudora Welty and Post Office by Charles Bukowski to name only two.

Some in my generation don’t seem interested in the current crop of movies and I have to admit that the language in some really bothers me and makes me fear the end of civilization as we know it, but I still see a movie or two every week.

I recently went to see 50/50 and thought it was worth seeing except for Seth Rogen and his potty mouth. Don’t get me wrong -- I think he’s a very talented man. But I’ve had enough of his party boy act.