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so I'm flippin through Esquire

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by novelist_wannabe, Jan 23, 2007.

  1. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    sorry if this is a d_b...

    So I'm flippin through Esquire and I come to the Napkin Project. Which is really cool, but then I get to the one about kids shooting up their school, and frankly I was stunned. I mean, Stephen King had Rage all but removed from circulation after Columbine. Did the reading public really need this?
     
  2. Pringle

    Pringle Active Member

    Well, Richard Russo won a Pulitzer for a book on the same subject.
     
  3. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Napkin Project ???
     
  4. Pringle

    Pringle Active Member

    Nine different writers write very short fiction on a napkin, I believe, and it's designed that way.

    The design was great. The design helped make the story look really, really striking. I really liked the layout.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Rage was one of King's best short stories...

    Tremendous stuff...
     
  6. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    It was a great story, and I didn't think King was responsible for what Klebold and Harris did. But if I remember right he didn't want it on his conscience if something he wrote inspired another kid to shoot up a school. (I guess becoming a murderous psychopath in a snowbound hotel is different ... Bookland has a bountiful supply of The Shining) The point I was making is it seems he has more of a conscience than does David Granger.
     
  7. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I don't think conscience is at issue.
    King's choice is his choice, but the story didn't kill anybody.
     
  8. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Ah the stories my napkins could tell ...
     
  9. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    No, the story didn't kill anybody. And this one won't either, but if some kid sees it and becomes motivated by it, that writer would be less than human if his conscience didn't bother him for having contributed in some abstract way. Ditto for Granger. Magazines exist to motivate us to buy watches, dress better, become better lovers, take better care of ourselves, get the most out of our travel, whatever. It's not much of a stretch to think this would provide motivation to the next trenchcoat mafia member.
     
  10. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I just don't believe that stories or movies or music or pornography inspire/motivate people to kill. That behavior will manifest itself one way or the other, regardless of stimuli.
     
  11. Flying Headbutt

    Flying Headbutt Moderator Staff Member

    It sure won't be the napkin's fault if someone does something dumb. Then again, how many teens read Esquire? They're more into Maxim.
     
  12. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I'm probably just talking about it because I recently finished John Douglas' second book. In one section, he addressed the subject of whether outside stimuli causing violent crimes.
     
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