Jimmy Breslin, a wonderful storyteller, thought Damon Runyon was a wonderful storyteller.
Runyon had an instinct for finding good characters. Breslin said writers ought to think more about their characters because it’s impossible to write a good story about an uninteresting character. That’s why, Breslin said, you can’t write a good story about politicians: “They’re all hollow.” (I met Breslin once, in 1992, just after he’d covered the Republican National Convention in Houston.)
Breslin thought Runyon’s characters were “outrageously funny.” I tried a couple of Runyon’s stories recently and thought Joe the Joker and Rusty Charley were outrageous, rather than funny. But I read to the end.
I was struck by the way Runyon told a story:
• The story is told in present tense.
• There are no contractions.
• The narrator is just an ordinary guy on the street.
• The dialog doesn’t push the story forward. When Joe the Joker says something, he’s trying to throw you off, hide the truth. He’s certainly not trying to enlighten you or make it easier for the cops.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a short story told in present tense. You could say Runyon’s stories are out of fashion. But Breslin had a point about the characters.
• Sources: Jimmy Breslin, Damon Runyon: A Life; New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1991.
Breslin was interviewed by Brian Lamb for C-Span’s Booknotes program. It aired on Dec. 29, 1991, and is archived here:
No comments:
Post a Comment