Saturday, June 13, 2009
Storytelling - Again
And speaking of storytelling, I met a kindred spirit last week in the form of photographer (and storyteller) Robbie Caponetto. He shared many hilarious anecdotes that night about his adventures in the wide world, but one in particular - about the art of telling tales - still makes me laugh.
After living in fast-paced Los Angeles for a number of years, Robbie had forgotten what it was like to share stories in the Southern tradition, unfolding languidly over a glass of bourbon or an extended breakfast coffee. Shortly after moving back to Birmingham, Alabama, he got impatient with a friends’ long, curving and drawn out story and made some comment like “get to the point.” He recalls that in a flash, all of his friends turned to him in quiet disgust and replied “What happened to you?”
I recently picked up Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone. I love this first paragraph from the introduction:
“Storytelling, in my family, was highly prized. While my father walked home from work he rearranged the events of his day to make them more entertaining, and my mother could make a trip to the supermarket sound like an adventure. If this required minor adjustments of fact, nobody much minded: it was certainly preferable to boring your audience.”
Visit www.ruthreichl.com for recipes and tales or www.gourmet.com where Ruth shares her favorite recipes each month like the fresh corn pancakes - pictured above - perfect for a languid breakfast with stories. Can't wait for our corn to come in...
*Photograph by Romulo Yanes for Gourmet
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Comments
another wonderful resource
I love Ruth Reichl's books.