January 13 - "Trickster in a Suit of Lights"

“Trickster in a Suit of Lights”
by Michael Chabon
Maps and Legends (2008)

* * * * * (Excellent) Essay

A collection of compelling arguments in favor of entertainment and the pleasure it provides us. Also included is an argument for the best type of short story.

This is the essay that would have sparked this project if I hadn’t already stumbled upon the idea by chance or luck a month ago. Chabon’s view of entertainment is not a newly voiced opinion on the topic. His are views shared by Stephen King and many other authors of works typically deemed less-than-literary. What they do, however, is explain – so much better than I – my own views on the topic. Entertainment is not a “guilty pleasure” – I, and many others, just don’t feel guilt for taking pleasure in entertainment. And just because a work falls nicely into a certain genre does not make it any less worthy of attention, of enjoyment. According to Chabon, genre stories are simply stories that follow certain rules and patterns – not that different from any “literary” tale that follows the structure of the tales that came before it. It all goes back to that idea that there are only a handful of stories in the word. In fact, Chabon suggests that the most powerful, most meaningful modern (short) stories are those that skirt the gray area between “literature” and genre.

There is so much going on in this essay that I can’t possibly do justice to the thoughts and arguments presented. I can only hope that people find this essay – take it to heart – and believe in the power, pleasure, and rightness of entertainment.