James Galvin, A Second Time (111)
Michael Martone, Contributor's Note (176)
Martone's take is a third-person autobiography of his name, I was drawn to it for its unique form. My last short take is going to be an analysis of the "Biographical Notes" story, treating it like an actual artistic endeavor, so I was interested to see what Martone included.
He looks at the many ways he has been perceived which is an extension of what name or nickname he weent by at the time. From Monk, the monkey imitator and monkey-pun artist, to Mike, card-carrying member of The Mikes of America club. It's a bit disorienting when he references other people while talking about himself in 3rd person; he has to be on point with his clarity or diction, or else the reader gets lost in sentence muck.
Friends call Martone Martone, a strangely intimate construction in the way
children in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where Martone lives now with his wife who still calls
him Martone, call Martone Mr. Michael (179)
It's an awesome piece though, with details like:
a high school crush writing her name as if she was Martone's bride
Martone's wife having private nicknames for him that he isn't allowed to disclose in his writing
ending with him ---SPOILER ALERT--- saying his name for the pastor as he's about to be wed
I'd recommend this, no doubt.
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