Ben Fountain and Blooming Late

Oct 29th, 2008 by Nut

I had never heard of Ben Fountain until I starter hearing some buzz for his book of short stories, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara. I made a note of the good buzz his book had going for him and I moved on. Then I read this article in the New Yorker about him and how long it took him to publish said book. It’s a fascinating read and it’s one of the reasons I’m content with subscribing to said magazine.

Anyway, his story resonated with me. He sat down at his kitchen table to write and 18 years later he had his book out. Eighteen years! Every writer is familiar with what happened in between: rejection and a lot of hard work. He quit his job as an attorney and devoted himself to writing—here’s a guy that’s real easy to cheer for.

Any writer wishes they could do this—stay home and devote all your time and energy to the craft. How was he able to pull this off? His wife made enough money for the both of them and she understood how he felt about writing:

…she believed in her husband’s art…

“Sharie never once brought up money, not once—never…”

“I never felt any pressure from her,” he said. “Not even covert, not even implied.”

But my favorite line is:

But sometimes genius is anything but rarefied; sometimes it’s just the thing that emerges after twenty years of working at your kitchen table.

I love that line because most of us think of genius as something you are born with. Artists that simply create and boom—they’ve made a masterpiece. Ben Fountain’s story shows the other side of that coin. Someone who worked hard and polished his craft for 18 years. He got better and better and kept working—the man never gave up.

And all this coming from someone who hates hearing that you can achieve anything with hard work and perseverance. It’s cliché and it’s not always true: some people work hard and try hard and never get anywhere. But I believe in Ben Fountain’s story. I have to—I consider myself to be in the same boat. I’m sitting at the kitchen table right now, at 5:42am, trying to become a better writer. Trying to do whatever I can to see if there isn’t a little bit of genius in there somewhere.

[by the way, the above picture is of Ben Fountain in one of my favorite places in the world: St. Malo in France. Full circle...full circle]