Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A Writer's Thanksgiving Dinner: Jane Austen's Bringing the Madeira

Jane Austen, waiting for me to pass the wine


The other day, while driving and listening to NPR, I had the good fortune to come across the following story. Miles Hoffman, the music commentator, was answering the question about which famous composers he'd like to have around his Thankgiving table. (The only stipulation was that they had to be playing piano in the afterlife.)

Can you guess which famous musical dudes Hoffman chose? If you answered Bach, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, and Bloch you need to zoom on over to the Hoffman homestead to hobnob and help yourself to some cranberry sauce. (You can listen to the broadcast here.)

Got me to thinking. Which writers (at their heavenly desks) would I like to have around my Thanksgiving table? I love Jane Austen, and figure she'd be a lot of snarky fun. Robert Burns would be a good sport, especially if he brought along a bottle or two of Scotch. Everybody who knows me also knows I have a thing for Shakespeare. He'd be on for a sonnet or several.

Who else do you think should join the fun?
(I'm light on Americans, and it IS their holiday. Any recommendations?

[Thanks, everyone, for kind comments on my previous post. To all my faithful readers and commenters: I will be raising a glass to you this Thanksgiving, grateful that you are all a part of my life.]

7 comments:

  1. Oh Thoreau.... And I would have loved to meet Walt Whitman - because he was obviously a charmer.

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  2. Louisa May Alcott. While figuring out what middle name to give me, my mother spotted Little Women on the bookshelf and decided to go with the name Louisa. It flows nicely with my given first name: Kristina.

    I guess I was always destined to be a YA writer. LOL

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  3. Edgar Allen Poe and Mark Twain-now, Edgar might be a bit of a party pooper, but thinking Mark's humour and wit could bring him around. Seat them together, I'd say?

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  4. Oh...one more from me. I'd also invite L.M. Montgomery and if I could sit next to her and talk about Anne that would be great...

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  5. O. Henry, definitely! I'd love to ask him a few questions. And he's funny and witty!

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  6. Mark Twain is the first that comes to mind. And Ben Franklin. He was a dude who loved to party! Not sure he qualifies as an author, but he did a lot of writing in his day. Isn't he the one who said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."? LOL

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  7. Dorothy Parker. Without doubt.

    'This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.'

    Welcome back Michael.

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