Trouble at the stadium July 11, 1985

 


Dear Rita:

Well, here comes more of the Patty Mills stuff.

It seems to go on and on, like immeasurable suffering, not bad in small doses, but as it floods in on you it becomes unbearable.

Fortunately, for all concerned, the quality tends to improve as it goes along, the pain dropping in as little droplets of truth seep in.

This chapter is a throwback, although not much of one.

I still have serious problems with it, even though I also enjoy it greatly.

I particularly like the part about the stadium tunnel with the saying written on the walls, as a frame for the game that gets played.

I also like the characterization of Darrell by the faded marks on his head where the horns from his Halloween costume had been pasted.

By far, Slimy Mulligan is my favorite character not just in this chapter but in the whole series. He is very autobiographical and grows as the novel goes on. The process in which Patty puts on his jacket is an education, and I can remember having a jacket just like it when I was that age, mud-caked and tattered, I called it my Davey Crockett coat.

I’m not sure just what disturbs me ab out the piece. Perhaps it is just too negative, one short segment brings Patty to the very edge of suicidal thought when she thinks that she can float down from the top of the stadium wall like a piece of paper.

I know that I will come back to this section when I am through with the whole project and make some adjustments. But time is the best editor in that regard, and after writing the rest I will have a better perspective on this piece and how it plays into the master (ha) design.

Anyway, enjoy. I will call you soon.

 

Your friend

Al Sullivan

 


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