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Yada Yada Yada | Prone
Maybe I am a dirty writer. But so was Nabokov.
Recently, I ran into Kentucky writer Joey Goebel, the author of "Commonwealth," at Spalding's Festival of Contemporary Writing. After chitchatting for a minute, he mentioned doing a reading with me at the InKY Reading Series a few years ago.
"I remember your stuff," he said. "It's dirty."
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But maybe he meant it in a good way. Sometimes there is only a subtle difference between dirt and art. Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" could be seen as verging on child pornography. "Snuff," a novel published last month by Chuck Palahniuk, author of "Fight Club," explores a porn star's attempt to break the world record for serial fornication. It's told from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600. In Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," Absolon kisses Alisoun's "naked erse/Ful savourly" in the "Miller's Tale." So, you see, I didn't start the fire, and there are plenty of other writers who are fanning the flames.
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Lauren Titus is a Louisville writer and college instructor. Read her blog at www.velocityweekly.com/blogs.
