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howtheduck raised a good point on his blog today when he discussed the ramifications of the only people who seem interested in Mike's book being the Pattersons and their hangers-on. It may well be that Lynn does not intend the novel to be the insane success that Mike's dreams would make it. His path may lead elsewhere for the simple reason that to be a big-time successful novelist, he'd have to spend far too much time away from home. To a woman with as great a love of being tied down to the familiar as Lynn seems to have, a nomadic experience like that is the worst thing in the world. Fortunately, she's provided Michael with a way out of that horror; he writes a column about the ups and downs of suburban life for the weekly paper Elly used to work for. If the strip continued, we could well expect to see a forty-year old Mike happily slaving away at his keyboard writing his weekly column and good-naturedly shaking his head about his delusions of literary grandeur. A Mike with a day-to-day job like that would be a far better son than the selfish fool who wanted to go on the road all the time.
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Date: 2007-11-27 05:01 pm (UTC)I noticed that when the strip listed the publicity for Mike’s book, it was CBC, CHCH, The Toronto Star, the Hamilton Spectator, and a signing at Eastgate Square; all of which are relatively local for a person living in Milborough which is just outside Toronto. Perhaps Lynn thinks that she can circumvent the issues with long distance book promotion, by keeping everything close to home. After all, in the strip we have not seen any of these moments in Mike’s life (although Jean Baker mentioned seeing Mike on TV, so we know the CBC or CHCH interview has happened). Despite this, the first signing we have is in Lilliput’s and I would guess this is the only signing we are going to see.
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Date: 2007-11-27 05:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 07:54 pm (UTC)With her family, it is a little different, considering Lynn Johnston now lives alone. I think we may go with Lynn’s perception of how things were with her family, but as to how things really were, that’s a whole different story. I have seen first-hand how touring around and doing things causes a person to think more highly of themselves, and also how they don’t like it so much that the folks at home can instantaneously humble them with their past.
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Date: 2007-11-27 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 08:30 pm (UTC)