Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Winter 2002

Of Bugs and Men - On the Bookshelf
forward.
Dressler’s words appear to be propelling her writing career forward as well.
Not only has she now published two well-received novels, but she recently
won one of only two Dobie Paisano writing fellowships for 2001–02. The
fellowships, sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas
Institute of Letters, provide writers with a $12,000 stipend and allow them
to spend six months at Paisano, the late author J. Frank Dobie’s 265-acre
retreat west of Austin.
As for the literary battle of the sexes? Dressler was asked, during a recent
standing-room-only reading of her novel, if she found it challenging to
write about a man, an older man at that? She gave a knowing look, smiled,
and said that male interviewers in particular seem to be fond of asking her
that question, surprised that a woman would be writing about a man’s life
from a man’s perspective. She, however, doesn’t find the circumstance so
baffling. At 37, she is already beginning to feel a more intense
consciousness of her mortality, and, she says, that when she “turned that
feeling up several notches,” she could imagine what it felt like to be older,
like Tristan. She added, “Most of us, when we are at our best, try to
imagine what it feels like to be in another’s shoes.” And she imagined that
an older man might feel a little uncomfortable in his skin, concerned about
his appearance, especially if he wants to appear attractive to someone. She
likened that feeling to those that many women experience throughout their
entire lives. At that moment, a woman in the audience nudged her elderly
male companion. He chuckled and nodded, perhaps in recognition of his
own behavior and feelings reflected in Dressler’s comments and in the
character she has created, Tristan.
Reactions like his may settle the debate once and for all.
—M. Yvonne Taylor
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