A WRITER’S WIT
The poor are the only consistent altruists; they sell all they have and give it to the rich.
Holbrook Jackson
Born December 31, 1874
History
The reader can access previous analyses by going to the side bar and clicking on “January 2011” or “2012.”
The Stats for 2013
- Average length of a New Yorker story in 2013: 8,750 words (approximate, of course)
- Change from 2012: +2,750 words
- Percentage of male authors: 58% (57% adjusting for writers with multiple stories)
- Change from 2012: –11% (using adjusted figure above)
- Percentage of female authors: 42% (43% adjusting for writers with multiple stories)
- Change from 2012: +11% (using adjusted figure above)
- Average age of a New Yorker author: 54
- Change from 2012: +4
- Percentage of lead characters who are male: 57%
- Percentage of lead characters who are female: 43%
- Number of lead characters who are apparently heterosexual: 98%
- Percentage of lead characters who are apparently LGBT: Less than 2% (only one character, and he becomes “gay” after he goes to prison*)
- Percentage of lead characters who are apparently Caucasian: 64%
- Percentage of lead characters who are apparently “minority” or foreign: 26%
- Percentage of lead characters who are apparently Jewish or Israeli: 10%
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1700s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1910s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1920s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1930s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1940s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1950s: 2
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1960s: 3
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1970s: 3
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1980s: 2
- Stories that seem to be set in the 1990s: 0
- Stories that seem to be set in the 2000s: 1
- Stories that seem to be set in the 2010s: 31
- Stories that seem to be set in the future: 1 (2113)
- Stories set in the United States: 37% — CA-1, FL-1, MA-2, MT-2, NY-10, TX-1, UT-1, WA-1
- Percentage of stories set in foreign countries: 49%
- AFGHANISTAN-1, AUSTRIA-1, CHINA-1, DENMARK-1, ENGLAND-5, GERMANY-1, INDIA-3, ITALY-1, KENYA-1, NEW SOUTH WALES-1, NIGERIA-1, RUSSIA-1, SCOTLAND-1, SPAIN-1, SRI LANKA-1, TUNISIA-1, .
- Percentage of stories in which there is no concrete setting: 14%
- Percentage of stories set in urban/suburban areas: 76%
- Percentage of stories set in rural/pastoral areas: 24%
- Authors publishing more than one story: Joshua Ferris-2, Rivka Galchen-2, Tessa Hadley-3, Thomas McGuane-2, Steven Millhauser-2, Zadie Smith-2, and Paul Theroux-2
- Percentage of authors who appear to use English in a traditional manner: 92%
- Percentage of authors who appear to use English in an experimental manner: less than 2%
- Percentage of authors who appear to use English both ways: 6%
- Percentage of authors who employ the first-person POV: 31%
- Percentage of authors who employ the second-person POV: less than 2%
- Percentage of authors who employ the third-person POV: 67%
- Percentage of authors who primarily employ the past tense: 88%
- Percentage of authors who primarily employ the present tense: 12%
*This discrepancy in The New Yorker’s otherwise liberal acceptance policy (in terms of subject matter) is rather disconcerting. In a city that is home to one of the largest gay populations in the world, here exists a major, longstanding magazine that can’t locate at least one story featuring a central character who is LGBT! That is unbelievable and unforgiveable (in an abstract sense, of course). Its straight readers, I dare say, must have dozens if not scores of LGBT friends. Why this apparent squeamishness with regard to featuring a story about, say, a newly married gay couple, who are on the very brink of divorce, with a surrogate mother in the wings awaiting the birth of their first love child? You can’t tell me that there isn’t something appealing in the story. Perhaps I should write it. Yeah, hey, I’ll write the damn thing. I’ll be the sole gay writer featured in next year’s stories, a celebrity!
Interpreting Theme
For 2013, I challenged myself to distill the theme of each story to one word or phrase if I could. I made up my mind quickly—believing that, like selecting a character’s name or looking at Rorschach inkblots—first thoughts are the most honest psychologically:
ALIENATION-26%
BETRAYAL-2%
CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN-2%
COMING-OF-AGE-4%
EVIL-2%
FAITH-2%
FAMILY-6%
FEAR-2%
FIDELITY/INFIDELITY-14%
FORGIVENESS-2%
FREEDOM-2%
INJUSTICE-4%
LONELINESS-2%
LOSS-2%
LOVE-6%
MORTALITY-2%
POVERTY-2%
PRIDE/HUBRIS-2%
REGENERATION/REBIRTH-6%
RETRIBUTION-2%
SURVIVAL-2%
SUSTENANCE-2%
WAR’S ABSURDITIES-2%
Some Nuts and Bolts
Wednesday, Crème de la Crème (the top 1-17)
Thursday, The Big Middle (18-44)
Friday, The Stories I Least Liked and Why (45-51).
I urge you to read at least some of the stories by clicking on the story's title that will take you to The New Yorker website. There they offer full access to some of the stories but only a passage from others. Don't know why!