If it makes you feel better, I had to look up lagniappe.

So did I. I agree, Theric. Good word.

And here I was thinking you’re the smart one, MoJo. I distinctly remember you talking me into a corner here with your very smart comments. I especially enjoy tongue-in-cheek smartness. Not everyone can pull that off…especially in writing.

Actually, I’m having a technical difficulty. I’ll send it to you now with a long and disappointing postscript…..

(Which reminds me, I still haven’t sent you that letter….it’s sitting in my drafts folder….polished….waiting…..)

You’ve been sitting on that so long now I’m wondering if I’m going to get sent to the principal’s office. 😐

If it makes you feel better, I had to look up lagniappe.

Good word.

And, for what it’s worth, I don’t feel dumber for coming here.

(Which reminds me, I still haven’t sent you that letter….it’s sitting in my drafts folder….polished….waiting…..)

If you don’t understand what I’ve written, that could very well be because I’ve not explained it clearly enough. I’m always really pleased when people comment, because it helps me clarify my ideas and express them better. At least, I hope I end up expressing them better!

LOL, no it’s probably me but I’ll start commenting!

Ha! I’d never heard of the Jell-O Belt. Unintentional Smart Assery there.

Well, you know I’m trying to break ground with the Mormon-sex thing, so it’s best to start the cultural education right off the bat!

And yes, the Girls in the Basement. I have to confess I don’t get the Jenny Crusie love–for her novels. But crap, I love to read her essays and blog posts. I can spend all day and then some reading her blog archives. I bet she’s a hoot when she speaks.

It’s all that layering of things! Can’t even pick it out in my own stuff.

Again, ‘sokay. Let the Girls in the Basement do their thing.

Ha! I’d never heard of the Jell-O Belt. Unintentional Smart Assery there.

Hmm. I very, very briefly skimmed through your archives, and came across this bit of analysis:

This isn’t a vampire story. It’s a character study of the things we, as Latter-day Saints, might do when pushed into a corner with no apparent way out. It also asks if we have faith in what we say we believe.

That looks to me like clear, concise analysis. And how about this:

they’re rich and complex, layered and moving so that I’m still thinking about them long after. Sometimes they depend more heavily on characterization or on plot, leaning to one side or the other, but I really don’t care. When they strike a balance–well, that’s a lagniappe.

It seems to me that you’re analysing pretty effectively if you’re thinking about these books long after you finished reading them, and you’re working out that they’re rich, layered etc.

half the time, I don’t even know what the existing analyses are saying

If you don’t understand what I’ve written, that could very well be because I’ve not explained it clearly enough. I’m always really pleased when people comment, because it helps me clarify my ideas and express them better. At least, I hope I end up expressing them better! 😉

I’ve just come to the point where I have to admit that I like what I like and a good portion of it is crass and commercial

I’m not sure I’d describe anything I like as “crass” but given that when I read fiction I’m pretty much only reading romances, and most of those are published by Harlequin, almost all the novels I read must be “commercial.” I don’t think this makes me any more, or less, smart. As you say, it mostly means that “I like what I like.”

I’ll also echo RfP: “I’m not omni-smart; I’m wowed by others all the time. ‘Sokay.” There are many, many skills that I don’t have and areas that I don’t know a lot about. For example, I haven’t studied English literature beyond high school level (I took Spanish at university), I’ve read very few of the “big” feminist works and I’m only very slowly working my way through some of them, I have very little grasp of statistics, I’ve never visited the US. I could go on, but I’d rather not reveal the true depth of my ignorance 😉 I’ve learned a lot from comments that other people have made in response to my posts, and I’ve learned a lot from reading other people’s blogs.