The · Affected · Provincial’s · Almanack

A bit under the weather today--the stomach bug that's been going around has finally looked up my address. At least these sorts of episodes prove slimming.

Remember Gerard, the theatrically gifted fiddler crab mentioned in the book? Well, we were moving around some of our heaviest dressers last night, and found his perfectly preserved remains. If I weren't already sick to my stomach, this would have been sufficient cause. Poor little fellow. The tragedy is that I looked behind this dresser when he went missing. Must have scuttled there afterwards. So much for my romantic projections. Nevertheless, he will have a place of honor on the mantle--I have a specimen jar already picked out for him.

Our appearances often do not match our voices: I recall being surprised when I first heard David MacDermott's working-class New York accent, and Lincoln, despite his stately appearance, supposedly had a high, reedy voice.

Some of you had mentioned that they were trying to listen past the translator's voice to hear my own during that Arte TV interview this week. One of you even expressed a certain relief that I did not affect a British accent. I make no bones about my plebian origins, and they are possibly most evident in my everyday speech: It's a Mid-Atlantic accent with a slight Delaware Valley/Philly flavor tinged with Appalachian figures of speech and other such lapses in judgment--oh, and I've always slurred my "s"es. I am not particularly enamored with it, and if I was truly a reinventor I suppose I would take steps to efface it--but I find it a humorous contrast to my writing and appearance. While dining with a friend in Seattle during my self-inflicted book tour, an Australian waiter (never shy with their opinions, those Aussies) poked fun at the way I spoke, specifically my broad "a"s. So there you go--me no talk pretty any day.

So how about you, dear readers: how would you describe your own mode of speech? Do you like it? Is it an asset or a detriment? Is it a good "fit"?

PS: Here is an interesting site on the subject.