New Yorker writer Susan Orlean stood before a captive audience at the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Angelle Hall auditorium and compared her work as a reporter to the orchid hunters she wrote about in her bestselling book, 小蝌蚪APP淭he Orchid Thief.小蝌蚪APP&苍产蝉辫;
小蝌蚪APP淭here is an element there of being the explorer and then coming back to say, 小蝌蚪APP楲ook what I found,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP said Orlean. 小蝌蚪APP淎nd what is it that I found? I found a story.小蝌蚪APP
Orlean wove anecdotes from some of her most famous pieces of creative nonfiction with commentary on her writing process as part of the Department of English小蝌蚪APP檚 Flora Plonsky Levy Lecture series.
She revealed her secret to building rapport with the subjects of her stories 小蝌蚪APP staying silent, so they know they can trust her to listen. Orlean illustrated this and the method behind her distinct brand of storytelling by pulling the curtain back on her reporting for the classic, 小蝌蚪APP90s Esquire cover story, 小蝌蚪APP.小蝌蚪APP&苍产蝉辫;
Orlean said her editor originally asked her to write a profile of Macaulay Culkin, but she had another idea.
小蝌蚪APP淚 said to my editor, 小蝌蚪APP榃ell, how about if I just write about an ordinary 10-year-old boy,小蝌蚪APP and to my delight and then horror my editor said, 小蝌蚪APP楾hat小蝌蚪APP檚 a great idea, go ahead,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP she explained.
This on-deadline reporting journey eventually led her to the home of friend-of-a-friend in suburban New Jersey where Orlean found herself sharing a breakfast table with her source, who sat stunned when he realized she小蝌蚪APP檇 be tagging along with him to school.
Of course, he eventually opened up, and she met her deadline. Orlean called the article, 小蝌蚪APP渢he absolute distillation of my belief in an ordinary story being valuable.小蝌蚪APP&苍产蝉辫;
She said even though most of her writing touches on modern culture, the pieces themselves have aged well.
小蝌蚪APP淲hat I小蝌蚪APP檓 interested in is something deeper that is about the way we live and who we are and what we try to make of our lives,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淭hat to me is not about a moment in time; it小蝌蚪APP檚 deeper than that.小蝌蚪APP
To the delight of almost everyone in attendance, this theory proved itself in real time when a member of the audience raised her hand to tell Orlean she still had a copy of that Esquire magazine tucked away in her Lafayette home. She said the cover story resonated with her as the mother of a 10-year-old boy when the piece was written more than 30 years ago.
The yellowed, December 1992 issue appeared on Orleans book signing table after the lecture. ("I knew just where it was," the owner said.)
As Orleans scrolled her Sharpie signature over Macaulay Culkin小蝌蚪APP檚 10-year-old face, she said she believes an appreciation for storytelling will endure in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
小蝌蚪APP淲e小蝌蚪APP檝e been writing books and reading books for a really long time. I don小蝌蚪APP檛 think they小蝌蚪APP檙e going to go away because of an algorithm,小蝌蚪APP said Orlean. 小蝌蚪APP淚 don小蝌蚪APP檛 think that小蝌蚪APP檚 a future anyone wants. And if we don小蝌蚪APP檛 want it, we won小蝌蚪APP檛 go there.小蝌蚪APP
Photo caption: Susan Orlean, the bestselling author of the nonfiction book 小蝌蚪APP淭he Orchid Thief小蝌蚪APP and longtime staff writer for The New Yorker magazine spoke at UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 2023 Flora Plonsky Levy Lecture. The free event was held on Oct. 4, in Angelle Hall auditorium. Photo credit: Corey Hendrickson