Via Echidne, I took one of those silly internet quizzes, this one purporting to correlate one’s own humble prose with that of famous dudes. (I suspected they were all dudes because I took it multiple times and did not turn up Margaret Atwood, to my overwhelming sorrow. A commenter at Echidne’s subsequently turned up a discussion elsewhere of the dudeliness – and whiteness – of the allowable matches.)
First my truly shameful revelation: my latest post on Sarah Palin’s wild ride churned up “Dan Brown” as my famous-dude counterpart. It’s enough to make a gal stop dabbling in conspiracy theories.
Otherwise, though, I came out as “David Foster Wallace” and “H.P. Lovecraft.” I am churlish. Despite my assumption that Atwood was off the list, in fact other commenters at Echidne’s did match Atwood’s style. So why, in the name of the holy Magdalene, do I resemble Dan Brown, even if only on the margins? I’ve read virtually all of Atwood’s corpus, including lots of obscure early poems. (Circe, anyone?) From David Fucking Foster Wallace, I’ve read not a word. Maybe it’s time I began?
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
All I know of H.P. Lovecraft is that he wrote horror and sci fi, which are not my bag. Otherwise I couldn’t distinguish him from H.R. Pufnstuf.
Knowing that most of my readers are writers of some stripe, I’m curious how y’all might come out. Go here and run your blog posts, lab reports, or Great American Novel through the robot. Leave your results in comments; post ‘em on your blog. If you’re anointed the new Margaret Atwood, just be kind enough to refrain from gloating. For what it’s worth, the robot thinks Atwood writes like James Joyce.
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)
If you submit multiple samples, you can sometimes get different names. I will now describe my writing as a cross between JK Rowling and Chuck Palahniuk (?! – Fight Club? Really?)
Apparently I write like David Foster Wallace, too. Maybe he wrote novels/stories that were heavy on snark. Because my blogs contain mostly that. And obscure references to movies and television.
David Foster Wallace as well. Apparently the blogosphere is rotten with DFW impersonators.
David Foster Wallace over here.
I have never read a DFW anything that I know of.
Hmm…… I checked my technical writing on wellbores for CO2 injection, complete with chemical reactions and ultra-dry, plus a sarcastic piece I wrote on the financial bail-outs. Two very different styles of writing. Same dude both times – David Foster Wallace.
OK, I posted two posts on there (my latest and the Ann Althouse/Supreme Court one) and they both returned … H.P. Lovecraft.
Did H.P. Lovecraft have a secret career writing about gender issues that we don’t know about?
I tried a couple of things. My haiku poem about the moon and ants was akin to Leo Tolstoy, while the ramblings on enlightenment were….wait for it….David.Foster.Wallace.
Me thinks the test is rigged:-)
Yeah, when you read the small print it says ‘test developed by Dave Foster Wallace.”
So now I’ve gone beyond churlish to full-blown insulted. All these years I spent wanting to be Margaret Atwood when I grew up, and now it’s skipped a generation! I fed the Bear’s third-grade report on chameleons into the ‘bot, expecting Dan Brown, and he gets the Margaret Atwood honors!
The kid’s fourth-grade book report shows up as William Shakespeare. His second-grade paper on bobcats? William Gibson.
No David Foster Wallace in the bunch.
Ballgame: I think Ann Althouse pushed you into the sci-fi category. Interpret that as kindly or snarkily as you please.
Janet and Hydraargyrum: I foresee a brilliant collaboration, resulting in haikus on carbon capture.
Yrathbone: I totally ran multiple samples. I was trying to game it, I admit, looking for that elusive Margaret Atwood comparison.
Keitho: Thanks for untangling the mystery! And here I just thought the site was hawking a vanity press.
K: I guess we’re all going to have to add Foster to our summer reading list?
Welcome to those of you who are visiting/commenting for the first time! I’m glad to have all of you wasting time with me.
Don’t feel bad about not scoring a Margaret Atwood, Sungold! Huffington Post just put a piece up about the site you’ll want to check out, which includes this observation:
Very entertaining link, ballgame. Thanks!
Poor Margaret Atwood.
At least she didn’t come up as Dan Brown.