Topical Guide 524
Mark Dorset
Stating the Obvious, as a Strategy for Reaching a Large Audience
Reservations Recommended, Chapter 5:
If it weren’t for the fusillades of corks, rubes like us wouldn’t realize that people are drinking champagne, right? Nor would we realize that we really ought to order some ourselves. If our waiter opened our bottle gently, without that happy pop we’ve seen on TV, how would we know we were getting the real stuff? This is not a subtle place, reader. Every little luxury, every bit of service, has to be announced, has to be given an exaggerated flourish, has to have its fanfare, so that we won’t miss it, so that we will be assured that we are in a luxurious setting, so that we will believe we’re really getting service.
Larry Rivers, What Did I Do? The Unauthorized Autobiography of Larry Rivers:
An ABC television producer once made a drawing of a horse for me and said, “You and I know this is a horse. But here is what is necessary to get it over to a large audience.” Above the drawing he wrote, ‘This is a horse,’ and made an arrow from the words to the horse.”
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed.
You can listen to “My Mother Takes a Tumble” and “Do Clams Bite?” complete and uninterrupted as audiobooks through YouTube.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of Little Follies and Herb ’n’ Lorna.
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document) and at Encyclopedia.com.