This piece is intense. It starts with the narrator saying "...and then I pulled the trigger" and ends with "...wish me luck."
The narration is natural and conversational. It takes you inside the experience, complete with questions, confusion.
I am not a big fan of music under an entire piece, but this time it keeps the pace and doesn't interfere.
It gets us as close as I hope any of us gets to this kind of experience.
"There but for the grace of...go I."
OK, things I loved about this piece:
1. This story bitchslapped me.
2. It made my blood pressure rise and made me a little bit nauseated.
3. I'm consumed by the need to figure out whether or not this is a true story. Jesus, I hope not.
4. I was horrified because I could easily imagine myself in the exact same position, although I'd like to think I might not have the same instinctive reaction.
Things that I like about this piece:
1. The narrator is great to listen to--very natural storytelling style.
2. It gave me the feeling I was inside some sort of strange maze or something, where you think you're going one place, and suddenly you've taken a turn that brings you to another turn until finally you wind up at a completely startling destination with no idea what brought you there.
3. Very nice details in the story, which are thrown out so casually that you almost don't even notice them, yet they help to make the piece resonate.
Things I didn't love about the piece:
1. Maybe I'm a lazy bastard, but I really wanna know how it turned out. And now I'm going to have to waste huge amounts of time and mental energy investigating in order to find out.
But, hell, overall it's a small price to pay. Excellent work.
In this fascinating piece, Mr Anderson examines himself when placed in a confrontational situation with a racist at a restaurant. Things turn for the worst and the whole piece is told from a retrospective point-of-view with an ingenious suspense ending.
Hans Anderson isn't exactly Garrison Keillor or Joe Frank--he has his own voice-- but if forced to make a comparison I'd say he's somewhere in between.
"Seafood Joint" is compelling and it's only seven minutes but it feels much longer---in a good way. Anderson is a master of digressions. Throughout his story he digresses from the narrative in a way that manages to enhance the overall direction and momentum of the story. Where would one broadcast this piece? Where there's a 7:05 gap. As race relations is one of the themes it would be an interesting piece to play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day... I could certainly hear this on "The Next Big Thing, " "Radio Lab," or "This American Life"--that is if they have a compatible theme.
Hans Anderson reviewed a piece here, on PRX, and wrote: "I think PR needs a shake up." Well ,"Seafood Joint" would do a fine job of giving public radio a gentle shaking.
-CM
Comments for Seafood Joint
Produced by Hans Anderson
Other pieces by Hans Anderson
Rating Summary
4 comments
Tripp Sommer
Posted on January 08, 2006 at 03:13 PM | Permalink
Review of Seafood Joint
This piece is intense. It starts with the narrator saying "...and then I pulled the trigger" and ends with "...wish me luck."
The narration is natural and conversational. It takes you inside the experience, complete with questions, confusion.
I am not a big fan of music under an entire piece, but this time it keeps the pace and doesn't interfere.
It gets us as close as I hope any of us gets to this kind of experience.
"There but for the grace of...go I."
Todd Taliaferro
Posted on September 05, 2005 at 02:34 PM | Permalink
Review of Seafood Joint
OK, things I loved about this piece:
1. This story bitchslapped me.
2. It made my blood pressure rise and made me a little bit nauseated.
3. I'm consumed by the need to figure out whether or not this is a true story. Jesus, I hope not.
4. I was horrified because I could easily imagine myself in the exact same position, although I'd like to think I might not have the same instinctive reaction.
Things that I like about this piece:
1. The narrator is great to listen to--very natural storytelling style.
2. It gave me the feeling I was inside some sort of strange maze or something, where you think you're going one place, and suddenly you've taken a turn that brings you to another turn until finally you wind up at a completely startling destination with no idea what brought you there.
3. Very nice details in the story, which are thrown out so casually that you almost don't even notice them, yet they help to make the piece resonate.
Things I didn't love about the piece:
1. Maybe I'm a lazy bastard, but I really wanna know how it turned out. And now I'm going to have to waste huge amounts of time and mental energy investigating in order to find out.
But, hell, overall it's a small price to pay. Excellent work.
R. Tyler Mack
Posted on March 30, 2005 at 09:20 AM | Permalink
Review of Seafood Joint
In this fascinating piece, Mr Anderson examines himself when placed in a confrontational situation with a racist at a restaurant. Things turn for the worst and the whole piece is told from a retrospective point-of-view with an ingenious suspense ending.
Transom Editors
Posted on November 14, 2003 at 09:18 AM | Permalink
Review of Seafood Joint
Hans Anderson isn't exactly Garrison Keillor or Joe Frank--he has his own voice-- but if forced to make a comparison I'd say he's somewhere in between.
"Seafood Joint" is compelling and it's only seven minutes but it feels much longer---in a good way. Anderson is a master of digressions. Throughout his story he digresses from the narrative in a way that manages to enhance the overall direction and momentum of the story. Where would one broadcast this piece? Where there's a 7:05 gap. As race relations is one of the themes it would be an interesting piece to play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day... I could certainly hear this on "The Next Big Thing, " "Radio Lab," or "This American Life"--that is if they have a compatible theme.
Hans Anderson reviewed a piece here, on PRX, and wrote: "I think PR needs a shake up." Well ,"Seafood Joint" would do a fine job of giving public radio a gentle shaking.
-CM