Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘fiction becomes reality’

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The secret lives of literary characters

by Celeste Ng

I have a theory that in 50 years, or maybe even 20, scholars will be studying a new form of fiction that’s just beginning now. It’s not exactly narrative, nor is it strictly prose. In fact, some of it isn’t even stories. But it involves imagining the secret details of characters’ lives, articulating their thoughts and fears, developing their voices and diction and tone. Unlike typical fanfiction, this new mode of storytelling often use social media or other unconventional means, as if the characters themselves were real people living in and interacting in our world. For lack of a better […]


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99 problems… but a snitch ain't one

by Celeste Ng

Once again, fiction becomes reality—sort of. The wizard sport Quidditch, from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series1, has made its way into the real world. The International Quidditch Association “serves to promote Quidditch as a new sport and lead outreach programs to increase athletic participation among children and young adults and bring magic to communities.” According to the organization’s website, “Muggle Quidditch,” or “Ground Quidditch,” began in 2005 as an intramural league at Middlebury College in Vermont. The rules were adapted from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels by Alexander Manshel, the first Quidditch Commissioner. […] Since then the IQA has helped […]


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When Fiction Becomes Reality

by Celeste Ng

Is it just me, or have the lines between the real world and fiction been even more blurred lately? According to the New York Times‘s ArtsBeat, Grove/Atlantic will publish Sterling’s Gold: The Wit & Wisdom of an Ad Man—a fictional memoir written by the fictional Roger Sterling of AMC’s Mad Men: In a deeply facetious news release Grove Press said a box containing the book “has been found in the basement of the home he once shared with his wife, Jane.” The release continues, “Though it has been out of print for many years, Sterling’s groundbreaking book gave readers a […]



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