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Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

esquire.com

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Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#11

Post by adzm »

beepbooptheory wrote: post #7
saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

I could not for the life of me guess what in particular is wrong with at least the second example here, if not the others. Can you explain what you mean? Is it the very mention of beers and cigarettes that perhaps triggers this reaction?

Nothing wrong with it; it is simply colorful and overly verbose, perhaps, but that is a stylistic choice. Personally I feel like it really helps paint a mental picture. If the goal is simply to transfer information, then it would be considered fluff. But if the goal is to share an experience, I think it succeeds!

Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#12

Post by vidarh »

beepbooptheory wrote: post #7
saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

I could not for the life of me guess what in particular is wrong with at least the second example here, if not the others. Can you explain what you mean? Is it the very mention of beers and cigarettes that perhaps triggers this reaction?

It's an article that tries to be literature rather than just the information it conveys, and some people don't like that whether it is successful or not.

Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#13

Post by IAmBroom »

saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

"Queen of the Silver Dollar" was written by Shel Silverstein in desperation to pay rent, and dictated from a phonebooth* to a member of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Cabinet.

Sometimes people really are hard-bitten.

* It's kind of like a specially designed room standing on the sidewalk of a city street, where you can put your iPhone on speaker and still hear the other person talk. Only it comes with it's own iPhone that you can rent for less than a dollar with an old form of Venmo.

Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#14

Post by throwaway81523 »

saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

> “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.”

13.7 per day, I guess it could be worse.

When I saw the title I wondered if Bob Rutan had any connection with Burt Rutan, the airplane guy. I guess not.

How do you get $200 an hour for a corporate Santa gig?

Article looks good. I'm just a paragraph or two in, but will probably read it.

Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#15

Post by uean »

saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

I disagree. I love and miss this style. Old Car and Driver articles often had the same flair. It’s not always about conveying the information but how we get there. I would love to find more long form, flair writing like this.

Re: Playing Santa changed Bob Rutan profoundly

#16

Post by levinb »

IAmBroom wrote: post #13
saaaaaam wrote: post #3

Esquire writing is so weird. It’s genuinely like a relic from another age. “ They drank tumblers of Irish whiskey filled to the brim, illicit pours they secured with ten-dollar tips to a curvy Dominican bartender.” “ For the price of three beers, he told me his story.” “ In the two decades since the show aired, a hundred thousand American Spirits had yellowed Bob’s fingers and turned his voice to gravel.” When I read…

"Queen of the Silver Dollar" was written by Shel Silverstein in desperation to pay rent, and dictated from a phonebooth* to a member of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Cabinet. Sometimes people really are hard-bitten. * It's kind of like a specially designed room standing on the sidewalk of a city street, where you can put your iPhone on speaker and still hear the other person talk. Only it comes with it's own iPhone that…

human.
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