Conversations With My Mother
Of Course I'm Cultured
"Really? Name one person who's cultured in this town."
"I dunno, I can't think of anyone. I'm sure there's someone, though."
"Me. I'm cultured."
"Well, Cal. There's one person."
"I mean, obviously, I'm so cultured. I've read all the classics."
"Oh, you have not!"
"What do you mean I haven't? I'm familiar with all of Charles Dickens' work."
"You are not!"
"Yeah, let me run that by some English lit professor. See how badly I can do their head in by insisting that any and every book by Charles Dickens is 'about the struggle, man' and give no further detail beyond that."
"Yeah, that'll go well."
"I mean, of course The Three Musketeers by Charles Dickens is about the struggle."
"I didn't know The Three Musketeers was written by Charles Dickens."
"It wasn't. It was written by Alexandre Dumas, I think it's pronounced."
"Alexandre [pronouncing it slightly differently to me], it's pronounced Alexandre. He was a boy."
"That's what I said."
"When I was little, my grandmother read The Three Musketeers to me."
"Yeah? What did you think?"
"I loved it. Actually, I loved being read to by her."
"Did you know that Dumas was a quarter black?"
"No."
"Yeah, yeah. His grandmother, one of his grandmothers, was black."
"Who was Black Beauty written by?"
"Anna...Anna somebody? I'm not sure."
"Me neither. You should get it out; it's a great horse lover's book."
"I know it was her only book though and she died soon after it was published or something like that. I should know her surname from memory, I did Extension English."
"Yeah, yeah. You should know all of it!"
"Yeah, I should have extensive knowledge about this stuff."
"You should be up there doing your Master's."
"Yeah, I'm eligible to do my Master's and all that."
"I don't believe that Black Beauty was the author's only book."
"It was. Pretty sure she died not long after its publication. Besides, it's not so uncommon for authors to only ever write one book."
"Name one other, Cal."
"Harper Lee. She wrote To Kill A Mockingbird."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Bam! Of course I'm cultured."
"I dunno, I can't think of anyone. I'm sure there's someone, though."
"Me. I'm cultured."
"Well, Cal. There's one person."
"I mean, obviously, I'm so cultured. I've read all the classics."
"Oh, you have not!"
"What do you mean I haven't? I'm familiar with all of Charles Dickens' work."
"You are not!"
"Yeah, let me run that by some English lit professor. See how badly I can do their head in by insisting that any and every book by Charles Dickens is 'about the struggle, man' and give no further detail beyond that."
"Yeah, that'll go well."
"I mean, of course The Three Musketeers by Charles Dickens is about the struggle."
"I didn't know The Three Musketeers was written by Charles Dickens."
"It wasn't. It was written by Alexandre Dumas, I think it's pronounced."
"Alexandre [pronouncing it slightly differently to me], it's pronounced Alexandre. He was a boy."
"That's what I said."
"When I was little, my grandmother read The Three Musketeers to me."
"Yeah? What did you think?"
"I loved it. Actually, I loved being read to by her."
"Did you know that Dumas was a quarter black?"
"No."
"Yeah, yeah. His grandmother, one of his grandmothers, was black."
"Who was Black Beauty written by?"
"Anna...Anna somebody? I'm not sure."
"Me neither. You should get it out; it's a great horse lover's book."
"I know it was her only book though and she died soon after it was published or something like that. I should know her surname from memory, I did Extension English."
"Yeah, yeah. You should know all of it!"
"Yeah, I should have extensive knowledge about this stuff."
"You should be up there doing your Master's."
"Yeah, I'm eligible to do my Master's and all that."
"I don't believe that Black Beauty was the author's only book."
"It was. Pretty sure she died not long after its publication. Besides, it's not so uncommon for authors to only ever write one book."
"Name one other, Cal."
"Harper Lee. She wrote To Kill A Mockingbird."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Bam! Of course I'm cultured."