Sam Cook — Duluth’s writer
The art of writing jargon, lingo, slang, or whatever you want to call it, is one that Sam Cook has and it’s great. The use of exclusive terms in writing, especially when working for a mass newspaper audience, is a tactic that possesses a very fine line separating awesome and unintentional ignorance. When a writer decides to include jargon in his/her work, not only does the individual run the risk of their work being misinterpreted, but also finds that they’re in a place of possible offense. That being said, if one is writing for a political campaign or providing hot takes about the latest news in sports, offending the reader might be their goal. However, when writing for a newspaper, I think it’s fair to say that “stirring up” the audience, in a negative way that is, is most of the time not a desired outcome.
With the ideas brought forth in the former paragraph in mind, I consider Sam Cook’s use of jargon and/or lingo to be nothing short of brilliant. While allying a style perfected by outdoor/travel writer Bill Bryson, Cook, in my opinion, has found the sweet spot for bringing the culture of a story to life through phonic devices.
Included in Cook’s story about Wisconsin deer hunting and processing, he quotes and individual by writing,
“droppin’ off — and pickin’ up.”
By simply dropping the “g” from both “dropping” and “picking”, he subtly and effectively communicates a deeper, more culturally ridden message that would be absent in writing the words in their correct form.
I also like the level of detail that Cook includes in his work. He has a knack for setting a scene through small, intricate details that many might not process consciously, but when read, know exactly what he is writing about. For example, written in the turkey hunting story is the following,
“It worked. A shrill gobble rattled through the barrens on this 26-degree morning. Gucinski pointed in one direction, indicating where he thought the gobbler was. Magdzas pointed about 150 degrees in another direction. They smiled. This happens.”
Not only is the writing clear and comprehensive, but the last two sentences really make the paragraph. It’s a perfect example of his mastery in noticing the small details. He communicates the feeling of ease, comfort, and familiarity between Gucinski and Magdzas without explicitly writing it. That, in my opinion, is a sign of a great writer.
I really enjoyed the excerpt written by McPhee and quickly adapted to his style. Characterized by short sentences and subtle parallelism, I couldn’t help but notice the strength and effectiveness of these somewhat uncommon writing qualities. Whether it be due to a lack of exposure when it comes to this style or simply my natural preference, needless to say I find it highly entertaining. For example, McPhee writes
“With the ice comes wood. The breakup flushes out of Alaskan and Canadian uplands many millions of cords of forest debris. Trunks go by that are sixty or seventy feet long. Some ride just beneath the surface. They are called sleepers.”
This quote clearly exhibits his unconventional style, a style that I take a liking to. In reading this excerpt, I couldn’t help but relate McPhee’s writing to another “outdoor” writer, Norman Maclean. In Maclean’s novel, A River Runs Through It, he leaves the reader with the following,
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
The style is relatable to McPhee’s in that it uses parallelism and short sentences to get the message across. That being said, I think it’s time for me to start using a few of these methods!