Richard Ford & James Salter @ 92ndY

Last night Richard Ford & James Salter, two of our finest American novelists did a joint reading/discussion at the 92ndY.  Both Ford & Salter have been recipients of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Ford has been awarded the Putlizer Prize & Salter has been inducted in the American Acad of Arts & Letters. They are both masters in their crafts and members of their own mutual admiration society.  The program Monday night was unique from all previous readings I've attend.  There were no formal introductions.  Ford came to the podium and said "tonight is going to be different, instead of having accolades said about what great writers we are, we're going to skip all that and get down to our writings."  Ford, a raconteur, gave us privy to his latest work, not yet publichsed.  He read as Benjamin, the central character from THE LAY of the LAND, now in 2013.  Salter read from his novel ALL THAT IS which has just been released.  Hearing the authors reading from their most recent works was a special event.  After their readings, the authors sat together on the stage; without a third party.  They  discussed the process of writing and critiqued each other's writings.  Perhaps, praised and compared their own styles would be more accurate.  Ford wished he could express himself with "less" and Salter wished he had Ford's "vocabulary" & "expansion." Listening to these 2 literary giants in a non-directed conversation was like listening to Picasso & Matisse in a private conversation; 2 genuises appreciating each other's gifts while garnering different insights.   Both authors agreed that what they write is never quite what they intended, "the ability to put on paper what my brain is saying is always difficult."