“Oh, what crueler irony could there be than for the gods to infuse a young man with dreams of literary fame and then provide him with no experiences?”
Handwriting makes an unexpected appearance in Amor Towles’ delightful “Ballad of Timothy Touchett.”
The short story, part of the collection Dinner for Two, tells the tale of Touchett, an aspiring New York writer who sits in the Main Reading Room of the 42nd Street Library, lamenting his lack of experience. How will he write when he has nothing to write about?
Enter Peter Pennybrook, a downtown used bookstore owner who happens to notice Touchett practicing the signature of one well-known 20th century author.
“As he sat in the library staring down at a facsimile of a letter from F. Scott Fitzgerald, rather than taking notes on elements of craft or branching off on some promising tasks of his own, Timothy found himself copying Fitzgerald’s signature over and over, even as the minute hand on the Reading Room’s clock advanced irreversibly toward eternity.”
Suddenly Touchett, with a premise from Pennybrook, has a “promising idea” to branch off on, all because he can emulate the flourishes, loop-de-loops, and downward slopes of the American avatar of the Roaring Twenties, F. Scott Fitzgerald.