Reading time: About 1 minute
I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Margaret Talbot…
My kids introduced me to young adult videographer and writer John Green about four years ago. I found his Vlog Brothers videos, which he prepares with his brother, Hank, absolutely charming. I can’t recall which one I watched first, but here’s one that will give you an introductory taste, if you’re not familiar with the Nerdfighters, as they like to call themselves.
More recently, John has become (even more) famous for his very moving novel, The Fault in Our Stars, which I read and can highly recommend for adults as well as kids. The book has recently been turned into a movie and I find it interesting that John drew more cheers and yells at a US movie screening than the actors did.
How do I know that? It was revealed in an interesting and very well written New Yorker profile of John, “The Teen Whisperer,” written by Margaret Talbot. That piece also contained a very amusing simile:
Green, now thirty-six, is thin and tall, with light-brown hair that shifts around like a haystack in a stiff wind; he often rakes his hands thorugh it, causing random clumps to stand up straight.
Talbot employs a similarly light touch throughout the piece and it’s well worth reading — not just for her writing but also for the insights it will give you into what kids are thinking these days.
