Reading time: Less than 1 minute
I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor on moonwalking from Harlan Coben.
I was never a huge Michael Jackson fan, but I always enjoyed watching him moonwalking.
The thrilling dance move, which presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while attempting to walk forward, had been used by bandleader Cab Calloway as far back as 1932. But Jackson made it famous in a March 1983 performance of Billie Jean.
Recently, I was taken back to the 1980s when I stumbled across the word, in a Harlan Coben piece in the Nov. 28/14 edition of the New York Times. Speaking of his experience at a book-signing table at Waldenbooks in suburban New Jersey, Coben wrote:
Time didn’t just pass slowly. It seemed to be moonwalking backward.
I hadn’t before heard of Coben, perhaps because I don’t usually read suspense. But based on his bravura metaphor, I think I’m going to have to try one of his books. Read his Times piece here and let me know what you think.
