Assignment 6

Tim Russert’s memoir titled, “Big Russ & Me,” is a #1 New York Times Best Seller for good reason. The book is essentially a collection of short stories, all a tribute to the author’s father. Russert’s undercurrent is the optimism and faith that rules his father’s life. The fresh appeal of the story is the touching, realistic description the author uses to describe extremely personal, sensitive memories. Russert is able to articulately describe characters with brutal honesty, from their strengths to their flaws. However, he does this in a sophisticated, respectful, humorous manner that draws the reader in to feel an attachment to each person. The overall mood is upbeat, engaging, entertaining, yet profoundly touching. Russert’s voice gleams through as incredibly sincere, striking virtually every heart string of the reader. The mood varies between Russert’s intense, heartfelt attitude toward the people in his life; academic references because the author is a well-educated, successful man; and questioning human behavior in a way that engages the reader. Russert’s stories are entertaining because he is a cultured man with vast experiences. The detail with which he describes every event and character, depicting not only the facts but also capturing the basic behavior and attitude of humanity makes his narration feel quite trustworthy to the reader. Because he is an average person describing various human actions, the characters, while typically predictable, are incredibly humbled in the way in which Russert describes them. This makes the characters extremely compelling because the reader feels an attachment toward each one, and a unique sense of relation despite the fact that each character is extraordinarily different from one another, which is ultimately most of the appeal. In two sentences, the reader can re-read a profound sentence to consider it more deeply, feel touched to the point of choking back tears, and chuckle aloud unintentionally. The interaction between characters is the most compelling, overall theme of the author’s stories. A beginning writer may try to emulate the author’s ability to succintly depict events in a way that keeps the reader’s focus on the characters and underlying theme of the story, despite the fact that not every reader can necessarily relate to the situation. In the epilogue, Russert addresses his son and explains that the book is dedicated as much to the author’s father as to Luke, his son. While displaying his father’s incredibly admirable traits, Russert includes Luke in most of his stories, not only because Luke was present in much of Russert’s adult life, but also because of the inspiration Luke unknowingly passed on to Russert that frequently reminded the author of his own father. My question for the author would be, at which point did you realize that your stories were intended for your son to read, as well as for your father? And, at that point, did your outlook change while writing or did you simply continue to maintain focus on your father? If so, how did you manage that?