Analysis Of Richard Ford And The Sportswriter

Richard Ford was without a doubt inspired by events from his personal life whilst writing The Sportswriter. This becomes evident when you compare Richard Ford to the protagonist of the story. Both hails from Mississippi, lives in New Jersey and published a well-received collection of short stories earlier in life. To remain in the headlights after the initial breakthrough did however prove to be tough and as a result their fame died out. The following years they worked as sports journalists for a sports magazine in order to support themselves. 
 Ford did however not give up on his authorship despite the setbacks. He decided to resume his career as an author when the sports magazine he worked for did not renew his contract with them. 
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The language used is complex and has a gloomy tone throughout the book, as shown in this extract from the book: ”With the exception of Selma, the place was all anti mystery right to the core. Men and women both all experts at the art of explaining, explicating, dissecting and by these means promoting permanents. For me that made me the worst kind of disperse”. Furthermore, the story revolves around a middle-aged everyday American and contains a rather thin plot without much excitement. Instead it encourages afterthought. Therefore I believe that the novel appeals the well-educated adult audience primarily. There is, however, nothing to say that a young adult can not enjoy this novel. 
 I came in contact with the book through school. We currently have an assignment to analyse and compare two short stories. One of the stories I analyse is Under the Radar, which is written by Richard Ford. When I read up on his life I discovered that he had an award winning series of books that also faced a warm welcome by the critics. I decided that I could not let the series slip through my fingers and so I started to dig into it.
 Frank Bascombe is the protagonist of the story. He is an average middle-aged man who has found himself at a crossroads in his life with no clear idea of which fork
The plot is secondary, the most important thing is Franks reflections and thoughts. It an interesting approach and I appreciate Richard Fords attempt to write about an everyday middle-aged man and still make it entertaining. He also attempts to portray a man who constantly disrespects and reduces everyone he meet as the hero of the story with his convincing way with words. In spite of his brave attempt I think that he failed. There is no denying that Richard Ford can captivate his readers, he can, however, not force me to root for what is essentially a villain. I constantly find myself disagreeing with Franks actions and thoughts whereas the author simultaneously ensures me that his behaviour is justifiable. This becomes especially hard to accept since we get to read Franks every thought and therefore know his intentions. I do not appreciate the confusing nature of the book and also not an author who tells me what to think. 
 The novel is unfortunately rather repetitive, for example, it probably states Franks ”dreaminess” over twenty times. Moreover, when we time and time again get to take part of his dreaminess, it becomes highly redundant. It does not help that Ford uses a