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Critiques two reader/writer types—those offended by preaching and those who prefer pious, conversion-driven narratives—then illustrates the idea with a chair-making analogy.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/dont-read-this-until-you-have-read-the-story-on-page-6/419982/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/dont-read-this-until-you-have-read-the-story-on-page-6/419982.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Cipher","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why does the essay say a writer’s first concern must be making the story well?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It argues that if the goal is lecture, moralizing, propaganda, or mere conversion, the work suffers. Craftsmanship and well-made storytelling should come first.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What reasons does the essay give for the popularity of “Our Lady’s Tumbler”?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It satisfies the desire to find lessons, mirrors genuine human and monastic life with inquisitive and holy monks, and is well written.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How does the essay critique readers and writers who approach Catholic fiction in a limited way?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It describes an impatient reader who rejects overtly labored lessons and a pious reader who prefers instruction dressed as story, which can lead to promoting shoddy fiction and lacking appreciation for stories that draw no explicit moral.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},419982,1792207534,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,90,94,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & 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Page 6.  \nIf when a man writes a story his firstconcern -is not to produce a well-madestory but to lecture or moralize or ac-complish any propaganda purpose,hiswork will suffer.A successful chairmaker,a story writer,a maker of anything must keep his eye on the well mak-ing of that thing.(That is what it meansto be an artist.An artist is any ordinaryperson who makes something well.)  \nTHE surprising thing about this medi-eval legend is its popularity with readerstoday.I have seen high school seniors,supposedly enthusiastic only about whatis,smart and modern,repeatedly rate“Our Lady's Tumbler”a favorite aheadof the best modern short stories.  \nThe story deserves this popularity forseveral reasons.It satisfies a naturalhuman desire for learning a lesson(ifthe moral is not obvious in a story orpoem,the student will go hunting for it.Often he will read into it a lesson theauthor never intended to stress).Sec-ondly,this story really mirrors humanliving:there are inquisitive monks in ev-ery monastery,and truly holy ones aswell.Thirdly,the story is well written.  \nReaders of this shoddy fiction give twotypes of reactions.One cannot stomachthe tourist-guide pointing out of an al-ready labored lesson.His intelligenceand his aesthetic sense have been offend-ed;he had not bargained for a sermon.Soon he turns with distaste from allCatholic fiction,real or sham.Studentsask,“Do I have to read a Catholic book?”It is only when they discover stories likeJoe Dever's\"Fifty Missions,\"RichardColeman's\"Fight for Sister Joe,\"“OurLady's Tumbler”that they change.Eachyear I find them saying,“Why weren'twe told before that this is really Cath-olic fiction?”  \nBut it is more than a good story.Itis a fine springboard for viewing somebasic problems of modern Catholic fiction.  \nMany writers of fiction today are con-cerned exclusively with the first of thethree qualities mentioned above.Notcontent to hold the mirror and let thereader see the reflection,just as it is,they insist on telling us what they haveseen.They generalize,they draw conclu-sions for us,afraid that we will miss thepoint.They are not good story tellers:they are preoccupied with converting.  \nThe second type is the\"pious\"readerwho is edified,who likes his instructiondressed in story form.He is a real stum-bling block in the development of well-made fiction,first by his encouragementof shoddy fiction(especially of the mag-azine variety)and secondly by his ina-bility to appreciate much Catholic fictionthat is really well written but simplypictures a situation and makes no effortto draw a lesson from it.He robs him-self of the fun in stories which are richin Catholic local color but involve nomoral or spiritual problem.  \nA comparison may help.A man setsout to make a chair.He chooses woodthat is beautifully grained,without test-ing its strength and durability.The ma-terial he uses for upholstery is rich andlovely in color and texture.But thewood is not strong and is easily marred;the threads woven into the patternedmaterial are easily pulled and frayed.He is so concerned with the appearanceof beauty that he gives little care to theglue he uses or the supports betweenlegs and under the seat.No matter whatthe chair looks like,it is not a goodchair:it does not serve the purpose forwhich chairs are made.  \n“Our Lady's Tumbler”is the productof an age of craftsmen,a God-centeredage in which men found joy in fashion-ing things beautifully—chairs or cathe-drals or stories.They were so uncon-cerned with their own glory that theydid not even record their names.  \nEDITOR,REV.CLEMENT J.LAMBERT,S.M.Clrculation Manager,Brother Anthony J.Deinlein,S.M.  \n# In This Issue:\n\nSHORT STORY  \nOur Lady's Tumbler..…  ……  \n# ARTICLES AND ESSAYS\n\nFEATURES  \nThis Month's Who's Who  \nJ.L.O'Sullivan is Dean of the MarquetteSchool of Journalism.Our April Toastof the Month was offered to this greatleader in A","cbCaiuDUwbBonp0L","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuDUwbBonp0L","pdf",1825239,32,"English","# Don't Read This\n## Why the Story Works\n## Two Types of Reactions\n## The Chair Analogy and Craftsmanship\n## A Call to Better Catholic Fiction","[{\"question\":\"Why does the essay say a writer’s first concern must be making the story well?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that if the goal is lecture, moralizing, propaganda, or mere conversion, the work suffers. Craftsmanship and well-made storytelling should come first.\"},{\"question\":\"What reasons does the essay give for the popularity of “Our Lady’s Tumbler”?\",\"answer\":\"It satisfies the desire to find lessons, mirrors genuine human and monastic life with inquisitive and holy monks, and is well written.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the essay critique readers and writers who approach Catholic fiction in a limited way?\",\"answer\":\"It describes an impatient reader who rejects overtly labored lessons and a pious reader who prefers instruction dressed as story, which can lead to promoting shoddy fiction and lacking appreciation for stories that draw no explicit moral.\"}]","Don't Read This - Until You Have Read the Story on Page 6 | PDF",1790619054,49]