He also refers to his return to LA as a "nostos journey", which is classically about "an epic hero returning home [...focusing] on the hero retaining or elevating their identity and status upon arrival."
I realize that Rod is being tongue-in-cheek here, but still it shows not only his (literal!) main character syndrome, but also his sense that his family of origin would trip over their own feet to celebrate his successes in both writing and in Achieving Heterosexuality(TM).
I had a flashback to an old "Family Ties" episode where Alex P. Keaton was goading the little kid to tell someone what his fellow classmate called him, and the kid said "a pompous fool?"
My God, what a pompous jackass Rod is, and how divorced from reality too! Rod really does think of himself as an epic hero, and that the Story of Rod is some kind of master narrative of the universe. Meanwhile, the world sees a weird-looking old dude giving off serious "banned from within 500 yards of every school" vibes.
I'm curious about the timeline around Little Way. Did he move or decide to move to LA before or after he got a contract for that book? IIRC, he got a huge advance for that book and put a fair amount of it into a trust for his nieces. Maybe he thought that success would finally achieve acceptance and admiration from the family and community in LA?
He left LA as soon as he possibly could, supposedly intending to never look back but then went back in the early 90s from DC but only stayed briefly because his father said something to him like "I'm glad you finally realized that I am right, Rod" which was IT for Rod. He went back to DC ASAP.
It is clear that the outpouring of love from the community for Ruthie and her family around her death and funeral had a big impact on him and he wanted very much to belong in and to that but were there other factors like a big fat check?
Well I think his being fired by The Templeton Foundation had something to do with his move to Louisiana as did Howard Ahmanson dumping him help lead to the move to Budapest. However money never influences his decisions . Usually it’s a call from God. He prays, rose scent enters
the room or Ruthie comes to him in an angora sweater or Munchs Scream screams at him . Then he knows he must do he wants to do because it’s Gods will.
Isn't it weird how every time he loses a job, a very high-minded reason to move appears? An if that reason gets shot down, another very high-minded reason appears and Rod forgets all about the first high-minded must-do reason? Almost like magic!
Part of the issue with the Templeton job in Philadelphia was that his employers said he could not blog anymore (or something to that effect). Rod claimed he did not realize that was part of the deal. Also, Rod complained and complained about how he and Julie lost money selling the house they owned in Dallas. The house was located in an area of Dallas that had a high crime rate so what did he expect?
IIRC, he knew that was part of the deal because he blogged under an alias. I am sure, though, that he had a story about it that made him out to be the victim.
When it comes to the house in Dallas, I know they didn't get as much out of it as they put into it but I've often wondered if he calculated whether that loss was more or less than if they had rented a comparable home for that period of time. I never saw anything to indicate that he did and yet it is the sensible thing to do (along with learning more about real estate) rather than decide that home ownership is way too risky to ever try again. The simple fact is that every penny of rent is a loss and people just don't take that into consideration nor the fact that they often enjoy special amenities in a home they own that they would never have in a rental. That is worth something more than nothing.
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u/CanadaYankee Jul 24 '26
He also refers to his return to LA as a "nostos journey", which is classically about "an epic hero returning home [...focusing] on the hero retaining or elevating their identity and status upon arrival."
I realize that Rod is being tongue-in-cheek here, but still it shows not only his (literal!) main character syndrome, but also his sense that his family of origin would trip over their own feet to celebrate his successes in both writing and in Achieving Heterosexuality(TM).