A blogger took issue with “No Country for Young Men,” the headline for my profile of LB novelist David Hernandez. In a Sunday post, Mr. Nice Guy declares it “time to retire the cliche “there will be …” and “no country for …” constructs. they’ve both been done to death.”

I wrote him back, gingerly:

“As the author of the offending headline and accompanying article, all I can say is . . . well, I could say a lot of things, but I’ll leave it at this: thanks. I’m a big fan of word- and phrase-watching (a few years back, my favorite was ‘robust’; it continues). It hurts to have you point out this near-moral failing in me, but I’m grateful. I’ll somehow be more careful.

“‘Somehow’  because the weird thing about this stuff–cliches, I mean, including, maybe, the word “hackneyed”–is how they impregnate the mind, evolve organically, and then birth themselves as original thoughts. Swear to you: I had no idea the ‘No Country For’ construct  had made the rounds so quickly. Equally weird maybe: I haven’t seen the movie”

His name:  Brian Braiker–was equally gentle in response:

“Thanks for reading. It was, of course, all in good fun. And, to be honest, I’ve been guity of much worse myself. No need to feel hurt. Headlines often need to offer something familiar and tantalizing to draw the reader in, no?

“I was a little nervous  when I saw this email that it was going to be a death threat, I’ll be honest.”

Tags: headlines, No Country For Old Men, on writing well, puns, word choice, writing