Wes Anderson's University Of Texas At Austin Undergraduate Writing

The editor of the Analecta, the official literary and arts journal of the University of Texas at Austin, was flipping through some old volumes when she came across the writings of former UT student and current filmmaker Wes Anderson. Published in the Analecta in 1989, Anderson's short story, The Ballad of Reading Milton, isn't as good as some of the screenplays he has co-written since but it is certainly full of the quirky charm that has inspired so many people to become fans of his work.

Like Anderson's sophomore film Rushmore, The Ballad of Reading Milton is about a young man named Max who acts like he's the main character in a movie called The World. There are several references to filmmaking in the text, Anderson's knack for wordplay and a bevy of almost insignificant details that help paint a unique picture. You can read the story after the jump.

Here's a scan of the first page of the four page story. It really is a cool little window into the mind of a filmmaker to be. If you like it, check out the Analecta website to read the rest.

balladofreadingmilton1

Again, to read the rest visit the Analecta's website. Besides the obvious ones, can you find any other references to Anderson's later work in the text?