The Howling Fantods

Once again, news from last week I am only just getting to...

 

The House Next Door has a fascinating interview with Glenn Kenny about his work as DFW's editor on the three Premiere Magazine pieces: David Lynch Keeps his Head, F/X Porn (eventually published in Waterstone's Magazine), and Neither Adult Nor Entertainment (collected in Consider the Lobster as Big Red Son, intro snippet here).

 

I found the article particularly interesting seeing as I was one of the people the anonymous tipster contacted way back when the AVN article was first published. Here's a reproduction of AVN's response to the article from the old site (Green? What was I thinking?).

 

Also: Glenn Kenny's response to DFW's suicide, Dave Wallace, and The Ballad of Cheyenne Silver about his work on the AVN award article.

 

(Thanks to everyone who emailed, particularly Glenn.)

 

 

This is Water has been released!

 

My little review and photos of the galley can be found over at the This is Water fantods page. Its a great little publication, I recommend it heartily, particularly as a graduation gift (which appears to be pretty much the intention of the print run).

 

Village Voice Blogs - This Is Water: David Foster Wallace's Kenyon Commencement Address, One Sentence at a Time

Acoustic Phenomena - Is this Water?

Christian Science Monitor - This is Water

Mark Follman.com - This is David Foster Wallace

 

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Sorry about update drought, a combo of being away and end of term teaching stuff. I have lots to add over the next few days - thanks everyone for emailing! 

 

Sheepish plug... If you follow the link to Amazon above to purchase This is Water (or anything else in the same visit) I get a small commision that I use to buy more books. Many of you have asked over the past few months (thank you!) if/how you can support the site and I've come to the conclusion that sticking with the amazon associate thing is the least intrusive and most relevant to do so. Thanks again for your continued support.

Welcome Sydney Writers' Festival Guide and Sydney Morning Herald readers!

I've not been able to say anything until today so I'm excited to announce I'll be part of the Remembering David Foster Wallace panel along with Kate Crawford, Julian Murphet, Caroline Hamilton at the Sydney Writer's Festival on Sat 23rd May 2009. This amazing panel has been put together by the wonderful Kate Crawford and I am excited to be a part of it.

I hope to be able to organise a Wallace fan meet-up at a nice bar at some stage over the weekend. I'll keep you posted.(Canberra people meetup group, you know who you are - even though I haven't been in much contact, we'll meetup before the SWF hits).

If you are new to the site today you might like to check out some of David Foster Wallace's fiction and non-fiction, as well as some of the pieces written about him since his death last year that are readily available on the web.

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Fiction and Non-Fiction:

Memorial and Biographical Pieces:

Thanks for visiting, come back soon.

I've now finished listening to the Infinite Jest Slate Audio Bookclub podcast (spolier warning - do not listen to it if you have not read IJ) [previous thoughts here].

 

It did improve, and by the end it I think they certainly encouraged listeners to read the novel. I tried to listen less from the perspective of an experienced Wallace reader and more as someone who has only heard of the novel.  It helped a lot. I just don't agree with some of the ideas and perspectives they considered. I disagree that the book is a mess, but then I have read it more times than the three times they suggest (tounge-in-cheek, mind you) that some big fans have. Similarly, the relationships between characters are strong, moving and intricately developed, not the opposite. As for the resolution. I refuse to comment specifically for spoiler reasons, but every time I read it I feel more satisfied.

 

The problem is that I'm sure I've spent too much time with IJ (invested too much time?) to have a balanced view of it any more.

 

If you have read IJ I'd encourage you to listen, if only to help you work out what you think of the novel.

 

I must also agree with their closing comments that suggest that after reading Infinite Jest the way you look at the world is changed. That the novel forces you to consider the world from new and complicating perspectives. It gives you new tools to do so.

 

I have not, since I bought Infinite Jest, been able to put it down for any great length of time. And with that I think it is quite clear DFW succeeded, at least with me...

D. T. Max answers reader questions in response to his New Yorker article The Unfinished.

 

UPDATE - Link fixed (thanks to jmcginniss for pointing out the break): The Slate Audio Book Club Podcast about Infinite Jest is finally available. The full page does not appear to be up yet (as far as I can find), but the mp3 audio can be downloaded here (right-click or click-hold and save as .mp3).

SPOILER WARNING: If you have not read Infinite Jest there are spoilers galore, do not listen, just grab a copy of the book and start reading... There are many reasons presented in the first 15 minutes that I think not only spoil, but misrepresent the novel as a whole.

I have only listened to half, so I will reserve full judgement until the end, but I'm finding it terribly frustrating so far. I know myself, and many of you out there, have read IJ over and over since its release. Each time I read it I find it more engaging, more fulfilling, more powerful. It is unfair of me to expect the same level of depth from the Book Club crew, but it's not too hard to find reviews, summaries, and discussions out there (some linked to on this site) that clearly refute, with evidence, some of their assertions. IJ is NOT a big mess... but then maybe it took me two full reads to begin to realise that...

On a positive note, they all appear to love DFW's non-fiction, and his skills in general, which makes it even more frustrating to listen to.

 

They have a hard job to begin with. I am just not satisfied so far.

More when I am done listening to it.