Thursday, 25 October 2012 23:27
With the US release date of Nov 6th for David Foster Wallace's uncollected essays, Both Flesh and Not: Essays, almost here and word that the Australian imprint is already appearing in stores, I guess it's time to remind you all about it (particularly as I've been sitting on preview copies for a little while now - big thanks to Little Brown and Penguin Australia for those) though recent events have made it difficult to get anything much done around here.
Both Flesh and Not: Essays is an unusual collection of David Foster Wallace's essays. Unusual because I've read them all before, as I'm sure plenty of big fans of David Foster Wallace non-fiction will have too. Some of the essays in this collection (such as the title essay about Roger Federer) are still available online in slightly different versions, others in the collection have been read by dedicated fans by visiting libraries to seek past issues of magazines, passed as photocopies between friends, or even 'discovered' on the internet.
That said, this is the first time these have been collected together. They span Wallace's career, and range for fantastic must-read pieces, to some that are here because they've not been officially collected before. I'm not going to get drawn into arguments as to the why of this release, or the timing. I'm honestly happy this collection is available for those of us that want them now (or close enough to be now) and crave polished and bound versions to sit on the shelf near the others. There's no doubt these were going to be collected at some stage.
But this is also a great collection for the many DFW readers who love his non-fiction, devour his essays whenever they appear in sight, and have not seen these before. I'm going to bet that many of the readers that buy this collection have not read all of the essays contained within before. And that's pretty much why this little website exists. I want more people to read the work of David Foster Wallace.
There are also a couple of little surprises that I didn't really expect to be included. One of them, 24 Word Notes, collects the word note entries that David Foster Wallace contributed to the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus (which I bought on release, yes, for DFW's word notes). If you're not quite the completist that I am, and thus haven't already read these then you're in for a treat. There's much elation and entertainment to be found in DFW's precision about specific word usage. At least for me.
Pre-order Both Flesh and Not: Essays now.
Reviews and Articles (let me know if you find ant more):
Last Updated on Sunday, 28 October 2012 23:24
UPDATE: There's a new Indiegogo perk, $15 "For our Far Flung Friends" - This is a special one for those too far away to catch the show. We'll give you special online access to video from the performance as well as a unique, online program. Only a couple of hours to go!
David Foster Wallace's, Good Old Neon, will be performed by Ian Forester (Needtheater) in Culver City, CA at The Ivy Substation, as G.O.Ne. (Previously performed as, Glint).
Ian was inspired by the story's powerful message and decided to adapt "Good Old Neon," as a one-man show for the stage. Ian performed the play, then titled Glint, to much acclaim during the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Not only was it a critical success but more importantly, it galvanized both audiences and Needtheater itself. We were amazed at the way audiences felt the need to talk about this show after it was done, the way it seemed to touch on the deepest and most shared parts of who we are as humans. It did exactly what we always dream theater can do. We had to do it again.
And so, with permission from Wallace's estate and with generous support from the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program, Needtheater brings G.O.Ne to the historic Ivy Substation for two nights only, October 23 & 24.
Tickets available here OR you can support the show through indiegogo if you can't make it (or even if you can, check out the perks).
Promotional video here (and indiegogo info).
I'd love to attend this! (Please send me a review if you see it).
Last Updated on Thursday, 25 October 2012 16:09
This sounds great, anyone going?
Infinite fest: Foster Wallace fan club a supposedly fun thing they plan to do again:
[...]
The David Foster Wallace Appreciation Society — dubbed TDFWAS to pay homage to the insightful and humorous writer’s occasional use of intentionally long and awkward acronyms — will meet for readings, discussions, and maybe even David Foster Wallace-themed field trips, organizers say.
[...]
The group’s Oct. 24 kick-off meeting coincides with the release of D.T. Max’s “Every Love Story is a Ghost Story,” a biography chronicling the Wallace’s life and tragic suicide. Max and Gerry Howard, a Doubleday editor-at-large, will discuss the acclaimed author of “Consider the Lobster” and “The Pale King,” among other works.
[...]
The David Foster Wallace Appreciation Society at Word [126 Franklin St. at the corner of Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].Oct. 24 at 7 pm. Free.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 October 2012 23:07
Edit: Judith Ann Maniatis - Tribute
After almost 10 weeks in hospital my mother passed away last night. There may be fewer updates to the site for the next little while. I just don't know.
I do know I want to leave these two passages from Infinite Jest right here for a bit:
"That boring activities become, perversely, much less boring if you concentrate intently on them. That if enough people in a silent room are drinking coffee it is possible to make out the sound of steam coming off the coffee. That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.
[...]
That the people to be most frightened of are the people who are most frightened. That it takes great personal courage to let yourself appear weak. That you don't have to hit somebody even if you really really want to. That no single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable."
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace pages 203 and 204.
Goodbye, Mum. I love you.
13th of October 2012.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 11:20
In the D.F.W. Archives: An Unfinished Story About the Internet, the latest in a series of posts by author of Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace. D.T. Max.
I'm not surprised, but I am excited by the trickle of previously unseen material showing up in the DFW Archive. This latest one is an unfinished story about the internet titled, Wickedness:
People frequently ask what David Foster Wallace would have made of the Web. It’s a weird question, because Wallace, who died four years ago, actually lived well into the Internet era, even unto the age of Facebook and Twitter. But reading Wallace or reading about Wallace it doesn’t feel that way. When he wrote about how the media permeates all of our actions and thoughts he was referring to television. The plot of “Infinite Jest” hinges on the whereabouts of a short movie so entertaining that it kills whoever watches it. But even in 1996, a videocartridge would have seemed a little dated.
[...]
The plot of “Wickedness” centers on a tabloid reporter named Skyles who, dying of cancer of the mouth, is trying to shoot pictures of Ronald Reagan beset by Alzheimer’s for the Web site Wicked.com. Reagan’s privacy at the San Placido Institute—“the Betty Ford of nursing homes,” Wallace calls it—is a matter of not just his own security but also the nation’s: we need to remember him as he was, powerful and in command. “The nation’s morale could be affected, the integrity of the social order,” Wallace writes. “At a certain point their lives are no longer their own.” Skyles’s motive seems to be revenge: a pair of old tabloid buddies have visited him on his boat The Rodent, and revived in him the outlaw pleasures of transgressive photography.
Continue reading...
You can check out the others Page-Turner specials below.
Page-Turner Special 7: In the D.F.W. Archives: An Unfinished Story About the Internet. [11/10/12]
Page-Turner Special 6: D.F.W.’s “Pale King” Archive, Now Open. [28/9/12]
Page-Turner Special 5: D.F.W., In Memoriam. [12/9/12]
Page-Turner Special 4: D.F.W. Week: Did “Infinite Jest” Start Out as an Autobiography? [11/9/12]
Page-Turner Special 3: Out Loud: D. T. Max on David Foster Wallace. [10/9/12]
Page-Turner Special 2: D.F.W. Week: The Wonderfully Arrogant First Pitch Letter. [7/9/12]
Page-Turner Special 1: D.F.W. Week: Childhood Writings. [6/9/12]
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