X-Mas Present: Everything You Always Wanted to Ask David Gates About Donald Barthelme’s Sixty Stories…
…and there were a lot of things you wanted to ask, because Gates’s intro is one of if not the best single essays ever written about DB’s work, so you figured he’d probably have done a pretty sweet job on the notes, too, but for some reason it wasn’t in the Gates-prefaced Penguin Classics Edition of Sixty Stories where it should have been, and you knew it was supposed to be posted somewhere on the Penguin website (it says so in the book) but then when you went to the website you couldn’t find it.
If this is you, friend, your troubles end today. Here. Now. I went to the Penguin site, and found the thing–years ago. It’s amazing and enlightening and it’s over 30 pages long. And I had forgotten about it until just now. Everyone should have access to these notes. Rather than try and re-figure out how I found them, I’m just going to post the .pdf myself: The David Gates footnotes to Donald Barthelme’s Sixty Stories. Merry Christmas, all.
Tags: David Gates, donald barthelme, Sixty Stories
nice! love that essay and collection. classics.
nice! love that essay and collection. classics.
and don’t forget george saunders’s essay on ‘the school” from that mcsweeney’s anthology on barthelme. i think it was issue #24 and constructed from royal blue velvet. the editor was a douche — but man, he got together some great stuff!
and don’t forget george saunders’s essay on ‘the school” from that mcsweeney’s anthology on barthelme. i think it was issue #24 and constructed from royal blue velvet. the editor was a douche — but man, he got together some great stuff!
awesome. I always wondered who debbie, eddie and liz were.
awesome. I always wondered who debbie, eddie and liz were.
very cool. thanks, justin!
very cool. thanks, justin!
only complaint: where’s page 22?
only complaint: where’s page 22?
This is great. Thank you!
This is great. Thank you!
You rule, Justin Taylor
You rule, Justin Taylor
total douche. i liked that saunders essay a lot too. but i think my favorite was the one that talked about the assignment to read ‘three poems,’ drink a bottle of wine, and stay up all night producing twelve pages of ashbery imitation: totally inspired.
i tried the assignment once. it felt like the old man was hovering over my shoulder and chuckling whilst twirling his whiskers.
total douche. i liked that saunders essay a lot too. but i think my favorite was the one that talked about the assignment to read ‘three poems,’ drink a bottle of wine, and stay up all night producing twelve pages of ashbery imitation: totally inspired.
i tried the assignment once. it felt like the old man was hovering over my shoulder and chuckling whilst twirling his whiskers.
What are you talking about?
What are you talking about?
wow, thanks
wow, thanks
nice, justin
nice, justin
This makes me happy, but then also makes me kind of angry that Penguin didn’t just include these in the physical book. It’s what, fifteen or sixteen bucks? They can spring for an extra thirty pages.
But yeah, thanks.
This makes me happy, but then also makes me kind of angry that Penguin didn’t just include these in the physical book. It’s what, fifteen or sixteen bucks? They can spring for an extra thirty pages.
But yeah, thanks.
there is no page 22 on the pdf
there is no page 22 on the pdf
Seriously?
That was the only thing I knew. Oh, and I could surmise what “happy dust” is. Ha ha!
Seriously?
That was the only thing I knew. Oh, and I could surmise what “happy dust” is. Ha ha!
hmmm
hmmm
60 Stories, classic classic classic
What about the Eggers intro for 40 Stories?
60 Stories, classic classic classic
What about the Eggers intro for 40 Stories?
Also pretty good. But Eggers himself, in his intro, asserts that he knows he’s never going to top what was already written by Gates, and so Dave includes David’s intro inside of his own, in its entirety, as a tiny-point footnote that he–Dave–urges you to read with a magnifying glass.
Also pretty good. But Eggers himself, in his intro, asserts that he knows he’s never going to top what was already written by Gates, and so Dave includes David’s intro inside of his own, in its entirety, as a tiny-point footnote that he–Dave–urges you to read with a magnifying glass.
yeah i know, and Eggers’ drawings of crazy faces are where you’re supposed to guess what Don B. actually looks like are funny. And that Michael Silverblatt interview about him at the end! I feel Eggers captures, in his intro, the playfulness that was missing in the Gates intro, that is essential in acknowledging in Mr. Donald Barthelme’s work.
“Did he laugh like a cheetah?
Often, or like dry leaves rustling.”
yeah i know, and Eggers’ drawings of crazy faces are where you’re supposed to guess what Don B. actually looks like are funny. And that Michael Silverblatt interview about him at the end! I feel Eggers captures, in his intro, the playfulness that was missing in the Gates intro, that is essential in acknowledging in Mr. Donald Barthelme’s work.
“Did he laugh like a cheetah?
Often, or like dry leaves rustling.”
Awesome post, thanks for sharing
Your girl JenniB
Awesome post, thanks for sharing
Your girl JenniB
Wonderful, thank you very much!