October 9th, 2009 / 1:52 pm
Random
Editing INFINITE JEST
Again, some bits from the Sonora Review DFW Tribute Issue, which I’m still reading through; this time I’ve excerpted Rick Moody’s interview of Michael Pietsch, who edited Infinite Jest while at Little, Brown. The whole interview is interesting, as Pietsch talks about how he acquired IJ, how he and Wallace worked together to edit it, and how ‘it felt as if [they'd] published a book that mattered, and that would last.’ Pietsch calls it ‘one of the great thrills’ of his working life.
Of the editing process, Pietsch says that ‘every decision was David’s. I made suggestions and recommendations and tried to make the reasons for them as clear as possible. But every change was his.’
After the jump, you’ll find some responses Wallace made to Pietsch’s requests for cuts.
p. 52 – This is one of my personal favorite Swiftian lines in the whole manuscript, which I will cut, you rotter.
p. 82 – I cut this and have now come back an hour later and put it back.
p. 133 – Poor old FN 33 about the grammar exam is cut. I’ll also erase it from the back-up disc so I can’t come back in an hour and put it back in (an enduring hazard, I’m finding).
pp. 327-330 – Michael, have mercy. Pending an almost Horacianly persuasive rationale on your part, my canines are bared on this one.
pp. 739-748 – I’ve rewritten it – for about the 11th time – for clarity, but I bare teeth all the way back to the 2nd molar on cutting it.
p. 785ff – I can give you 5000 words of theoretico-structural arguments for this, but let’s spare one another, shall we?
And, if you haven’t done so, head over to this piece by Steven Moore, another friend of Wallace’s who also helped him revise IJ. It’s longish, but interesting to see what was happening on another side while Pietsch was sending in his own suggestions.
And, of course, you should buy the tribute issue if you’d like to read more DFW stuff. I think I’ve reached my limit of posting excerpts from it without permission.
Tags: david foster wallace, michael pietsch, sonora review
looks awesome. dfw is a charming dude
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er… is/was
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:16 pmblake—
is
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nice find
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Typical fauxmotion. What Ryan here doesn’t tell you is that he has a story in the Sonora Review, and this is all more or less just an avenue for him to get more readers. Shameful, in my opinion.
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:34 pmRyan Call—
damn it, jh, youve got me.
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:36 pmdavid erlewine—
you know you and sonora are gonna go splitsies on the $ pouring in
excuse me, ryan, while i break my own heart tonight
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:34 pmdavid erlewine—
hoping this is said in jest…
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:38 pmRyan Call—
funny flag
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:34 pmdavidpeak—
dfw supersedes all self-promotion.
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:35 pmdavidpeak—
three responses in one minute? damn. that comment hit a nerve.
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:37 pmdavid erlewine—
i’ve had three responses in two minutes before. she wasn’t impressed either.
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:39 pmdavidpeak—
erlewine in rare form here, everybody.
nice.
October 10th, 2009 / 8:01 amdavid erlewine—
ha, david p, thank you for humoring me. incidentally, until my wife kicks me out, i am here all week
October 9th, 2009 / 2:38 pmBlake Butler—
haha ‘get more readers’
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:39 pmBlake Butler—
i have an image of ryan driving to the airport and picking up a bunch of readers on the curb and driving them somewhere, then dropping them off and kissing his wife and going back to get more readers
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October 9th, 2009 / 2:40 pmRyan Call—
its a hard knock life
Pending an almost Horacianly persuasive rationale on your part, my canines are bared on this one.
fuck me that is funny
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Thanks Ryan… I didn’t know S. Moore had a look/say in the editing, now the Gaddis. DFW connection has come full circle in my mind… and I just re-read The Recognitions and IJ in the last six months and am hard pressed to think any novel could impress me more than those two.
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[...] “This is one of my personal favorite Swiftian lines in the whole manuscript, which I will cut, you rotter.” [...]
[...] 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment On HTML Giant, Ryan Call reports on reading Rick Moody’s interview with Little, Brown then editor and now publisher, [...]