Blake Butler—
Which writer would you most like to read a memoir from who hasn’t done it yet and maybe probably won’t?
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Meta
Diane Williams.
delillo or pynchon.
meh.
David Foster Wallace.
And Don DeLillo.
Julian of Norwich.
second both
although i think Pynchon might be more interesting. i want to read the part where he’s in Mexico City on acid, shacked up in a bungalow writing Gravity’s Rainbow
Steve Erickson…
That would be a neat trick.
Wallace, I mean.
I would like to read my own memoir so I can find out what the hell I would write in it.
Diane Williams.
delillo or pynchon.
meh.
David Foster Wallace.
Peter Sotos.
And Don DeLillo.
Julian of Norwich.
second both
although i think Pynchon might be more interesting. i want to read the part where he’s in Mexico City on acid, shacked up in a bungalow writing Gravity’s Rainbow
WORD.
Steve Erickson…
That would be a neat trick.
Wallace, I mean.
i would wish for infinity wishes
Lish
I would like to read my own memoir so I can find out what the hell I would write in it.
Peter Sotos.
WORD.
Mary Gaitskill
i can only think of dead writers. melville, for one. i would read a markson memoir. or sorrentino (gilbert). important writers who were overlooked. that sort of thing.
i would wish for infinity wishes
The Bard
William Harrison (he of Rollerball Murder, The Buddha in Malibu, Texas Heat, etc.)
Franz Wright
Lish
the alcoholic cowboy that lives in my building.
Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon.
would it be any different than the rest of his writing? i always understood his writing as “non-fiction” already (though, of course, my interpretation of “non-fiction” is pretty far away from, say, oprah’s)
Yes…this would be great.
i want to know every “presumably illegal” and totally batshit thing dennis cooper did in amsterdam as he was readying himself for the george miles cycle. his allusions to the time in an interview with bob gluck make me way curious. dennis overall actually, seems like his childhood was pretty fucked too.
mccarthy in the lean years would make the best book.
Part of me is like hell yeah, I want to read that RIGHT NOW, but another part of me feels like the anxiety I feel over the boundary between the various characters named Dennis that inhabit those texts and the really nice dude I had coffee with in Paris sort-of heightens my experience of those novels. And also the particular way in which he implicates himself in his own fictional narratives. I don’t know that I want the curtain pulled back all the way.
William Gibson. Dude wrote Johnny Mnemonic, thus bringing together Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, and Henry Rollins.
Mary Gaitskill
i can only think of dead writers. melville, for one. i would read a markson memoir. or sorrentino (gilbert). important writers who were overlooked. that sort of thing.
what ravi said.
Ben, check out “The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?” by Ice-T.
harmony korine. mary gaitskill.
Good point, Tim.
The Bard
Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite book.
William Harrison (he of Rollerball Murder, The Buddha in Malibu, Texas Heat, etc.)
Franz Wright
the alcoholic cowboy that lives in my building.
most writers have boring ass personalities/lives. i don’t think i would care to read much about any of them.
maybe lish but only if he doesn’t hold back.
Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon.
would it be any different than the rest of his writing? i always understood his writing as “non-fiction” already (though, of course, my interpretation of “non-fiction” is pretty far away from, say, oprah’s)
Yes…this would be great.
i want to know every “presumably illegal” and totally batshit thing dennis cooper did in amsterdam as he was readying himself for the george miles cycle. his allusions to the time in an interview with bob gluck make me way curious. dennis overall actually, seems like his childhood was pretty fucked too.
mccarthy in the lean years would make the best book.
Part of me is like hell yeah, I want to read that RIGHT NOW, but another part of me feels like the anxiety I feel over the boundary between the various characters named Dennis that inhabit those texts and the really nice dude I had coffee with in Paris sort-of heightens my experience of those novels. And also the particular way in which he implicates himself in his own fictional narratives. I don’t know that I want the curtain pulled back all the way.
Alice B. Sheldon (pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.) or perhaps Flannery O’Connor.
James Franco or Ethan Hawke
i’d read that.
William Gibson. Dude wrote Johnny Mnemonic, thus bringing together Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, and Henry Rollins.
i actually tend to agree with this.
what is a boring life? the life of someone who didnt go to war, drink, do drugs? i think any life could be interesting if put down interestingly. i say ‘memoir’ which has creepy terms because they are usually so dull, but nonfictive or even quasi-nonfictive rending of someone’s life could be potentially interesting even if they sat in one room their whole life. perhaps even more so.
lish’s ‘my romance’ is basically a memoir. it’s about him sitting on roofs and going to office buildings and dealing with his skin and his father. it’s about as ‘boring’ as it gets in terms of subject matter. but it’s amazing: might be his best book.
This.
what ravi said.
Ben, check out “The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?” by Ice-T.
harmony korine. mary gaitskill.
Good point, Tim.
Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite book.
Gary Lutz
His essay “The Sentence is a Lonely Place” could easily be expanded into a memoir/criticism-hybrid thingy that would surely destroy the (me)moir genre by virtue of its awesomeness.
I’d buy 100 copies and give them as gifts for everything.
most writers have boring ass personalities/lives. i don’t think i would care to read much about any of them.
maybe lish but only if he doesn’t hold back.
Alice B. Sheldon (pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.) or perhaps Flannery O’Connor.
James Franco or Ethan Hawke
i’d read that.
Good question. I think it would be funnier. Maybe even more boring.
i actually tend to agree with this.
what is a boring life? the life of someone who didnt go to war, drink, do drugs? i think any life could be interesting if put down interestingly. i say ‘memoir’ which has creepy terms because they are usually so dull, but nonfictive or even quasi-nonfictive rending of someone’s life could be potentially interesting even if they sat in one room their whole life. perhaps even more so.
lish’s ‘my romance’ is basically a memoir. it’s about him sitting on roofs and going to office buildings and dealing with his skin and his father. it’s about as ‘boring’ as it gets in terms of subject matter. but it’s amazing: might be his best book.
Lydia Davis.
This.
i don’t find drugs, drinking or war remarkable at all. sure, any experience can be written in an interesting way but the writing doesn’t make it an interesting experience.
it isn’t the “life” of a person that captivates but the personality. an individual needs perspective and/or experience.
if one is going to write a memoir about sitting in a room for their entire life, they most likely will have a strong/textured perspective.
if one is a boring, vapid person writing a memoir they most likely will need a reservoir of experiences to call on.
my original answer remains. the majority of writers do not have interesting personalities, nor do they have any extraordinary experiences to write about.
my answer was not a personal attack against writers; simply an observation.
writers are the people who watch must see television, find starbucks on a friday night surprisingly thrilling, go crock pot shopping in the summertime and perform countless tasks of mediocrity.
the number of writers i have met living at home with a parent(s) is greater than the fingers on both my hands! there are 40 year old men living in their mother’s basement.
then you have the writers who have never left their easy living safety zones: small towns, universities, dorm rooms, teacher jobs, etc.
mediocrity and safe living is what defines a writer.
why would i want to read a memoir by that type of person? because they can write well? then write fiction or poetry. not a fucking memoir.
one shoplifting at american apparel is enough. do we really need more gifted writers pumping out empty work?
i want memoirs by the anomalies, the irregulars, the individuals.
finding a majestic beast like that who can lay down words too?
poetry
actually daniel thanks for actually agreeing with me. i know you actually hate to actually do that but it is actually okay.
we are all going to actually die.
actually, eventually.
Gary Lutz
His essay “The Sentence is a Lonely Place” could easily be expanded into a memoir/criticism-hybrid thingy that would surely destroy the (me)moir genre by virtue of its awesomeness.
I’d buy 100 copies and give them as gifts for everything.
Pynchon. Anyone else is not an honest answer.
Good question. I think it would be funnier. Maybe even more boring.
celine if he’d be completely truthful?
and also never publish it- see Tim on Dennis Cooper
Lydia Davis.
i don’t find drugs, drinking or war remarkable at all. sure, any experience can be written in an interesting way but the writing doesn’t make it an interesting experience.
it isn’t the “life” of a person that captivates but the personality. an individual needs perspective and/or experience.
if one is going to write a memoir about sitting in a room for their entire life, they most likely will have a strong/textured perspective.
if one is a boring, vapid person writing a memoir they most likely will need a reservoir of experiences to call on.
my original answer remains. the majority of writers do not have interesting personalities, nor do they have any extraordinary experiences to write about.
my answer was not a personal attack against writers; simply an observation.
writers are the people who watch must see television, find starbucks on a friday night surprisingly thrilling, go crock pot shopping in the summertime and perform countless tasks of mediocrity.
the number of writers i have met living at home with a parent(s) is greater than the fingers on both my hands! there are 40 year old men living in their mother’s basement.
then you have the writers who have never left their easy living safety zones: small towns, universities, dorm rooms, teacher jobs, etc.
mediocrity and safe living is what defines a writer.
why would i want to read a memoir by that type of person? because they can write well? then write fiction or poetry. not a fucking memoir.
one shoplifting at american apparel is enough. do we really need more gifted writers pumping out empty work?
i want memoirs by the anomalies, the irregulars, the individuals.
finding a majestic beast like that who can lay down words too?
poetry
actually daniel thanks for actually agreeing with me. i know you actually hate to actually do that but it is actually okay.
we are all going to actually die.
actually, eventually.
i agree in theory. i agree that i can think of a lot of non-writers that i’d like to see a memoir from more. i think a memoir by a chimp, translated by a bunch of add kids would be awesome.i think blake makes some good points, but i’m also not willing to put too much (serious) thought or effort into a discussion about hypothetical/fantasy books. i guess i should stop typing.
Pynchon. Anyone else is not an honest answer.
celine if he’d be completely truthful?
and also never publish it- see Tim on Dennis Cooper
i agree in theory. i agree that i can think of a lot of non-writers that i’d like to see a memoir from more. i think a memoir by a chimp, translated by a bunch of add kids would be awesome.i think blake makes some good points, but i’m also not willing to put too much (serious) thought or effort into a discussion about hypothetical/fantasy books. i guess i should stop typing.
Morrissey. ‘Nuff said.
Morrissey. ‘Nuff said.