May 29th, 2009 / 3:12 pm
 Author Spotlight

Laird Hunt’s influences

yungberg

Laird Hunt, author of the incredible Indiana, Indiana, has been posting short synopses of the five books that influenced his upcoming novel Ray of the Star.

Book three has me curious about both Hunt’s book and this influence.

Ann Quin’s 1964 debut novel Berg famously begins with the following, set apart on its own page: “A man called Berg, who changed his name to Greb, came to a seaside town intending to kill his father….” The backbone of Berg‘s plot duly summarized, Quin goes on to give us a novel about how lives get lived in the odd torquing of language, or perhaps how odd lives get lived in the torquing of language.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Some of the book is available here.

Anyone read this? Recommendations?

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9 Comments

  1. May 29th, 2009 / 7:26 pm Blake Butler—

      i just bought Quin’s Tripticks from Dalkey. Looks really interesting. Supposedly a big influence on Kathy Acker. This one sounds good too.

      And I like the profile on this Hunt. sounds fun.

  2. May 29th, 2009 / 3:26 pm Blake Butler—

      i just bought Quin’s Tripticks from Dalkey. Looks really interesting. Supposedly a big influence on Kathy Acker. This one sounds good too.

      And I like the profile on this Hunt. sounds fun.

  3. May 29th, 2009 / 7:51 pm Adam R—

      Hunt is incredible. The Impossibly is a paragraph I wish I wrote.

  4. May 29th, 2009 / 3:51 pm Adam R—

      Hunt is incredible. The Impossibly is a paragraph I wish I wrote.

  5. May 29th, 2009 / 4:02 pm pr—

      I’m curious what the others are. I can’t figure it out on his website.

  6. May 29th, 2009 / 4:26 pm Drew—

      I just today got this at the Book Expo. Looks dope. The Impossibly made my brain implode and then pop back out intact.

  7. May 29th, 2009 / 8:26 pm Drew—

      I just today got this at the Book Expo. Looks dope. The Impossibly made my brain implode and then pop back out intact.

  8. May 30th, 2009 / 12:41 am christian—

      i’ve loved all three of hunts novels. his most recent, the exquisite, is a great place to start.

      tried to read berg several times, but haven’t made it very far despite the great first line. i’ll try again.

  9. May 29th, 2009 / 8:41 pm christian—

      i’ve loved all three of hunts novels. his most recent, the exquisite, is a great place to start.

      tried to read berg several times, but haven’t made it very far despite the great first line. i’ll try again.