June 17th, 2009 / 1:04 pm
Author Spotlight & Power Quote

Pimp Faulkner

faulkner_picWilliam Faulkner was a pretty serious guy, and his answers to an interview with The Paris Review in 1956 reflects a severe staunchness and didacticism that, as an enormous fan, I can only afford him. He brought cerebral European modernism to America and rolled it around in dirt. Here’s my favorite reply of his:

PARIS REVIEW: Then what would be the best environment for a writer?

WILLIAM FAULKNER: […] If you mean me, the best job that was ever offered to me was to become a landlord in a brothel. In my opinion it’s the perfect milieu for an artist to work in. It gives him perfect economic freedom; he’s free of fear and hunger; he has a roof over his head and nothing whatever to do except keep a few simple accounts and to go once every month and pay off the local police. The place is quiet during the morning hours, which is the best time of the day to work. There’s enough social life in the evening, if he wishes to participate, to keep him from being bored; it gives him a certain standing in his society; he has nothing to do because the madam keeps the books; all the inmates of the house are females and would defer to him and call him “sir.” All the bootleggers in the neighborhood would call him “sir.” And he could call the police by their first names.

It’s so perfectly hilarious it seems sarcastic, or even a satire, but in the context of the entire hyper-rational interview, he’s simply following his logic. I love the way he says “social life in the evening” unabashedly with a straight face. It’s official, ‘Faulkner as pimp’ edges out ‘Kafka as clerk’ as my all-time-high mental image/ideal of a writer. The next time I orgasm I’m gonna cough out Yoknapatawpha! and have a flashback to a previous chapter. Bill, my man, slap that ass.

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36 Comments

  1. ryan

      this confirms what i’ve always suspected about Faulkner’s extremely high badassitude.

  2. ryan

      this confirms what i’ve always suspected about Faulkner’s extremely high badassitude.

  3. Josh Maday

      Jimmy Chen strikes again. Good stuff. Finish this for me, Jimmy:

      ‘Jimmy Chen as ________’

  4. Josh Maday

      Jimmy Chen strikes again. Good stuff. Finish this for me, Jimmy:

      ‘Jimmy Chen as ________’

  5. Jimmy Chen

      ‘Jimmy Chen as eight consecutive underscores’

  6. Jimmy Chen

      ‘Jimmy Chen as eight consecutive underscores’

  7. jereme

      this made me laugh a lot.

      wasn’t faulkner also the dude who showed his chick his writings all the time and begged for her approval?

      funny.

  8. jereme

      this made me laugh a lot.

      wasn’t faulkner also the dude who showed his chick his writings all the time and begged for her approval?

      funny.

  9. Nathan Tyree

      Hey, faulkner wanted my dream job

  10. Nathan Tyree

      Hey, faulkner wanted my dream job

  11. Josh Maday

      ________,

      Yes.

  12. Josh Maday

      ________,

      Yes.

  13. pr

      Ha. Great find Jimmy. My dream of Faulkner back when I read all his shit was to get drunk with him (he was dead, but you know, a dream) and have a lot of corncobs around.

  14. pr

      Ha. Great find Jimmy. My dream of Faulkner back when I read all his shit was to get drunk with him (he was dead, but you know, a dream) and have a lot of corncobs around.

  15. ryan

      dirty

  16. ryan

      dirty

  17. sam pink

      go down moses is awesome

  18. sam pink

      go down moses is awesome

  19. sam pink

      he sort of has the “just got done with an ayso game and now my shin guards are off and my socks are down and i just want to smoke a pipe while crossing my hairy legs” look

  20. sam pink

      he sort of has the “just got done with an ayso game and now my shin guards are off and my socks are down and i just want to smoke a pipe while crossing my hairy legs” look

  21. Nathan Tyree

      that’s so filthy

  22. Nathan Tyree

      that’s so filthy

  23. cobweb

      I agree very much with this post. Good!

  24. cobweb

      I agree very much with this post. Good!

  25. Michael J

      this is dope

  26. Michael J

      this is dope

  27. Gian

      Great stuff, man.

  28. Gian

      Great stuff, man.

  29. Michael J

      holy shit… that was… incredibly sexy of you pr.

      dont ever mention that again :-)

      and thanks for that link about brown/black/etc you posted on mah blog. it was funny, in a sad way.

  30. Michael J

      holy shit… that was… incredibly sexy of you pr.

      dont ever mention that again :-)

      and thanks for that link about brown/black/etc you posted on mah blog. it was funny, in a sad way.

  31. pr

      I was trying to be funny…how sad?

  32. michael j

      naw, i chuckled, sadly, because i was sad at that moment.

      for reasons having nothing to do with the link.

      shoulda probably mentioned that.

  33. michael j

      naw, i chuckled, sadly, because i was sad at that moment.

      for reasons having nothing to do with the link.

      shoulda probably mentioned that.

  34. pr

      Sorry to hear you were sad….and glad my musings about tennis players didn’t make you sad in any way.

  35. pr

      Sorry to hear you were sad….and glad my musings about tennis players didn’t make you sad in any way.

  36. A Rose For Emily by Faulkner « Romandari

      […] also found this interesting Faulkner quote from when asked, “What would be the best environment for a writer?” If you’re […]