August 17th, 2010 / 11:03 pm
Random & Snippets

Which writer would you most like to read a memoir from who hasn’t done it yet and maybe probably won’t?

100 Comments

  1. People From Mars

      Diane Williams.

  2. ravi

      delillo or pynchon.

  3. daniel bailey

      meh.

  4. mike

      David Foster Wallace.

  5. jh

      And Don DeLillo.

  6. Johnson

      Julian of Norwich.

  7. Landon

      second both

  8. Landon

      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

  9. steve finbow

      Steve Erickson…

  10. Rion

      That would be a neat trick.

  11. Rion

      Wallace, I mean.

  12. Mike Meginnis

      I would like to read my own memoir so I can find out what the hell I would write in it.

  13. People From Mars

      Diane Williams.

  14. ravi

      delillo or pynchon.

  15. daniel bailey

      meh.

  16. Michael

      David Foster Wallace.

  17. Janey Smith

      Peter Sotos.

  18. jh

      And Don DeLillo.

  19. Johnson

      Julian of Norwich.

  20. Landon

      second both

  21. Landon

      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

  22. Shira

      WORD.

  23. steve finbow

      Steve Erickson…

  24. Rion Amilcar Scott

      That would be a neat trick.

  25. Rion Amilcar Scott

      Wallace, I mean.

  26. michael

      i would wish for infinity wishes

  27. Joseph RIippi

      Lish

  28. Mike Meginnis

      I would like to read my own memoir so I can find out what the hell I would write in it.

  29. Janey Smith

      Peter Sotos.

  30. Shira

      WORD.

  31. Kirstin

      Mary Gaitskill

  32. rk

      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.

  33. michael

      i would wish for infinity wishes

  34. Sean

      The Bard

  35. Kyle Minor

      William Harrison (he of Rollerball Murder, The Buddha in Malibu, Texas Heat, etc.)
      Franz Wright

  36. Joseph RIippi

      Lish

  37. daniel bailey

      the alcoholic cowboy that lives in my building.

  38. Hank

      Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon.

  39. magick mike

      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)

  40. Richard

      Yes…this would be great.

  41. magick mike

      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.

  42. rk

      mccarthy in the lean years would make the best book.

  43. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      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.

  44. Ben Spivey

      William Gibson. Dude wrote Johnny Mnemonic, thus bringing together Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, and Henry Rollins.

  45. Kirstin

      Mary Gaitskill

  46. rk

      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.

  47. EC

      what ravi said.

  48. Christopher DeWeese

      Ben, check out “The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?” by Ice-T.

  49. amoo

      harmony korine. mary gaitskill.

  50. Sean

      Good point, Tim.

  51. Sean

      The Bard

  52. Ben Spivey

      Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite book.

  53. Kyle Minor

      William Harrison (he of Rollerball Murder, The Buddha in Malibu, Texas Heat, etc.)
      Franz Wright

  54. daniel bailey

      the alcoholic cowboy that lives in my building.

  55. jereme

      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.

  56. Hank

      Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon.

  57. magick mike

      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)

  58. Richard

      Yes…this would be great.

  59. magick mike

      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.

  60. rk

      mccarthy in the lean years would make the best book.

  61. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      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.

  62. Will

      Alice B. Sheldon (pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.) or perhaps Flannery O’Connor.

  63. Gino

      James Franco or Ethan Hawke

  64. amoo

      i’d read that.

  65. Ben Spivey

      William Gibson. Dude wrote Johnny Mnemonic, thus bringing together Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, and Henry Rollins.

  66. daniel bailey

      i actually tend to agree with this.

  67. Blake Butler

      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.

  68. Blake Butler

      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.

  69. JW

      This.

  70. EC

      what ravi said.

  71. Christopher DeWeese

      Ben, check out “The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?” by Ice-T.

  72. amoo

      harmony korine. mary gaitskill.

  73. Sean

      Good point, Tim.

  74. Ben Spivey

      Thank you for introducing me to my new favorite book.

  75. Ridge

      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.

  76. jereme

      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.

  77. Will

      Alice B. Sheldon (pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.) or perhaps Flannery O’Connor.

  78. Gino

      James Franco or Ethan Hawke

  79. amoo

      i’d read that.

  80. Janey Smith

      Good question. I think it would be funnier. Maybe even more boring.

  81. daniel bailey

      i actually tend to agree with this.

  82. Blake Butler

      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.

  83. Blake Butler

      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.

  84. People From Mars

      Lydia Davis.

  85. JW

      This.

  86. jereme

      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

  87. jereme

      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.

  88. Ridge

      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.

  89. d

      Pynchon. Anyone else is not an honest answer.

  90. Janey Smith

      Good question. I think it would be funnier. Maybe even more boring.

  91. mork

      celine if he’d be completely truthful?
      and also never publish it- see Tim on Dennis Cooper

  92. People From Mars

      Lydia Davis.

  93. jereme

      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

  94. jereme

      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.

  95. daniel bailey

      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.

  96. d

      Pynchon. Anyone else is not an honest answer.

  97. mork

      celine if he’d be completely truthful?
      and also never publish it- see Tim on Dennis Cooper

  98. daniel bailey

      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.

  99. Ben

      Morrissey. ‘Nuff said.

  100. Ben

      Morrissey. ‘Nuff said.