February 24th, 2011 / 7:42 pm
 Random

Percival Everett on Literary Politics

From a 2003 interview with Robert Birnbaum:

RB: And then there are the attacks on writers like Morrison and Salman Rushdie and DeLillo and now young guys like Franzen and Foer and it strikes me that they are being attacked by people who haven’t read them…

PE: It’s always easier to condemn something when you haven’t read it.

RB: But why get so worked up? On the other hand, maybe it’s a good thing that people are passionate about these things.

PE: If that’s really what they are passionate about? If somebody is really offended by the artistic sensibility of some writer that would be a great discussion. But if they are simply jealous of that person’s success or something personal, I don’t get it.

Read the rest at Identity Theory.

14 Comments

  1. February 25th, 2011 / 3:36 am DoomBot #7—
  2. February 25th, 2011 / 4:38 am NLY—

      “And fortunately the football team became really bad and that always helps a university.”

      haha.

  3. February 25th, 2011 / 10:18 am Janey Smith—

      Kyle? I still want destruction.

  4. February 25th, 2011 / 1:17 pm Rter—

      vipstores.net

  5. February 25th, 2011 / 3:55 pm Charles Dodd White—

      Great interview. Made me really like Percival Everett and want to read his books.

  6. February 25th, 2011 / 4:08 pm Roxane—

      Start with Erasure. It’s wonderful.

  7. February 25th, 2011 / 4:37 pm Charles Dodd White—

      Thanks, Roxane. It was between that and I am Not Sidney Portier.

  8. February 25th, 2011 / 8:40 pm Dan Wickett—

      Those are both great, but don’t miss out by not searching for his older work:

      Suder
      Grand Canyon, Inc.
      God’s Country
      Wounded
      American Desert
      Cutting Lisa
      Watershed

      To be honest, I don’t think you can go wrong, though I’d suggest cracking open one of his poetry books before simply buying. Maybe even read a chapter or two of Frenzy before snapping that up too, just to make sure you’re in the mood for that sort of thing. The story collections are really good too.

  9. February 26th, 2011 / 3:33 am Charles Dodd White—

      This is great. This is what I like most about this site–discovering new writers.

  10. February 26th, 2011 / 4:12 am deadgod—

      And how that mythology that was invented for the West is really the American story. Not the story itself but the fact that it was needed.

      This perspective is woven, by way of sub-plot, into Unforgiven in a particularly smart, funny way. It’s also the angle of Reed’s Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down. Thanks for the recommendation of God’s Country.

  11. February 26th, 2011 / 4:12 am deadgod—

      And how that mythology that was invented for the West is really the American story. Not the story itself but the fact that it was needed.

      This perspective is woven, by way of sub-plot, into Unforgiven in a particularly smart, funny way. It’s also the angle of Reed’s Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down. Thanks for the recommendation of God’s Country.

  12. February 26th, 2011 / 2:05 pm Anonymous—

      vipshopper.us

  13. February 27th, 2011 / 12:14 am Tyftyft—

      vipstores.net

  14. March 1st, 2011 / 1:08 pm Wrewtf25—

      madeshopping.net/