October 29th, 2009 / 3:49 pm
Snippets

A (a dude, in midst of an actual conversation): Wait, Deb Olin Unferth isn’t famous.
C (another dude): She’s not? Of course she is. She’s famous.
A: Famous why? Because she had a book out with McSweeney’s and was in Harper’s?
C: People know who she is.
A: Writers know who she is. That’s not famous.
C: Famous, fine. She’s a buzzball. People talk about her. She’s famous enough.
B (a jew dude): Nobody is famous unless my grandmother knows who it is.
C: So are there any famous writers?
B: Philip Roth.

62 Comments

  1. james yeh

      Q: was this at &now

  2. james yeh

      Q: was this at &now

  3. Blake Butler

      yessir

  4. Blake Butler

      yessir

  5. Graham

      Oh! That’s someone I can be mean about. I despise Deb Olin Unferth’s writing. I flipped through Vacation in a bookstore and I got so mad and depressed that people like it that I moved across the country.

  6. Graham

      Oh! That’s someone I can be mean about. I despise Deb Olin Unferth’s writing. I flipped through Vacation in a bookstore and I got so mad and depressed that people like it that I moved across the country.

  7. +!O0o(o)o0O!+

      For a half-Jew’s Xmas sake, Bake, it’s one L, not two, in Philip.

  8. +!O0o(o)o0O!+

      For a half-Jew’s Xmas sake, Bake, it’s one L, not two, in Philip.

  9. Blake Butler

      i will fix that just for you my sweetum

  10. Blake Butler

      i will fix that just for you my sweetum

  11. Sean

      Does this prove Blake thinks about being famous more and more? When did Blake become Tao Lin? I’d rather wade this stream behind my house and correctly read and eddy and catch a little smallmouth than be famous. What is famous?

      (mean week)

  12. Sean

      Blake has a photo shoot coming up, BTW. See his blog.

  13. Sean

      Does this prove Blake thinks about being famous more and more? When did Blake become Tao Lin? I’d rather wade this stream behind my house and correctly read and eddy and catch a little smallmouth than be famous. What is famous?

      (mean week)

  14. Sean

      Blake has a photo shoot coming up, BTW. See his blog.

  15. Blake Butler

      nachos are famous

      you are famous for being a nacho fake

      i made you famous

      famous

  16. Blake Butler

      nachos are famous

      you are famous for being a nacho fake

      i made you famous

      famous

  17. Matt Cozart

      Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak are “famous in their field.”

      Maybe that’s what Deb Olin Unferth is?

  18. Matt Cozart

      Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak are “famous in their field.”

      Maybe that’s what Deb Olin Unferth is?

  19. Sean

      nachos are not famous. yet.

  20. Sean

      nachos are not famous. yet.

  21. Vaughan Simons

      “Writers know who she is. That’s not famous.”

      So true. I’m glad someone realises the truth.

  22. Vaughan Simons

      “Writers know who she is. That’s not famous.”

      So true. I’m glad someone realises the truth.

  23. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      why does this matter?

  24. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      why does this matter?

  25. davidpeak

      “famous”

  26. davidpeak

      “does”

  27. rachel

      It helps us define the term “writer.” For example, I do not know who Deb Olin Unferth is, therefore I am not a writer.

  28. davidpeak

      “famous”

  29. davidpeak

      “does”

  30. rachel

      It helps us define the term “writer.” For example, I do not know who Deb Olin Unferth is, therefore I am not a writer.

  31. davidpeak

      “nachos”

  32. davidpeak

      “nachos”

  33. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      haha, nice

  34. Sean

      Deb Olin Unferth is a badass! And if you don’t know that, it’s because YOU are fucking stupid and SEAN is an elitist. (I can go all caps and 3rd person because I am an elitist–it’s like a diamond encrusted Sam’s card.)

  35. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      haha, nice

  36. Sean

      Deb Olin Unferth is a badass! And if you don’t know that, it’s because YOU are fucking stupid and SEAN is an elitist. (I can go all caps and 3rd person because I am an elitist–it’s like a diamond encrusted Sam’s card.)

  37. audri

      grandmas generally know their shit. mine for example being a fan of camus, lil wayne, and “the sexy channels that you pay for”.

  38. audri

      grandmas generally know their shit. mine for example being a fan of camus, lil wayne, and “the sexy channels that you pay for”.

  39. John Dermot Woods

      I thought the fame test was his Aunt Sylvia who lives in Asbury Park.

  40. John Dermot Woods

      I thought the fame test was his Aunt Sylvia who lives in Asbury Park.

  41. james yeh

      john, your comment only further affirms who i think said this

  42. james yeh

      john, your comment only further affirms who i think said this

  43. Blake Butler

      i was drunker than you were, clearly

  44. Blake Butler

      i was drunker than you were, clearly

  45. Tim Jones-Yelvington
  46. Tim Jones-Yelvington
  47. davidpeak

      I’m going to write an entire story with this as first line: “How he got to this apple festival is anyone’s guess.”

  48. davidpeak

      I’m going to write an entire story with this as first line: “How he got to this apple festival is anyone’s guess.”

  49. Daniel Nester

      Is this, like, the prose Foetry?

  50. Daniel Nester

      Is this, like, the prose Foetry?

  51. Adam R

      When I was reading The Impossibly I wrote a comment about it on my blog, this was in like 2005, I said Laird Hunt’s book is funny but flawed or something and then he left a comment saying, “Well at least it’s funny,” and I was like, Oh man I didn’t expect him to read this, I figured he was too famous. Shows what I know about the Internet. Or Laird.

  52. Adam R

      When I was reading The Impossibly I wrote a comment about it on my blog, this was in like 2005, I said Laird Hunt’s book is funny but flawed or something and then he left a comment saying, “Well at least it’s funny,” and I was like, Oh man I didn’t expect him to read this, I figured he was too famous. Shows what I know about the Internet. Or Laird.

  53. Daniel Nester

      Also: “Jew dude”?

  54. Daniel Nester

      Also: “Jew dude”?

  55. +!O0o(o)o0O!+

      Foetry is sooooooooo 2004, Mr. Nester.

  56. +!O0o(o)o0O!+

      Foetry is sooooooooo 2004, Mr. Nester.

  57. david e

      thanks, daniel, that shit was OVER THE LINE (i don’t use all caps like sean, only to sound like Walter Sobchak

  58. david e

      thanks, daniel, that shit was OVER THE LINE (i don’t use all caps like sean, only to sound like Walter Sobchak

  59. Daniel Nester

      No way around it: Sounds kinda anti-semite-y.

  60. Daniel Nester

      No way around it: Sounds kinda anti-semite-y.

  61. Daniel Nester

      I know. I feel like Unfrozen Literary Hata Site Cavemen Lawyer.

  62. Daniel Nester

      I know. I feel like Unfrozen Literary Hata Site Cavemen Lawyer.