January 8th, 2010 / 1:00 am
Snippets
Snippets
Blake Butler—
New Stephen Dixon story ‘Wife In Reverse,’ written at the same time as his unpublished new novel, His Wife Leaves Him, is at Matchbook, “The story originated as a compressed, reverse version of the novel, though it didn’t turn out exactly that way.”
Dixon is a fan of propulsion systems. I like to read his fiction. Interstate moved itself along at a pace I found myself unaccustomed to. It’s still very jarring to read 15 years later. Dixon does not want to catch his breath. I think he reminds me of Bernhard, but I haven’t read enough Bernhard to be sure. The two are tonal opposites, I guess. Whatever. Just give me some money.
Dixon is a fan of propulsion systems. I like to read his fiction. Interstate moved itself along at a pace I found myself unaccustomed to. It’s still very jarring to read 15 years later. Dixon does not want to catch his breath. I think he reminds me of Bernhard, but I haven’t read enough Bernhard to be sure. The two are tonal opposites, I guess. Whatever. Just give me some money.
Thank you for linking to the story, which is great. I love the way Dixon can move time forward (or, in this case, backward) so rapidly sentence by sentence. This story reminded me of “The Apology” and lots of the stories in I. and End of I. (my two favorites), which use similar strategies. One summer I tried to read everything Dixon had published, but I couldn’t track it all down. It was exciting, though, to see the trajectory of his career, from the early small press novels Work and Garbage, to the flirtations at Harper & Row with genre (esp. the novel Too Late), to the big books (Frog, Interstate, 30/Gould), to the late “novels” that are so preoccupied with family and the ill wife (the I.’s, Meyer, Old Friends, etc.), and then, simultaneously, to dip in and out of the story collections, which are the most formally diverse body of work any writer has ever attempted, so far as I can tell, with everything from domestic realist fictions to the wildest surrealism, with hundreds of strategies to get from here to there. I can’t wait for Fantagraphics to release the three-volume uncollected stories, so we can see what else we’ve been missing.
Thank you for linking to the story, which is great. I love the way Dixon can move time forward (or, in this case, backward) so rapidly sentence by sentence. This story reminded me of “The Apology” and lots of the stories in I. and End of I. (my two favorites), which use similar strategies. One summer I tried to read everything Dixon had published, but I couldn’t track it all down. It was exciting, though, to see the trajectory of his career, from the early small press novels Work and Garbage, to the flirtations at Harper & Row with genre (esp. the novel Too Late), to the big books (Frog, Interstate, 30/Gould), to the late “novels” that are so preoccupied with family and the ill wife (the I.’s, Meyer, Old Friends, etc.), and then, simultaneously, to dip in and out of the story collections, which are the most formally diverse body of work any writer has ever attempted, so far as I can tell, with everything from domestic realist fictions to the wildest surrealism, with hundreds of strategies to get from here to there. I can’t wait for Fantagraphics to release the three-volume uncollected stories, so we can see what else we’ve been missing.
I loved it.
That was fantastic.
That was fantastic.
Thanks for sharing, Blake. I’ve never read Dixon. What would you recommend?
Thanks for sharing, Blake. I’ve never read Dixon. What would you recommend?
everytime i read one of kyle’s posts I think to myself, kyle minor is significantly smarter than I am.
I don’t mean that in any rude kind of way.
everytime i read one of kyle’s posts I think to myself, kyle minor is significantly smarter than I am.
I don’t mean that in any rude kind of way.
conceivably you could start anywhere, as i’ve never read a book of his that isn’t incredible.
that said, I. from mcsweeneys could be a great place to open up. that would probably be the best launch point. i always wish more people would read Interstate, a novel of a freaky repeating image that continues to resolve differently. an incredible thing. but not a good starting, just for eventually.
do I. then just jumpin
conceivably you could start anywhere, as i’ve never read a book of his that isn’t incredible.
that said, I. from mcsweeneys could be a great place to open up. that would probably be the best launch point. i always wish more people would read Interstate, a novel of a freaky repeating image that continues to resolve differently. an incredible thing. but not a good starting, just for eventually.
do I. then just jumpin
hey, i liked that too. interesting that his stuff is going to be published by fantagraphics. but i thought they only did comics?
hey, i liked that too. interesting that his stuff is going to be published by fantagraphics. but i thought they only did comics?