February 27th, 2009 / 10:58 am
Vicarious MFA

Joyce Carol Oates thinks you should get a life, is on suicide watch

jcoRandom Undergrad Question-Asker: I was wondering what you think of blogging?

Joyce Carol Oates: Blogging? What I think of blogging?

RUQA: Um, yeah.

JCO: Well I think that anyone who’s worried about their blogging is wasting their time. Next question?

Joyce Carol Oates came and did a lecture here on Monday; she stared out telling us how she had once been asked to do a biography of Alfred Hitchcock, but all she could manage to write about him was a pathology since he was  such an asshole. Then someone asked her to write a biography of Marilyn Monroe, but she wrote a 1400 page novel instead. Then someone asked her to write a biography of Ernest Hemingway, but she decided it would be better to write a short story about his suicide. She read this story to us, but before she did she explained that she “identified with this story so much,” more than almost anything else she’s written. 

The story was incredibly gruesome. She put the gunshot in slow motion and gave us vivid descriptions of brain and skull and exploded tissue. All the blood-soaked stuff was pretty shocking coming from a seventy-year-old woman who looks as meek as an underfed house cat.

After the story she answered more questions and woe be it to the people who didn’t think through their inquiries. Somehow there were a ton of eager-beaver undergrads at this lecture and they all wanted a piece of JCO. One girl made the mistake of asking her to explain some imagery from a story she’d read

RUQA 2: Like, for instance, you have a story where a girl is climbing up a tower and the people are watching the girl and the girl is climbing…

JCO: I wrote this?

RUQA2: Yeah, and like there are the people below seeing her climb and then she falls

JCO: You want me to explain this?

RUQA2: …

JCO: Next question?

It was pretty great. Another girl said that she had read a novella about Edgar Allen Poe but when Oates asked her what “warm body”  she gave to Poe to fall in love with the girl thought that it was a dog.

JCO: A dog?! I didn’t write about Edgar Allen Poe falling in love with a dog! I’m from Princeton! We don’t write about DOGS! It was a mer-woman with one eye. Get it straight!

Tags: ,

167 Comments

  1. Justin Taylor

      Yowze. That sounds like it was a fun room to be in

  2. Justin Taylor

      Yowze. That sounds like it was a fun room to be in

  3. pr

      I love J to the C to the O. I realize that is uncool of me. Her early stories are some of my all time favorites. Ontario Review Press (hers and her recently deceased husband, Ray Smith’s press) put a nice collection out of her early stories years ago. I treasure it. Upon the Sweeping Flood is burned into my brain, as is Where Are you Going, Where Have you Been.

      You gotta give her a break about blogging- she’s really not young. like you have to forgive Roth for freaking out that people walk around talking on cellphones. Like Cheever asking “what is the meaning of a dying barbershop?” Aging is very alienating.

      Anyway, very cool. She’s easy to make fun of, but she’s no joke. She’s written some truly great stuff.

  4. Leigh Stein

      I love Foxfire. And I love underfed one-eyed house cat women.

  5. Leigh Stein

      I love Foxfire. And I love underfed one-eyed house cat women.

  6. Justin Taylor

      pr- I’ll say this. when i was putting the Apocalypse Reader together, JCO was incredibly generous. She sent me the weirdest story she had, which had been in Ontario Review once but had *never been collected in a book of hers* along with a note that if it was TOO weird, she’d get me something else. I loved the thing she sent, which if you’ve seen my anthology is this bizarre double meditation on dismemberment that starts in two columns and then ends with a parable about the suburbs. a week after i gave her her contributor copy, she wrote me a very nice note, which suggested that she’d actually read the damn thing. i thought it was class all the way.

  7. Justin Taylor

      pr- I’ll say this. when i was putting the Apocalypse Reader together, JCO was incredibly generous. She sent me the weirdest story she had, which had been in Ontario Review once but had *never been collected in a book of hers* along with a note that if it was TOO weird, she’d get me something else. I loved the thing she sent, which if you’ve seen my anthology is this bizarre double meditation on dismemberment that starts in two columns and then ends with a parable about the suburbs. a week after i gave her her contributor copy, she wrote me a very nice note, which suggested that she’d actually read the damn thing. i thought it was class all the way.

  8. Gayle

      Aging is very alienating? I don’t think that age has anything to do with one’s view on blogging. I’m 61 and I enjoy blogging. I see it as just another venue for conversation and sharing writing. If someone doesn’t “get it” or enjoy it, perhaps it’s just not where he/she wants to spend their time. Age is only alienating if you allow it to be. JCO’s choices may not be age related – only preferences.

      :O)

  9. Gayle

      Aging is very alienating? I don’t think that age has anything to do with one’s view on blogging. I’m 61 and I enjoy blogging. I see it as just another venue for conversation and sharing writing. If someone doesn’t “get it” or enjoy it, perhaps it’s just not where he/she wants to spend their time. Age is only alienating if you allow it to be. JCO’s choices may not be age related – only preferences.

      :O)

  10. pr

      So nice to hear all this. I’m going to order your anthology now. I haven’t read her novels in a while-not true, read Dearest Mom? shit can’t remember title – a few years back. It was good, dedicated to her recently dead mother. But I have read five or six of her novels…one escapes me now…takes place in one weekend, very manic, upstate- she loves upstate- and it was my favorite-no wait-i’ll go look, i know where that is- what i loved for. Read “Them”. Read…oh it’s been awhile. I’d have to go trhu my shelves. Anyway, I’m mostly a story person. I own four or so of her collections. I think she’s a great story writer. Bless her. Since Ray died, not sure how much she has left in her. But she could surprise us.

  11. barry

      fox fire was great. lots of her early stuff was pretty fucking good. i read this one, forget the name, about this girl who falles in love with her teacher then he takes her on as a ga and he drugs her and has her pose for the fucked up pics and she burns his house down. lots of dh lawrence poem references. cant remember the name of it, wish i could though.

      met her last year in nyc. she’s a bit of a fucking weirdo i think, but i think most people are weirdos.

  12. barry

      fox fire was great. lots of her early stuff was pretty fucking good. i read this one, forget the name, about this girl who falles in love with her teacher then he takes her on as a ga and he drugs her and has her pose for the fucked up pics and she burns his house down. lots of dh lawrence poem references. cant remember the name of it, wish i could though.

      met her last year in nyc. she’s a bit of a fucking weirdo i think, but i think most people are weirdos.

  13. ryan

      there’s nothing better than people who ask stupid questions getting shut down like that. classic. i wish i had been there.

  14. ryan

      there’s nothing better than people who ask stupid questions getting shut down like that. classic. i wish i had been there.

  15. Matt Cozart

      Beasts, I think.

  16. Matt Cozart

      Beasts, I think.

  17. Brandon Hobson

      I really, really like JCO’s short stories. Some of them are completely weird and so well written. I haven’t read any of her novels except The Tatooed Girl, which I liked a lot. I think she’s brilliant.

  18. Brandon Hobson

      I really, really like JCO’s short stories. Some of them are completely weird and so well written. I haven’t read any of her novels except The Tatooed Girl, which I liked a lot. I think she’s brilliant.

  19. barry

      i think thats right.

  20. barry

      i think thats right.

  21. james yeh

      denis johnson is also good at shutting down dumb questions.

      i saw him read at the new school last year after he won the national book award. every question was either about vietnam or drugs. he made some smartass remarks that made me laugh and then feel depressed. after his reading i went to go stand in line with all the other people who wanted to meet him. a couple guys i saw had three or four copies of tree of smoke for him to sign. when i got to him i handed him my worn (and embarrassingly annotated) copy of jesus’ son and tried to say something to him about poetry. he sort of nodded and then turned to sign something else and i left, feeling even more depressed and vaguely angry for having been just like everyone else trying to get something from him.

  22. james yeh

      denis johnson is also good at shutting down dumb questions.

      i saw him read at the new school last year after he won the national book award. every question was either about vietnam or drugs. he made some smartass remarks that made me laugh and then feel depressed. after his reading i went to go stand in line with all the other people who wanted to meet him. a couple guys i saw had three or four copies of tree of smoke for him to sign. when i got to him i handed him my worn (and embarrassingly annotated) copy of jesus’ son and tried to say something to him about poetry. he sort of nodded and then turned to sign something else and i left, feeling even more depressed and vaguely angry for having been just like everyone else trying to get something from him.

  23. pr

      Well, everyone’s health and attitude is different, of course. She is in her 70s I think? And I refer to the Cheever quote I posted from his journals, where he beautifully describes how watching the world change is hard. He says many things, including, “I know my city, but does it know me?” Clearly everyone is different, but it’s not uncommon to feel left behind.

  24. pr

      I read the Tattoooed Girl! It was very good. That pale fleshy girl is a an image you just brought back. Good, good stuff.

  25. pr

      This is great. Not eveyone is good with the “public”. And so many times, meeting a hero sucks. James- you got an essay or story in this one.

  26. ryan

      i still haven’t read tree of smoke, jesus’ son is one of my favorite books though.

  27. ryan

      i still haven’t read tree of smoke, jesus’ son is one of my favorite books though.

  28. pr

      what i lived for. Not loved! THat is my fave of her novels, not that I have read THAT many of them. Also- she is from upstate but I say loves upstate purposefully- she has such a strong feeling for it, to me it is a kind of love.

  29. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      Friggin dog stories, man. That one comment makes me like JCO better than I ever have previously.

  30. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      Friggin dog stories, man. That one comment makes me like JCO better than I ever have previously.

  31. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      Friggin dog stories, man. That one comment makes me like JCO better than I ever have previously.

  32. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      She also doesn’t need to blog to promote her work. She’s Joyce Carol Oates.

  33. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      She also doesn’t need to blog to promote her work. She’s Joyce Carol Oates.

  34. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      She also doesn’t need to blog to promote her work. She’s Joyce Carol Oates.

  35. Lincoln

      But what does she think of twittering?

  36. Lincoln

      But what does she think of twittering?

  37. Lincoln

      But what does she think of twittering?

  38. james yeh

      ha

  39. james yeh

      ha

  40. james yeh

      ha

  41. james yeh

      jesus’ son is pretty much a “handbook of style”. it’s probably my favorite collection of short stories. i couldn’t get through tree of smoke though. the pacing was too different, i think. i’ll probably try again, eventually.

  42. james yeh

      jesus’ son is pretty much a “handbook of style”. it’s probably my favorite collection of short stories. i couldn’t get through tree of smoke though. the pacing was too different, i think. i’ll probably try again, eventually.

  43. james yeh

      jesus’ son is pretty much a “handbook of style”. it’s probably my favorite collection of short stories. i couldn’t get through tree of smoke though. the pacing was too different, i think. i’ll probably try again, eventually.

  44. Lincoln

      probably a tumbler girl.

      I gotta admit, I left this event after she rambled for half an hour about how she wasn’t able to ever right a biography. Although I heard the Q and A stuff was good.

  45. Lincoln

      probably a tumbler girl.

      I gotta admit, I left this event after she rambled for half an hour about how she wasn’t able to ever right a biography. Although I heard the Q and A stuff was good.

  46. james yeh

      thanks pr. i’ve been trying to write that for awhile now.

      i forgot to add what he said to me, which was something like “i don’t really do poetry anymore”, or something along those lines. maybe he didn’t say it at all, but that’s what it felt like he said. it felt bad. i was embarrassed.

  47. james yeh

      thanks pr. i’ve been trying to write that for awhile now.

      i forgot to add what he said to me, which was something like “i don’t really do poetry anymore”, or something along those lines. maybe he didn’t say it at all, but that’s what it felt like he said. it felt bad. i was embarrassed.

  48. Lincoln

      probably a tumbler girl.

      I gotta admit, I left this event after she rambled for half an hour about how she wasn’t able to ever right a biography. Although I heard the Q and A stuff was good.

  49. james yeh

      thanks pr. i’ve been trying to write that for awhile now.

      i forgot to add what he said to me, which was something like “i don’t really do poetry anymore”, or something along those lines. maybe he didn’t say it at all, but that’s what it felt like he said. it felt bad. i was embarrassed.

  50. Lincoln

      I think the part you are leaving out is that you were wearing an airbrush t-shirt you got at the mall that had DJ’s head bursting out of a cloud and a flaming hawk carrying a rainbow around it with the caption “The author of my dreams!”

      That probably made the interaction a little awkward for him.

  51. Lincoln

      I think the part you are leaving out is that you were wearing an airbrush t-shirt you got at the mall that had DJ’s head bursting out of a cloud and a flaming hawk carrying a rainbow around it with the caption “The author of my dreams!”

      That probably made the interaction a little awkward for him.

  52. Lincoln

      I think the part you are leaving out is that you were wearing an airbrush t-shirt you got at the mall that had DJ’s head bursting out of a cloud and a flaming hawk carrying a rainbow around it with the caption “The author of my dreams!”

      That probably made the interaction a little awkward for him.

  53. james yeh

      i left in the middle of the Q and A, during a particularly tedious exchange btw her and a woman with a really thick accent.

  54. james yeh

      i left in the middle of the Q and A, during a particularly tedious exchange btw her and a woman with a really thick accent.

  55. james yeh

      i left in the middle of the Q and A, during a particularly tedious exchange btw her and a woman with a really thick accent.

  56. pr

      Jesus Son is masterful. Read it many times. Also, I really like Stars At Noon and Angels. Didn’t finish Fiskadaro. Might try that again. I will say that Train Dreams his novella that won the O’henry, is BRILLIANT. Holy Holy. And that might be it for me and Denis. Oh, read an essay on homeschooling his kids.

      Anyway, James, you got a great essay or story in you as a fan and meeting a hero…put it in Gigantic.

  57. pr

      lincoln is feeling it these days. love it.

  58. blake

      joyce carol oates

      joyce carol oates

  59. blake

      joyce carol oates

      joyce carol oates

  60. blake

      joyce carol oates

      joyce carol oates

  61. Matt Cozart

      This morning I resumed reading Already Dead after having lazily neglected it for months. I love it.

  62. Matt Cozart

      This morning I resumed reading Already Dead after having lazily neglected it for months. I love it.

  63. Matt Cozart

      This morning I resumed reading Already Dead after having lazily neglected it for months. I love it.

  64. Lincoln

      Okay, JCO fans:

      Any suggestions on where to start?

      I’ve always felt like I should read JCO but her oeuvre is just so gigantic and doesn’t seem to have one or two books that stand out as clearly the best like other authors do. I’ve never known where to dip my feet into first.

  65. Lincoln

      Okay, JCO fans:

      Any suggestions on where to start?

      I’ve always felt like I should read JCO but her oeuvre is just so gigantic and doesn’t seem to have one or two books that stand out as clearly the best like other authors do. I’ve never known where to dip my feet into first.

  66. Lincoln

      Okay, JCO fans:

      Any suggestions on where to start?

      I’ve always felt like I should read JCO but her oeuvre is just so gigantic and doesn’t seem to have one or two books that stand out as clearly the best like other authors do. I’ve never known where to dip my feet into first.

  67. pr
  68. pr

      “…why does it not know me?” is that right- too lazy to look, think this is right

  69. james yeh

      heh sorry blake

  70. james yeh

      heh sorry blake

  71. james yeh

      heh sorry blake

  72. sam pink

      she kind of looks like ice t in that picture.

  73. sam pink

      she kind of looks like ice t in that picture.

  74. sam pink

      she kind of looks like ice t in that picture.

  75. davidpeak

      JCO is haunted by ghosts.

      I read Gravedigger’s Daughter last year. The structure was a mess but the writing was incredible, fluid. If you’re looking for latter-era stuff, I’d give that a looksee.

  76. davidpeak

      JCO is haunted by ghosts.

      I read Gravedigger’s Daughter last year. The structure was a mess but the writing was incredible, fluid. If you’re looking for latter-era stuff, I’d give that a looksee.

  77. davidpeak

      JCO is haunted by ghosts.

      I read Gravedigger’s Daughter last year. The structure was a mess but the writing was incredible, fluid. If you’re looking for latter-era stuff, I’d give that a looksee.

  78. ryan

      pr, i have not seen train dreams. what’s it in??

  79. ryan

      pr, i have not seen train dreams. what’s it in??

  80. ryan

      pr, i have not seen train dreams. what’s it in??

  81. pr
  82. ryan

      nice! thanks. i see it has a t.c. boyle story as well, between those two its certainly bound to be worth just about any price.

  83. ryan

      nice! thanks. i see it has a t.c. boyle story as well, between those two its certainly bound to be worth just about any price.

  84. ryan

      nice! thanks. i see it has a t.c. boyle story as well, between those two its certainly bound to be worth just about any price.

  85. Morgan

      I don’t know. I don’t really care one way or another about how she feels about blogs. But it seems to me from what’s written here that she was pretty ungenerous the whole night, acting as if she was being made to suffer fools. And frankly, when you have voluntarily taken on the role of a teacher, I think that kind of stuff is reprehensible at best, an affectation at worst. No matter how good your books are. I don’t think it’s cool to publicly cut people off at the knees for being young.

  86. Morgan

      I don’t know. I don’t really care one way or another about how she feels about blogs. But it seems to me from what’s written here that she was pretty ungenerous the whole night, acting as if she was being made to suffer fools. And frankly, when you have voluntarily taken on the role of a teacher, I think that kind of stuff is reprehensible at best, an affectation at worst. No matter how good your books are. I don’t think it’s cool to publicly cut people off at the knees for being young.

  87. Morgan

      I don’t know. I don’t really care one way or another about how she feels about blogs. But it seems to me from what’s written here that she was pretty ungenerous the whole night, acting as if she was being made to suffer fools. And frankly, when you have voluntarily taken on the role of a teacher, I think that kind of stuff is reprehensible at best, an affectation at worst. No matter how good your books are. I don’t think it’s cool to publicly cut people off at the knees for being young.

  88. pr

      I gotta say that Morgan has a point. Which is why I want James Yeh to write about his encounter with Denis Johnson. That said, my mother is only 65 and she can’t remember anything and is at the complete mercy of everyone else around her and it makes her very angry. JCO’s husband and lifelong partner at Ontario Review died very recently and suddenly and for that alone, I’ll cut her some slack. My guess is the future is looking pretty tough for her.

  89. barry

      the meeting denis johnson in pubkic comment reminds me of one of my favorite pieces about someone meeting a writer in public. ben tanzer wrote this piece about ira glass punching him in the face (which he did not do) i heard him read it at awp. great fucking piece. im gonna hunt the linkdown……

      here it is. in july’s decomp:
      http://www.decompmagazine.com/iraglasswantstohitme.htm

      its pretty great.

  90. barry

      the meeting denis johnson in pubkic comment reminds me of one of my favorite pieces about someone meeting a writer in public. ben tanzer wrote this piece about ira glass punching him in the face (which he did not do) i heard him read it at awp. great fucking piece. im gonna hunt the linkdown……

      here it is. in july’s decomp:
      http://www.decompmagazine.com/iraglasswantstohitme.htm

      its pretty great.

  91. barry

      the meeting denis johnson in pubkic comment reminds me of one of my favorite pieces about someone meeting a writer in public. ben tanzer wrote this piece about ira glass punching him in the face (which he did not do) i heard him read it at awp. great fucking piece. im gonna hunt the linkdown……

      here it is. in july’s decomp:
      http://www.decompmagazine.com/iraglasswantstohitme.htm

      its pretty great.

  92. pr

      Is that non-fiction? Whatever it is, it is so funny. “I don’t want to bet you dude.”

      Once I was really excited to meet an editor who had published me a few times, talked on the phone, so on- I walk up to her like an eager puppy dog and said, “Hi, I’m pr” grinning like crazy .I was so excited! She looked me up and down and said, “I thought you’d be a brunette” and preceded to be really nasty to me for the rest of the evening. I cut out early. But she forgot that time and the next time I saw her she was really nice. No names though! I can’t tell any names of that one…oh wait I have another one not as good about Martin Amis—

  93. pr
  94. james yeh

      funny

  95. james yeh

      funny

  96. james yeh

      there’s also nicholson baker’s U and I

  97. james yeh

      there’s also nicholson baker’s U and I

  98. james yeh

      and also, like, everything bolano’s written

  99. james yeh

      and also, like, everything bolano’s written

  100. james yeh

      funny

  101. james yeh

      there’s also nicholson baker’s U and I

  102. james yeh

      and also, like, everything bolano’s written

  103. pr

      I have heard of u and i but not read it. I’m not a huge Baker fan but also have not given him a chance in a while. I sorta want to read the matches book….I’ve not read Bolano. I burned out on Latin American and Spanish lit from living there for a year and studying it some in college–loved the stuff for awhile. Although I did read an Isabel Allende short story a few weeks ago that I dug.

  104. james yeh
  105. james yeh
  106. james yeh
  107. Justin Taylor

      Yeah the Ghost Writer is an amazing book. There’s also a great scene in the sequel, Zuckerman Unbound, where the tables are turned on the now-famous writer. He’s sitting in a restaurant trying to eat a sandwich and this guy comes up to him and sort of invites himself to sit and just *won’t* *let* *up*- he follows Z out of the restaurant and down the block. It’s an excruciating scene.

      Not to take the focus of Denis Johnson (The Name of the World–anybody?) but I’d recommend the whole original quartet of Zuckerman books–they’re available in one spine, as Zuckerman Bound.

  108. Justin Taylor

      Yeah the Ghost Writer is an amazing book. There’s also a great scene in the sequel, Zuckerman Unbound, where the tables are turned on the now-famous writer. He’s sitting in a restaurant trying to eat a sandwich and this guy comes up to him and sort of invites himself to sit and just *won’t* *let* *up*- he follows Z out of the restaurant and down the block. It’s an excruciating scene.

      Not to take the focus of Denis Johnson (The Name of the World–anybody?) but I’d recommend the whole original quartet of Zuckerman books–they’re available in one spine, as Zuckerman Bound.

  109. Justin Taylor

      Yeah the Ghost Writer is an amazing book. There’s also a great scene in the sequel, Zuckerman Unbound, where the tables are turned on the now-famous writer. He’s sitting in a restaurant trying to eat a sandwich and this guy comes up to him and sort of invites himself to sit and just *won’t* *let* *up*- he follows Z out of the restaurant and down the block. It’s an excruciating scene.

      Not to take the focus of Denis Johnson (The Name of the World–anybody?) but I’d recommend the whole original quartet of Zuckerman books–they’re available in one spine, as Zuckerman Bound.

  110. pr

      Read it. I wrote him a letter, too. He wrote me back.

  111. pr

      Just printed it out. When I was 22, I flew to Buenos Aires and tried to live there (lasted 6 weeks, a dude was involved). I was obsessed with Borges. So, maybe it’s time to start reading South American writers. I am about to go drink and watch tennis played in South America. The clay court South American season has just started….I’ve been dvding it all day.

  112. pr

      BTW- he wrote me two sentences. Still. Maybe I’ll publish my letter to him here….I’m such a crazy stalker tard. But it was cool to hear back from him.

  113. james yeh

      bolano would approve of what you just said, i think you would like bolano very much. all his stories are kind of like that.

  114. james yeh

      bolano would approve of what you just said, i think you would like bolano very much. all his stories are kind of like that.

  115. james yeh

      bolano would approve of what you just said, i think you would like bolano very much. all his stories are kind of like that.

  116. Justin Taylor

      I totally remember you telling me that story, now. Yes, you should post his reply- and your letter, if you still have it. That’d be awesome.

  117. Justin Taylor

      I totally remember you telling me that story, now. Yes, you should post his reply- and your letter, if you still have it. That’d be awesome.

  118. Justin Taylor

      I totally remember you telling me that story, now. Yes, you should post his reply- and your letter, if you still have it. That’d be awesome.

  119. Matthew Simmons

      U and I is a really good book.

  120. Matthew Simmons

      U and I is a really good book.

  121. Matthew Simmons

      U and I is a really good book.

  122. Matt

      what’s wrong with dog stories? amy hempel, people!

  123. Matt

      what’s wrong with dog stories? amy hempel, people!

  124. Matt

      what’s wrong with dog stories? amy hempel, people!

  125. daniel bailey

      she looks like that super-annoying woman from the cashforgold.com commercial.

  126. daniel bailey

      she looks like that super-annoying woman from the cashforgold.com commercial.

  127. daniel bailey

      she looks like that super-annoying woman from the cashforgold.com commercial.

  128. darby

      i don’t think i’ve ever read a jco story all the way through. I’ve past the point where i think her stopres would be good. maybe two years ago if i’d happened upon some. but now. i think i might be age prejudiced with the authos i want to read now. i want to read things new things by newer people. new people rule.

  129. darby

      i don’t think i’ve ever read a jco story all the way through. I’ve past the point where i think her stopres would be good. maybe two years ago if i’d happened upon some. but now. i think i might be age prejudiced with the authos i want to read now. i want to read things new things by newer people. new people rule.

  130. darby

      i don’t think i’ve ever read a jco story all the way through. I’ve past the point where i think her stopres would be good. maybe two years ago if i’d happened upon some. but now. i think i might be age prejudiced with the authos i want to read now. i want to read things new things by newer people. new people rule.

  131. Peter Markus

      Do go back to Fiskadoro. It’s a book where Denis Johnson was looking to reinvent himself after The Stars at Noon (not DJ at his best).

  132. Peter Markus

      Do go back to Fiskadoro. It’s a book where Denis Johnson was looking to reinvent himself after The Stars at Noon (not DJ at his best).

  133. Peter Markus

      Do go back to Fiskadoro. It’s a book where Denis Johnson was looking to reinvent himself after The Stars at Noon (not DJ at his best).

  134. pr

      I liked Stars at Noon. Granted, I read it thirteen years ago. Fiskadoro is “scifi” future stuff, as I recall and I do plan on picking it up again. Train Dreams is the only recent thing of his I’ve read….I am a short story person. But I do read an occasional novel. Anyway, thanks for the push to pick it up again. I like hearing what others think.

  135. Peter Markus

      Jesus’ Son is Johnson at his best, for sure. But Fiskadoro is definitely worth the time to go back to. I wouldn’t call it scifi. More along the lines of Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things.

  136. Peter Markus

      Jesus’ Son is Johnson at his best, for sure. But Fiskadoro is definitely worth the time to go back to. I wouldn’t call it scifi. More along the lines of Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things.

  137. Peter Markus

      Jesus’ Son is Johnson at his best, for sure. But Fiskadoro is definitely worth the time to go back to. I wouldn’t call it scifi. More along the lines of Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things.

  138. g

      DJ’s essay collection was pretty good too.

  139. g

      DJ’s essay collection was pretty good too.

  140. g

      DJ’s essay collection was pretty good too.

  141. pr

      isn’t it futuristic?

  142. Peter Markus

      Yes, it’s futuristic in the sense of “after the fall.” You know Johnson and his biblical obsessions.

  143. Peter Markus

      Yes, it’s futuristic in the sense of “after the fall.” You know Johnson and his biblical obsessions.

  144. Peter Markus

      Yes, it’s futuristic in the sense of “after the fall.” You know Johnson and his biblical obsessions.

  145. ryan

      apparently Johnson has a new novel coming out in a couple months… it sounds kind of like a noir detective thing. being a lover of that style and of his, i’m pretty excited.

  146. ryan

      apparently Johnson has a new novel coming out in a couple months… it sounds kind of like a noir detective thing. being a lover of that style and of his, i’m pretty excited.

  147. ryan

      apparently Johnson has a new novel coming out in a couple months… it sounds kind of like a noir detective thing. being a lover of that style and of his, i’m pretty excited.

  148. Peter Markus

      Resuscitation of a Hanged Man (I think that the title) is sort of in that tradition if you haven’t read that. Not DJ at his best but it’s worth the read.

  149. Peter Markus

      Resuscitation of a Hanged Man (I think that the title) is sort of in that tradition if you haven’t read that. Not DJ at his best but it’s worth the read.

  150. Peter Markus

      Resuscitation of a Hanged Man (I think that the title) is sort of in that tradition if you haven’t read that. Not DJ at his best but it’s worth the read.

  151. Dan Wickett

      That is indeed the title Mr. Markus and I agree, not his best, but certainly worth the time.

      And JCO may not write dog stories but she didn’t shy away from publishing them – Ontario Review Press published Dean Paschal’s By the Light of the Jukebox (a great fucking collection of stories, by the way) that contained two stories written from the point of view of dogs – one from a dog going mad wandering through a city, and the other front the pov of the runt of the litter – dead – as it sat in the owner’s freezer, shortly after birth.

      So don’t let her fool you with that condescending attitude about dog stories (at least not anti-Marley & Me dog stories).

  152. Dan Wickett

      That is indeed the title Mr. Markus and I agree, not his best, but certainly worth the time.

      And JCO may not write dog stories but she didn’t shy away from publishing them – Ontario Review Press published Dean Paschal’s By the Light of the Jukebox (a great fucking collection of stories, by the way) that contained two stories written from the point of view of dogs – one from a dog going mad wandering through a city, and the other front the pov of the runt of the litter – dead – as it sat in the owner’s freezer, shortly after birth.

      So don’t let her fool you with that condescending attitude about dog stories (at least not anti-Marley & Me dog stories).

  153. Dan Wickett

      That is indeed the title Mr. Markus and I agree, not his best, but certainly worth the time.

      And JCO may not write dog stories but she didn’t shy away from publishing them – Ontario Review Press published Dean Paschal’s By the Light of the Jukebox (a great fucking collection of stories, by the way) that contained two stories written from the point of view of dogs – one from a dog going mad wandering through a city, and the other front the pov of the runt of the litter – dead – as it sat in the owner’s freezer, shortly after birth.

      So don’t let her fool you with that condescending attitude about dog stories (at least not anti-Marley & Me dog stories).

  154. Peter Markus

      Speaking of dog stories, Leon Rooke’s novel Shakespeare’s Dog is a deliciously real pisser!

  155. Peter Markus

      Speaking of dog stories, Leon Rooke’s novel Shakespeare’s Dog is a deliciously real pisser!

  156. Peter Markus

      Speaking of dog stories, Leon Rooke’s novel Shakespeare’s Dog is a deliciously real pisser!

  157. pr

      I read Resescutation of Hanged Man! But again, 14 years ago or something like that. I liked it, though.

  158. pr

      Joy Williams has an amazing essay about havng to put her dog down. I think it was in Granta.

  159. james yeh

      agreed. somebody once described it to me as “if fuckhead was real, and a little older, and slightly smarter.”

      the two stories about him in africa are absolutely essential.

  160. james yeh

      agreed. somebody once described it to me as “if fuckhead was real, and a little older, and slightly smarter.”

      the two stories about him in africa are absolutely essential.

  161. james yeh

      agreed. somebody once described it to me as “if fuckhead was real, and a little older, and slightly smarter.”

      the two stories about him in africa are absolutely essential.

  162. <HTMLGIANT> > Blog Archive » Vicarious MFA: Week in review

      […] +Joyce Carol Oates came to lecture. (See notes here.) […]

  163. HTMLGIANT / Back to Grad School

      […] guest lectures while I’m still in the city. Hopefully they’ll be as memorable as the Joyce Carol Oates one last semester. Tags: MFA, sarah manguso, Sasha […]

  164. On keeping quiet. at Amelia Gray

      […] I think that anyone who’s worried about their blogging is wasting their time. Next question? (JCO via CL) […]

  165. sasha fletcher

      it’s not a collection it’s a book get it right goddam james what the fuck [7 months later]

  166. sasha fletcher

      it’s not a collection it’s a book get it right goddam james what the fuck [7 months later]

  167. sasha fletcher

      it’s not a collection it’s a book get it right goddam james what the fuck [7 months later]