January 28th, 2009 / 10:50 pm
 Vicarious MFA

Vicarious MFA: Assignment for Monday

The Vicarious MFA

The Vicarious MFA

For Jonathan Lethem’s  Masterclass about the essay:

1. Joan Didion’s “The White Album”

2. David Antin’s “The Theory And Practice of Postmodernism: A Manifesto”

3. Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse”

4. John D’Agata’s running commentary in between the various entries.

(All of these can be found in The Next American Essay, edited by John D’Agata)

Also, it was your turn to hand-in an essay yesterday, so I hope you did it. And I should probably remind you that that psychology book isn’t going to read itself by 10 AM this Friday.

14 Comments

  1. January 29th, 2009 / 3:56 am Jonny Darko—

      get off my back. i’ll get to it. i have a william blake essay due tomorrow. i had a william gibson essay to hand in today. i need to drink. and we’re only a month in. oh well.

  2. January 28th, 2009 / 11:56 pm Jonny Darko—

      get off my back. i’ll get to it. i have a william blake essay due tomorrow. i had a william gibson essay to hand in today. i need to drink. and we’re only a month in. oh well.

  3. January 29th, 2009 / 4:47 am Blake Butler—

      that is awesome you guys are reading next american essay. that is one of my favorite books of all time, anthologies or regular books et al

  4. January 29th, 2009 / 12:47 am Blake Butler—

      that is awesome you guys are reading next american essay. that is one of my favorite books of all time, anthologies or regular books et al

  5. January 29th, 2009 / 5:09 am Justin Taylor—

      My students are reading “Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars” by Henry Jenkins. Should I start posting the stuff I assign my students on here also?

      BTW, duly noted about the Bloom books. Maybe I’ll pick the D’Agata up. I’ve never read it.

  6. January 29th, 2009 / 1:09 am Justin Taylor—

      My students are reading “Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars” by Henry Jenkins. Should I start posting the stuff I assign my students on here also?

      BTW, duly noted about the Bloom books. Maybe I’ll pick the D’Agata up. I’ve never read it.

  7. January 29th, 2009 / 4:42 pm ryan—

      Dillard started getting on my nerves after reading Pilgrim At Tinker Creek in like eight zillion classes.

  8. January 29th, 2009 / 12:42 pm ryan—

      Dillard started getting on my nerves after reading Pilgrim At Tinker Creek in like eight zillion classes.

  9. January 29th, 2009 / 9:32 pm pr—

      And Montaigne? His influece on Montesquieu? Sort of fucking around. But, I have never read Dillard or D’Agata. I would ask D’Agata (who I googled and found really intriguing) what his thoughts were on Montaigne. My spelling might be off. I am often off. I find the translations- the little I know of them- accesible and sort of- the history of the essay? Because on your own, you can read all sorts of contemporary stuff, but when at school, I really wanted to read the shit I wouldn’t read on my own. That’s why I’m paying. But that ‘s cause I’m lazy.

      I would ask D”Agata- what should I read? To get the history of what I want to do? The same way Picasso studied classic techniques of painting so he could do what he did, And I don’t agree with his idea of Frey as being creative non-fiction. It shoudl be called fiction, and respected as such.

      I’m just jealous. I wish I were in school.

  10. January 30th, 2009 / 1:48 am ryan—

      pr,

      totally off topic: have you read Bonnie Jo Campbell’s story collection Women and Other Animals?

  11. January 29th, 2009 / 9:48 pm ryan—

      pr,

      totally off topic: have you read Bonnie Jo Campbell’s story collection Women and Other Animals?

  12. January 29th, 2009 / 9:56 pm pr—

      I have not. You enjoyed it?

  13. January 30th, 2009 / 4:19 am ryan—

      i thought it was brilliant, quirky, and irrevocably sexy, which is why i thought you must read if you had not already

  14. January 30th, 2009 / 12:19 am ryan—

      i thought it was brilliant, quirky, and irrevocably sexy, which is why i thought you must read if you had not already