false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172594731m/195603.jpg 195603 1 In recent novels, which have been called hypnotic,stunning,and exhilarating, avid Markson has created his own personal genre. In this new work, <i>The Last Novel,</i> an elderly author (referred to only as Novelist)announces that since this will be his final effort, he has carte blanche to do anything he damned well pleases. Pressed by solitude and age, Novelist's preoccupations inevitably turn to the stories of other artists their genius, their lack of recognition, and their deaths. Keeping his personal history out of the story as much as possible, Novelist creates an incantatory stream of fascinating triumphs and failures from the lives of famous and not-so-famous painters, writers, musicians, sports figures, and scientists. As Novelist moves through his last years, a minimalist self-portrait emerges, becoming an intricate masterpiece from David Markson's astonishing imagination. Through these startling, sometimes comic, but often tragic anecdotes we unexpectedly discern the entire shape of a man's life. 189173 16 3 2007 The Last Novel total:194|5:81|4:70|3:34|2:6|1:3| 194 802 335 39 5 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri May 04 06:18:20 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 29 07:13:55 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Apr 08 19:02:38 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 19:02:38 -0700 2009 David Markson, who has long been a writer other writers go gaga over, got more votes than any other novelist (that would be two — and not even for the same novel). As Sarah Weinman of Galley Cat notes, in singling out his just-released novel, The Last Novel, “Markson writes both in a postmodern ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 15:12:23 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 19:07:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Aug 29 05:34:10 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 22 15:13:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 19 18:59:45 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 19 19:07:24 -0800 2008 A brilliant cut-and-paste job.
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Can be read in any direction, but it 'works' linearly.
Of a piece with Markson's other work.
Perfect timing.
I hope 'writer' writes to live again.

A real treat: read this in ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Dec 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 15:22:02 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 15:24:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 12:23:37 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 12:24:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 05:43:12 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 05:50:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 21 23:48:06 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 23:48:50 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 20 08:17:20 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 08:18:46 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon May 05 19:51:45 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 07:17:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 14 13:45:41 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 14:16:01 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 11 18:13:01 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 09:07:58 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Mar 25 20:46:01 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 20:52:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 07 14:14:58 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 10 14:15:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 25 11:29:36 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 25 11:29:37 -0700 2007
representative quote: "The big tragedy for the poet is poverty" (Patrick Kavanagh)

representative response in my margins: "The big...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 10:57:01 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 23:46:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 09:47:45 -0800 2008 Wed Jun 03 20:03:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 18:23:33 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 18:25:08 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 19:45:23 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 19:47:34 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=195603