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Alive and Writing: Interviews with American Authors of the 1980s
This title includes interviews with the following people; Walter Abish, Max Apple, Ann Beattie, Raymond Carver, Samuel Delany, Barry Hannah, Russell Hoban, William Kennedy, Ursula Le Guin, Thomas McGuane, Tom Robbins, Ron Silliman and Edmund White.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1987
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May 28, 2016And what I'm going to call, "Aesthetics of the Literary Interview :: Part II" by Silverblatt. Thanks to Friend David.
https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/5/3...
Excellent, II.
______________
Thanks to Friend Christopher, here's Larry McCaffery's video-ized lecture "Aesthetics of the Literary Interview" ::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F6vr...
Excellent!
___________
The second in a trilogy of collections of interviews with contemporary authors, spanning several decades and generations. The first, Anything Can Happen: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists, with Tom LeClair, the occasion of my happy discovery of Raymond Federman, covered the ’60’s and ’70’s generation (big names -- BarthHawkesGassCooverDeLilloElkinMcElroyEtc. The third, Some Other Frequency: Interviews with Innovative American Authors, covers the Nineties, but frankly, appears to have appeared too early (1996), while our current volume seems to have been published in that decisive year, 1987, the year of the DFW and WTV debuts. So we have 13 interviews with Major Authors of an Innovative Tendency (that’s what “McCaffery” means) whose stars rose through the late seventies and into the eighties. There are a few Big Names among them, but frankly, it’s more than a rehash of what every other critic is already talking about.*
My sake, this is the generation I seem to have skipped. Love so much from the First Generation, love so much from the Third Generation, but the Eighties Generation seems to have scarcely shown on my radar yet. To be sure, several writers here are on my tbr with very solid slots, but I’ve read (get this!) only one single volume by these thirteen writers, and that by a certain Tom Robbins whom I have entirely sworn off ever reading again (preachy hippie!). Abish, Delany, Hoban, Kennedy, Le Guin were all tbr’d already. Were I to desire even a shred of cred, I’ll be reading at least one by each of these thirteen in years to come. Because what McCaffery rec’s is like a good suggestion by your favored scriptural deity.
A note on ratios. One will note, statistics=wise, that there are only two women writers interviewed, Le Guin and Beattie (15%). Fifty percent of the Conductors, however, is of the female persuasion, Sinda Gregory. Make of that what you will. Please to offer your retrospective suggestions of which women may well have also been included (Russ and Butler are included in McCaffery’s Sci-Fi volume) [eta :: I’m nominating Kathy Acker who does indeed come up in discussion a few times (uh, twice according to the index in the Silliman interview)] .
And in the spirit of suggestions and recommendations, here’s a touch of my plans regarding each of the Thirteen and their books ::
Walter Abish :: tbr’d both his Africa and his Germany books.
Max Apple. I dunno. And it seems few other people know either. Perhaps I’d do his The Oranging of America and Other Stories since I spent the beginning of eighth grade living in a Howard Johnsons. But let me know, guys!
Ann Beattie. Again, I dunno. In the direction of Carver and F. Barthelme is not exactly my preferred direction. But, let me know, guys!
Raymond Carver. I’ll never be well read in American Fiction until I’ve read Carver. I know I know! Probably at some point I’ll do his first two(?) things.
Samuel Delany. No controversy here. Clearly his Dhalgren and McCaffery has his Hogg on that 100 novels list. And then I’ll get into this Smart Sci-Fi groove and just blast through everything!
Barry Hannah. Not high on the list. But, please, do let me know.
Russell Hoban. Here again we have a no=brainer. Ridley Walker and (probably) Pilgermann and Kleinzeit are on the list. Ridley is so damn high on that list...
William Kennedy. The Albany trilogy perhaps. Definitely Ironweed?
Ursula Le Guin. Yes. Far too long lingering on my list. Left Hand of Darkness is sort of sine qua non, yes? Several more from her are also likely, especially when I get onto that Sci-Fi train again (Anything Can Happen!).
Thomas McGuane. Again, I’m open for suggestions.
Tom Robbins. nuff said. moving along...
Ron Silliman. A gr=Author?! He’s just about the closest we come in this collection to a BURIED author. And by far the most interested in form ; the point in this interview collection, the talk turns away from something other than character character character. On the other hand, he may have too much of the poet about him for my preferences, but I do believe I’ll be looking more closely.
Edmund White. I’ll be reading something from him. Not sure what or when, but I will. And for you score keepers, he’s gay.
However it shakes out, my antenna are now more sharply tuned to these names. So please do drop them away!
For for the sake of seeing it again, The 20th Century’s Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction by Larry McCaffery ::
http://spinelessbooks.com/mccaffery/100/
* One should not fail to mention the collection of interviews McCaffery did with Sci-Fi authors :: Across the Wounded Galaxies: Interviews with Contemporary American Science Fiction Writers.
https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/5/3...
Excellent, II.
______________
Thanks to Friend Christopher, here's Larry McCaffery's video-ized lecture "Aesthetics of the Literary Interview" ::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F6vr...
Excellent!
___________
The second in a trilogy of collections of interviews with contemporary authors, spanning several decades and generations. The first, Anything Can Happen: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists, with Tom LeClair, the occasion of my happy discovery of Raymond Federman, covered the ’60’s and ’70’s generation (big names -- BarthHawkesGassCooverDeLilloElkinMcElroyEtc. The third, Some Other Frequency: Interviews with Innovative American Authors, covers the Nineties, but frankly, appears to have appeared too early (1996), while our current volume seems to have been published in that decisive year, 1987, the year of the DFW and WTV debuts. So we have 13 interviews with Major Authors of an Innovative Tendency (that’s what “McCaffery” means) whose stars rose through the late seventies and into the eighties. There are a few Big Names among them, but frankly, it’s more than a rehash of what every other critic is already talking about.*
My sake, this is the generation I seem to have skipped. Love so much from the First Generation, love so much from the Third Generation, but the Eighties Generation seems to have scarcely shown on my radar yet. To be sure, several writers here are on my tbr with very solid slots, but I’ve read (get this!) only one single volume by these thirteen writers, and that by a certain Tom Robbins whom I have entirely sworn off ever reading again (preachy hippie!). Abish, Delany, Hoban, Kennedy, Le Guin were all tbr’d already. Were I to desire even a shred of cred, I’ll be reading at least one by each of these thirteen in years to come. Because what McCaffery rec’s is like a good suggestion by your favored scriptural deity.
A note on ratios. One will note, statistics=wise, that there are only two women writers interviewed, Le Guin and Beattie (15%). Fifty percent of the Conductors, however, is of the female persuasion, Sinda Gregory. Make of that what you will. Please to offer your retrospective suggestions of which women may well have also been included (Russ and Butler are included in McCaffery’s Sci-Fi volume) [eta :: I’m nominating Kathy Acker who does indeed come up in discussion a few times (uh, twice according to the index in the Silliman interview)] .
And in the spirit of suggestions and recommendations, here’s a touch of my plans regarding each of the Thirteen and their books ::
Walter Abish :: tbr’d both his Africa and his Germany books.
Max Apple. I dunno. And it seems few other people know either. Perhaps I’d do his The Oranging of America and Other Stories since I spent the beginning of eighth grade living in a Howard Johnsons. But let me know, guys!
Ann Beattie. Again, I dunno. In the direction of Carver and F. Barthelme is not exactly my preferred direction. But, let me know, guys!
Raymond Carver. I’ll never be well read in American Fiction until I’ve read Carver. I know I know! Probably at some point I’ll do his first two(?) things.
Samuel Delany. No controversy here. Clearly his Dhalgren and McCaffery has his Hogg on that 100 novels list. And then I’ll get into this Smart Sci-Fi groove and just blast through everything!
Barry Hannah. Not high on the list. But, please, do let me know.
Russell Hoban. Here again we have a no=brainer. Ridley Walker and (probably) Pilgermann and Kleinzeit are on the list. Ridley is so damn high on that list...
William Kennedy. The Albany trilogy perhaps. Definitely Ironweed?
Ursula Le Guin. Yes. Far too long lingering on my list. Left Hand of Darkness is sort of sine qua non, yes? Several more from her are also likely, especially when I get onto that Sci-Fi train again (Anything Can Happen!).
Thomas McGuane. Again, I’m open for suggestions.
Tom Robbins. nuff said. moving along...
Ron Silliman. A gr=Author?! He’s just about the closest we come in this collection to a BURIED author. And by far the most interested in form ; the point in this interview collection, the talk turns away from something other than character character character. On the other hand, he may have too much of the poet about him for my preferences, but I do believe I’ll be looking more closely.
Edmund White. I’ll be reading something from him. Not sure what or when, but I will. And for you score keepers, he’s gay.
However it shakes out, my antenna are now more sharply tuned to these names. So please do drop them away!
For for the sake of seeing it again, The 20th Century’s Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction by Larry McCaffery ::
http://spinelessbooks.com/mccaffery/100/
* One should not fail to mention the collection of interviews McCaffery did with Sci-Fi authors :: Across the Wounded Galaxies: Interviews with Contemporary American Science Fiction Writers.
October 22, 2016
Thought the interviews with Beattie, Carver, Hannah, and McGuane the most interesting.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews