Nathan "N.R."’s Comments (group member since Oct 28, 2012)

Nathan "N.R."’s comments from the William T Vollmann Central group.

Daniel wrote: "Here is Jonathan Franzen at the book launch.
Apologies for the poor quality of the filming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxM_t..."

Many thanks for this. Hope the evening went well. I still have a review I'm trying to cook up.

I know you're tight on time ; but make some for Poor People (first). (and the experience I had leads me to suggest RTE after The Royal Family)

A brief bite ::

"Between the Lines: A sip and a bite with Sacramento’s William T. Vollmann"
http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/b...

Greg wrote: " The first fifty pages: vintage Vollmann. "

When he says you should feel free to skip the stuff about lettuce prices, he's not joking!

from biblioklept ::

"An Interview with Christopher K. Coffman and Daniel Lukes, Editors of William T. Vollmann: A Critical Companion (Part I)" by Edwin Turner
http://biblioklept.org/2015/02/19/an-...

A short piece on Dolores and Vollmann's current art exhibit ::

"The Cross-Dressing Literary Superstar: When William Vollmann Becomes Dolores" by Emily Wilson
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...

Four homages by four writers including gr'er Tim Horvath ::
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Thanks for the heads up ::

The paywall'd Harpers (two free paragraphs) ::
http://harpers.org/archive/2015/03/in...

I gotta see if I can track down a print copy again.

A review, in French, of Tout le monde aime les Américains : Et autres enquêtes en Afrique et dans le monde musulman ::

William T. Vollmann au Yémen: "Tout le monde aime les Américains" Par Emmanuel Hecht, 01/02/2015
http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/livre/...

Just spotted a new Vollmann Foreword. The new edition of Bernard Wolfe's The Great Prince Died: A Novel about the Assassination of Trotsky (May 2015), has that Vollmann Foreword.

Sci-fi Vollmanniacs may also be interested in Wolfe's more famous novel, Limbo

Traveller wrote: "Nice, thanks, Nathan. Good to hear he is being so active and productive. Have some Volmann-catching-up to do!"

Happy to hear where you head first (or is it 'next'?). Or if you're looking for suggestions ::
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Traveller wrote: "Hope its okay to pop in and say thanks to everyone for sharing their envy-inducing Volmann-experiences with the rest of us. "

Don't know if you have your ear to the Vollmann ground, but next summer he's releasing a major new novel, The Dying Grass: A Novel of the Nez Perce War, for which I expect he'll be doing several readings. Stay tuned to this channel for whatever we hear about his appearance dates. You might be able to get your photo taken with Bill!

Ridiculously expensive. Pretty good on the Vollmann front though, being just about the first thing done in what might now be thought of as "Vollmann Studies".

Madison Smartt Bell has a classic piece, "Where an Author Might Be Standing". Which is available as a stand-alone for purchase from amazon ::
http://www.amazon.com/Where-author-st...

Also, an excellent piece about Vollmann's narrative self in The Rifles, "Arctic Revelations: Vollmann's Rifles and the Frozen Landscape of the Self" by Carlton Smith.
http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-revelati...

The Interview is available in slightly different form in William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study and Seven Interviews as "A Moth to the Flame".

There's a few more thoughts in my review ::
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Brian wrote: "like an unearthed book of the occult from some forgotten civilization. "

Nice! And thanks!

David wrote: "Just a heads up. I spoke with Bill, and we should expect him to appear at 6 pm but he may leave by 7 pm."

Were you able to stop by, David? Any thoughts on the exhibit?

Brian wrote: "Mission accomplished. What a great guy - was able to talk to him for a good five minutes."

I get the impression you're a bit busy at the moment, but should you find a few spare minutes, we'd be interested in hearing back about the exhibit. Or also, if you see any reviews there in the local press.

Zadignose wrote: "I'm going to risk being redundant rather than risk expending energy "

That search box up there is pretty quick and user=friendly, should you know the magic words to enter. Meanwhile, multiple postings of obscure chunks of writing bring the light which provides for the eyes to read. Redundancy? Where'd promotionalism be without it?

Zadignose wrote: "He also wrote a forward to an edition of A Tomb for Boris Davidovich, which I assume everyone knows, but then why should I assume?
"

That one got slipped into Expelled from Eden: A William T. Vollmann Reader. No Vollmanniac can do without.

I don't think I've see all of the Celine one, but it begins something like; Dear Reader, Fuck you! and goes on to complain that he received a meager 1200 bucks to write this afterword.

"Homeless in Sacramento: Welcome to the New Tent Cities" appeared in Harper's in March 2011.

https://field.files.wordpress.com/201...
(warning: I tried printing this, and about half is in computer garbage=out)

Re: "A Good Death", here's a blogging piece about Bill's piece ::
https://ijustreadaboutthat.wordpress....

Ain't he great!! So happy you were able to make it.

And he even put on his best shirt for us. ; )