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

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

Josh wrote: "Willie please leave the West for me"

He's just waiting for the right Union Pacific grainer ; (UP goes to Chicago doesn't it?)

Aubrey wrote: "I wonder what the 'Offsite' means in regards to the City Lights Bookstore event."

I suspect they anticipate swarms of people and have rented a larger facility. That's good for Bill (big crowd) but bad for the already-devoted You (big crowd to elbow through).

Just checked in at Viking regarding the forthcoming Last Stories and Other Stories. He's got a few readings scheduled.
http://www.penguin.com/author/william...

July 21 @ Portland OR
July 22 @ Seattle WA
July 24 @ San Francisco CA

So if you're out there on the West end of that particular continent, mark your calendars now. More specifics at the link.

Alexei wrote: "Thank you! Updates, indeed, shall be posted; I might as well start sometime. Should the MC volume be read ultimately?"

Just be familiar with what's in it and get to it when it best suits you. There are a few Annexes which can be filed into specific chapters. The Moral Calculus itself might be interesting to browse through at the beginning, and then return to afterwards for an overview.

Alexei wrote: "Proud possession, £189.00, free shipping, minty fresh, shall commence soon"

Yip!!

With lots of gr update?

Jeff wrote: "Thanks for this, Nathan. Just what I needed when I needed it. "

You have something in the works? Let us know when the time comes that we need to know.

New video with Bill talking about pictures.

Susan Meiselas & William T. Vollmann
from Hammer Museum

3/15/11 --- Susan Meiselas is a documentary photographer best known for her coverage of the insurrection in Nicaragua and her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America. Her awards include the Robert Capa Gold Medal, Leica Award for Excellence, and Maria Moors Cabot Prize. William T. Vollmann is the author of, among others, Imperial, Europe Central, winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction; The Atlas, winner of the 1997 PEN Center West Award; and Rising Up and Rising Down, a finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction. (Run time: 1 hour, 8 min.)

http://vimeo.com/92310296

Another reason to be jealous of Germany.

"Literatur im Foyer: Kritiker-Quartet" is a thing on Television apparently. Here, July 2013, they discuss the newly translated Europe Central (@16.02).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0br-V...

Anyone collecting Bill's book reviews? Here's one of several John O'Hara books, from The Baffler, (brand new!) ::

"Decently Downward"
William T. Vollmann
[from The Baffler No. 24, 2014]

Books Discussed
Appointment in Samarra
Butterfield 8
Ten North Frederick
The New York Stories

http://thebaffler.com/past/decently_d...

Alexander wrote: "Library Schmibrary. I want to own the beast..."

atm, on amazon is a copy for US$325+shipping (I wouldn't believe that $4 shipping estimate). Pretty much on the low price side ; but does not come with the cassette box with is pretty worthless anyway. Still a lot of cash. Keep your daily internet eyes pealed and you may find one for less.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listin...

Oh right. She's real. But turn to his endpiece, page 807, "An Imaginary Love Triangle: Shostakovich, Karmen, Konstantinovskaya".

"What about Elena Konstantinovskaya? She remains an enigma to me. But I certainly love her as much as I can love someone I never knew." --WTV

Alexander wrote: "Here's a question for all you Vollmanites: Is Elena Konstantinovskaya a real figure?"

I dunno. But while we wait for those who unlike me have read EC, I did find another review of EC ::

"Empathy for the Devil: More Tender But No Less Ambitious, William T. Vollmann Opens a New Chapter in His Already Prolific Career With Europe Central"
http://www2.citypaper.com/arts/story....

If you happen to be in Spokane, WA today, http://outreach.ewu.edu/getlit/3189.xml

Alexander wrote: "Started EC yesterday. EXCITED!! I like it so far, I'm about 60 or so pages in."

Seems like every good Vollmanniac is beating me to this one.

Alexander wrote: "Do we know anything, through interviews or otherwise, about them re-issuing this thing? I just want to own the god-damn monster and devour it. I read the abridgement. I can't stop thinking about ev..."

It's not likely anytime soon. But it really does need a second printing too ; clean up some of those bits here and there which McSweeney's let drop during the course of its 3300 pages -- I've got a few blank pages at the begin of my vIV ; I've heard of some volumes being bound upside down ;; a few places where the enumeration of the endnotes get shifted by a digit ; and other such technical deficiencies.

Not to mention that Bill probably has materials for a vVII & VIII (the journalistic stuff).

But, being up their in Whitehorse don't seem to make things any easier for you. There is a copy in a library at Fairbanks, a mere 500 miles to your West. Or 900 miles South to Vancouver! [check worldcat.com]

A short interview ::

"The Renegade : William T. Vollmann on love, violence and why the FBI thought he might be the Unabomber" by E.J. Iannelli
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/the-r...

Bill will be in Spokane WA Friday April 11 ::
In Conversation with Anthony Doerr and William T. Vollmann • Fri, April 11, 7 pm • $15, students free with ID • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Avenue

Luc wrote: "found it today for $50 (housing works bookstore on the UWS in NYC) with only a minor tear on the binding of the sixth volume and some of the paper-wrapping coming off on the back of the box. luckiest i've been in years. "

The right book in the right hands for the right price ; that's what we call planetary alignment!

How long do you think you'll be able to resist diving straight in? (it is also the kind of work which welcomes a certain kind of browsing)

Anyone who read this.... he does have a thing or two to say about the american hero Cesar Chavez, does he not? Here's a new bio :: The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography

Larou wrote: "The German translation of Europe Central just won the "Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse" (which tends to get a lot of attention): "

Ah, hey thanks for the news. I had been waiting for word since I'd heard the nominations.

Alexander wrote: " with Fathers and Crows and Argall up next.
Plus I can finish the Prostitute trilogy, and possibly read Europe Central and Rising Up and Rising Down... "

This sounds like a very promising prospect!