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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Consider David Foster Wallace (2010) [Preface & Introduction]

Posted in Big Books, Books about writers, David Foster Wallace, David Hering, Essays, Fun Boy Three, Language, Research, The Specials, Universities on November 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FUN BOY THREE-“Our Lips Are Sealed” (1983).

In an interview with David Foster Wallace’s sister, she says that David spent an entire summer listening to this song.  Most of us know the Go-Go’s version which is bubbly and playful (even though the lyrics–which are the same–are quite dark).

I’ve had this song on some compilation or other for years and I’ve alway thought of it as a kind of novelty.  And yet the more I listened to it, the more I liked it (and the more I liked it more than the Go-Go’s version).

Terry Hall, the singer of Fun Boy Three (and The Specials), co-wrote the song with Jane Wiedlin.  And it’s funny to hear how very different the two cowriters made their versions.

There’s definitely a new romantics vibe to the Fun Boy Three version, but the great bass backing vocals bring a coolly mysterious element to the song.  And if you check out the live version, you can see the polar opposite stage manner from Belinda Carlisle.  Terry Hall makes Robert Smith seems gregarious and silly.  And yet, for all of the darkness of the song, it’s still hard not to bop along to.  It’s pretty wonderful.

[READ: November 7, 2010] Consider David Foster Wallace

A group read of Consider David Foster Wallace is currently underway.  I had planned to read along and contribute weekly posts here.  I read the first two articles and, as it turns out, I have literally nothing useful to say about them.  And I certainly don’t have enough to contribute a weekly opinion about them.

It’s not that they are bad, not at all.  The onus is mine.  I am out of academia for something like a decade now.  I am totally out of practice for coming up with clever arguments and rebuttals to well researched pieces.  I have also seen a few people’s comments and critiques of these pieces and I realize that I am just not in the right mindset to be a productive member of the academic community.

But that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to read it and write a post when I’m done (I’ll likely follow along with the discussions, so this book won’t get posted for quite some time).

In the meantime, I wanted to say a few words about the preface and introduction.  (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–Brief Interviews with Hideous Men [audio books] (1999, 2003, 2009)

Posted in Audiobooks, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, David Foster Wallace, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), History, Holocaust, Humiliation, John Krasinski, Language, Masturbation, Meta, Sex, Suicide, Unlikable main character on November 7, 2010| 8 Comments »

[LISTENED TO: End of October 2010] Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

There are three options for listening to Brief Interviews.

The first version is the original audio cassette which is read entirely by DFW (1999).  It’s out of print but you can download the audio for free at the David Foster Wallace Audio Project. The second version is the newly released audio book that coincides with John Krasinski’s film (2009).  This CD features some of the readings by DFW although most of the actual interviews are read by the actors from the film (see below for all details).  The third option is a collection of staged readings which were created by The Howling Fantods Brief Interviews Project.  They are available at the site and at the David Foster Wallace Audio Project.  [UPDATE Nov. 8: For the sake of accuracy, I wanted to state that George Carr is responsible for all of the work down for these recordings.  The Howling Fantods site simply hosted the results].

None of these recordings include all of the stories from the book.  Although the stories that they do include are unedited (this is officially listed as “unedited selections from the book”).  The stories that are not included in any of these recordings are:  creepy organ music

  • “The Depressed Person”  [this would have been a tour de force to read]
  • “The Devil Is a Busy Man”
  • “Think”
  • “Signifying Nothing”
  • “Datum Centurio” [I can’t imagine trying to read this out loud]
  • “Octet”
  • “Adult World (I)”
  • “Adult World (II)” [I would have liked to hear how these were handled]
  • “The Devil Is a Busy Man”
  • “Church Not Made with Hands”
  • “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (XI)”
  • “Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko” [this is my least favorite bit of DFW work and I would have really liked to have heard it read aloud to see if I could get anything more out of it].
  • “On His Deathbed, Holding Your Hand, the Acclaimed New Young Off-Broadway Playwright’s Father Begs a Boon” (more…)

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Jeffrey Eugenides–”The Oracular Vulva” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Jeffrey Eugenides, LGBTQ, Nature, New Yorker, Research, Rush, Scholarship, Sex, Short Story on November 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-“BU2B” (2010).

I’m a little freaked out that Rush has a song that is just initials (it’s so text message-y).  And, listening to the lyrics tells me that the 2 is for “to.”  That is no way for 50-some year-old men to behave!

Of course, neither is the pounding heavy song that is “Bu2B.”  Like “Caravan,” the song opens with a dark and dirty riff.  The song is not as complex as “Caravan” although it also features a quieter section.  After the verse, the quiet bridge comes as a more natural progression (and it, too has some strong bass stuff going on).

What’s fascinating about the song is that despite its heaviness, it is layered with some really delicate keyboards that plink along the top of the sections.  It showcases both sides of Rush in one track.  And lyrically it’s quite dark as well.

These two early release songs have me really excited for the new album, Clockwork Angels, due out in 2011.

[READ: October 11, 2010] “The Oracular Vulva”

Jeffrey Eugenides was the next writer in the 1999 New Yorker 20 Under 4o issue.

I really enjoyed Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, and I regard him highly as a writer (even though I haven’t read very much else by him).  About midway through reading this story I realized it must be an excerpt from Middlesex (which I haven’t read, but hope to one of these days).   The bad thing about realizing this is that it impacted my reading of the end, making it kind of hard to assess the story as a story (which, I realize it isn’t, so maybe it’s moot anyhow).

This excerpt focuses on Dr. Peter Luce (the famous sexologist).  The title of the story certainly implies a degree of sexology, right?  I was surprised however, that the story opens with the doctor in a jungle, studying the Dawat tribe.  Luce, a very comfortable middle class sexologist is miserable out in the jungle, with crazy animal sounds, oppressive heat and, worst of all, little children trying to pull down his pants.

The doctor is studying this tribe because they have very specific gender roles–so specific, that the men and women are not permitted to interact with each other at all, except for once a month for three minutes, for procreation.  So, for sexual outlet, the men engage in oral sex with each other (semen being a very important thing for the young men to consume).  Yet no matter how progressive Dr Luce is, he simply can’t deal with the thought of this young boy, who is trying to do his culture’s most honorable thing.  (more…)

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Tony Earley–”The Wide Sea” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Canadian Music, New Yorker, Rush, Short Story, South, Tony Earley on November 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-“Caravan” (2010).

I was watching a great, lengthy interview with Rush on CNN.  At the end of the interview they mentioned that Rush had released two new songs (somewhat unheard of for the band to release a “single”).  I had some extra download cash from Amazon, and was even able to get the “booklet” yeeha.  The song is also available on YouTube, if you want to check it out.

When a song throws you a curve, it’s really only a curve the first time you listen to it.  And boy, “Caravan” has crazy curves in it.  In fact, musically, “Caravan” is easily my favorite Rush song in years.

It opens with some faint chords and sound effects and then kicks in with a loud riff, the likes of which Rush has specialized in lately–heavy, heavy, nasty guitars.  The bass is insane throughout with some breakneck stuff, and then at the 1:30 mark, the bass slides and the song drops out into a delicate, gorgeous guitar piece; it surprised the heck out of me.  It’s brief and effective and sets the stage for the next heavy riff.

The beautiful quiet bit returns and is then followed by another twist: a mildly funky bass solo (which hasn’t featured prominently on the last few albums) which leads into a really cool instrumental mid section, that’s almost like a self-contained song.  All of this leads to one of Alex’s insane solos.  It’s noisy and crazy and wonderful.

I’m very excited about this new album.

[READ: October 10, 2010] “The Wide Sea”

Tony Earley is the next writer in the 1999 New Yorker 20 Under 4o issue.

After several funny, clever and witty stories this rather simple story came as a bit of a welcomed respite.

This is a very straightforward story about Jim and his Uncle Al. They live in Aliceville (which, I had to look up, is in Alabama).  Jim takes many trips with Uncle Al “to see a man about a dog.”

This particular trip is Uncle Al’s chance to buy Belgian horses (Uncle Al and Uncle Zeno currently use mules on their farm).  They travel to South Carolina (which, looking on the map is quite far–over 550 miles!). (more…)

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Donald Antrim–”An Actor Prepares” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Donald Antrim, Drugs, New Yorker, Play (Drama), Set at School, Sex, Superchunk, William Shakespeare on November 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-Late Century Dream (2001).

A Superchunk song that opens with keyboards, “Late-Century Dream” is one of the most mellow singles that they’ve recorded (even more mellow than some of the acoustic songs they’ve done).

It’s followed by “The Length of Las Ramblas” an even more mellow track.  This one is also full of keyboards (sort of tinny, high pitched keyboards) and acoustic guitars.

Rocking guitars return on “Becoming a Speck” which reminds me of “1,000 Pounds.”  It’s a fast-paced, punchy song with a guitar solo that sounds like it might collapse on itself any minute.

“Florida’s on Fire” is an acoustic rendition of the song from Here’s to Shutting Up. Initially, when Superchunk was a punky bratty band, these acoustic numbers were kind of a novelty.  Now they showcase the extent of musicianship that the band possesses, and this one is no exception.

It’s a good EP, and the last one that I bought prior to their return this year.  They have a couple other ones that I’m going to try to track down.  But in the meantime, it’s all Majesty Shredding.

[READ: October 10, 2010] “An Actor Prepares”

Donald Antrim is the next writer in the 1999 New Yorker 20 Under 40 issue.

This story is a funny look at college theater.  The subject is not terribly new, and yet there are so many wonderful details and the theater teacher is so over the top that this story was completely enjoyable.

The narrator is Reginald Barry, Dean of Student Life and Wm. T. Barry Professor of Speech and Drama at Barry College (ha!) and this semester his students will be performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream.   I had to look up some of the quotes in the story to make sure they were actually from the play (I didn’t know the line “Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me” was in Shakespeare), but they are, and Antrim takes lines like this and runs with them.

Barry has wonderful plans for this production which he envisions outside on the grounds of the campus, with a culminating orgy occurring just as the fireflies come out. (more…)

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Brendan Connell–“The man who saw grey” (in Blind Swimmer: An Anthology of Eibonvale Press Writers) (2010)

Posted in Adbusters, Art, Artists, Brendan Connell, Canadian Music, Guided By Voices, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Rheostatics, Rush, Unlikable main character, Word usage, Yuck! on November 3, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-“We didn’t even suspect that he was the poppy salesman.” (2001).

Martin Tielli’s first solo disc is a proper solo release: it’s almost all him on acoustic guitar and his gorgeous alto voice.  I hadn’t listened to this disc in a while and I was delighted by how much of the disc I knew so well.

Te opening track, “I’ll Never Tear Your Apart” is deceptively simple: harmonic’d guitars and his gentle voice.  There’s a great video to go with it here.  That is followed by the wonderful “My Sweet Relief” which sounds like a great Neil Young folk song: great verses an a strong chorus.  Lyrically, though, it is all Tielli.  “Double X” highlights Tielli’s beautiful acoustic guitar work (and his dark lyrics).  “Voices in the Wilderness” is another delicate song (which opens with a sound that reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song,” although in no way is the rest of the song like that. This song also (mis)quotes Rush very nicely: “‘If you choose not to be free you still have made a choice,’ said a high and squeaky voice.”

“Farmer in the City” is the only track that Tielli didn’t write.  It’s a nearly 8-minute song by Scott Walker.  I don’t know the original, but Tielli’s version is a bit too meandering to be really satisfying (although it fits in with the album style quite nicely).  It comes across as an atmospheric song more than a song proper.

It’s followed by the delightful “World in a Wall” which uses mice in the wall as a metaphor for a broken relationship (with wonderful detailed lines like: She’s like a mouse, I know she’s around It’s a gnawing sound. Leaves little brown poohs from a little pink bum.”

This is followed by the odd rocker “That’s How They Do It in Warsaw” (which features a woman speaking Polish–no idea what she’s saying).  It’s coupled with a slightly less rocky but still loud track “How Can You Sleep?” (which makes another fun musical allusion, this time about Guided by Voices).

“She Said ‘We’re On Our Way Down'” returns to the more ethereal sounding songs (although this has some great guitar tricks thrown in).  Like the bulk of the album, the song seems to eschew melody but then a gorgeous guitar or vocal line shines through and really sounds brilliant.  “From the Reel” is a beautiful, aching little ditty.  And the disc ends with the odd, seven minute “Wetbrain/Your War.”

There is a really wonderful review of post-Rheostatics work here at The Ohs.  He’s pretty harsh on the Bidiniband (although I haven’t heard the disc proper, just the live concerts that toured it, so I can’t say for sure) but his assessment of Tim Vesely is spot on (I love the idea of a Canadian Wilburys) as is his review of this disc.  I particularly like the Mary Margaret O’Hara comparison: Achingly beautiful but in need of an editor from time to time.

[READ: November 1, 2010] “The man who saw grey”

One thing I have really come to appreciate about Connell’s stories over the years is that he is not afraid to deal with dark aspects of humanity that many people would rather not think about.

The thing that surprised me about this story is that, in the past, Connell has used very specific language, one might even say two-dollar words (some of which I had to look up), to convey his ideas.  But in this story, he largely refrains from such language, keeping the language down to earth and familiar, much like his protagonists.

So this is a fairly simple story: a man hits his head and can thereafter only see in shades of grey.  What makes the story much more interesting than that simple plot is that the protagonist is a painter (well, his hobby is painting, in reality he is an administrator at the DMV). (more…)

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Chang-rae Lee-”The Volunteers” (New Yorker, June 21 & 28, 1999)

Posted in 20 Under 40, Chang-Rae Lee, David Bowie, Death, History, Military, New Yorker, Pornography, Sex, Short Story, Superchunk, Violence, War on November 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-1,000 Pounds (2000).

This EP has four tracks: an acoustic version of the title song and, for the first time that I’m aware of, a cover track.

“1,000 pounds” is another great Superchunk single.  It’s boppy and catchy and there’s more and more instrumentation thrown into the mix–acoustic guitars, more strings, a crazy sounding guitar solo with effects I don’t recognize.  It’s also another song where the title is sort of thrown into the chorus without making it sound like the focus of the chorus–another fun Superchunk trick.

The acoustic version subverts the original somewhat with a strange swing vibe.  And speaking of vibes, there are actual vibes in the song.  It almost sounds like a different song entirely.

The second song, “White Noise” is a no longer novel twist to a Superchunk song (they’ve been throwing in so many twist to their sound that it’s impossible to pin them down to anything).  There’s a cool guitar and bass line that sound, somehow, unlike anything else they’ve done.  The soloing is also pervasive, running throughout the verses.  It’s a very cool song.

The big surprise comes in their cover of David Bowie’s “Scary Monsters.”  Their version is noisy and feedback-filled with crazy guitar solos throughout some of the choruses.  It’s full of reckless abandon and is one of their craziest track in some time.  And really it sounds almost nothing like the original.

It’s a great EP and worth tracking down.

[READ: October 10, 2010] “The Volunteers”

Chang-rae Lee is the next writer in the New Yorker’s 1999 20 Under 40 collection.

This story is set during World War II.  However, unlike most WWII stories that I have read, this one is told from the point of view of Japanese soldiers (specifically, it is narrated by a Korean-born, Japanese-raised medic).

The narrator, Lieutenant Kurohata, is friendly with an inferior soldier, Corporal Endo.  He and Endo are from the same town so they have a friendship which, when they are alone, supersedes their ranking differences (although Kurohata is a little uncomfortable about that).  Endo, like many soldiers, is somewhat obsessed with a series of photos of naked women.  He is constantly trading for new ones and then showing them (surreptitiously) to Kurohata.  Kurohata is not terribly impressed with the behavior–he seems more mature in general–although he also implies that he is not very sexual–and he finds the whole proceedings somewhat beneath him. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–The Broom of the System (1987)

Posted in Air, Big Books, Books about writers, Broken Bells, Danger Mouse, David Foster Wallace, Drinking, Drugs, Ennio Morricone, Fears, Fun Boy Three, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gilligan's Island, Language, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marriage Trouble, Nature, Neurotics, The Future, The Shins, Travel, Universities, Word usage on November 1, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BROKEN BELLS-Broken Bells (2010).

When I first played this disc I was really disappointed by it.  I’ve grown to expect crazy magic from Danger Mouse, and I assumed that this collaboration with James Mercer of The Shins would be crazy awesome.  But it seemed very mellow to me.  Mellow in a way that just kind of sat there.  So I put it aside for a while.

Then I listened to it again a little later and I found that I really liked it this time.  In fact, it rapidly grew into one of my favorite releases of 2010.

The disc is a wonderfully paced mixture of acoustic guitars, interesting keyboard sounds and, often, downright bizarre electronic choices (subtle, yet bizarre).  The weird sounds that open the disc, a kind of backwards keyboard, are disorienting but also very catchy.  And the song itself is instantly familiar.  It’s followed by “Vaporize” a simple acoustic number that bursts out with some great organ and (very) distorted drums.  It also features a fascinating horn solo!

“Your Head is on Fire” settles things down a bit with a mellow track which, after some cool introduction, sounds like a  pretty typical sounding Shins track (ie, very nice indeed–and more on this in a moment).

“The Ghost Inside” feels like a ubiquitous single.  I’m not sure if it is or if it’s just so catchy (with dancey bits and hand claps and a great falsetto) that it should be everywhere.  “Sailing to Nowhere” reminds me, I think, of Air.  And the great weird drums/cymbals that punctuate each verse are weird and cool.

One of the best songs is “Mongrel Heart” it opens with a western-inspired sound, but quickly shifts to a quiet verse.  The bridge picks up the electronics to add a sinister air (and all of this is accompanied by nice backing vocals, too).  But it’s the mid section of the song that’s really a surprise: it suddenly breaks into a Western movie soundtrack (ala Morricone) with a lone trumpet playing a melancholy solo.  And this surprise is, paradoxically, somewhat typical of the disc: lots of songs have quirky surprises in them, which is pretty cool.

Having said all this, there are a few tracks where it feels like the two aren’t so much collaborating as just playing with each other.  And that may have been my initial disappointment.  I was expecting a great work from a combined powerhouse, and I think what we get is two artists writing great stuff while seemingly respecting each other too much to step on each others toes.

There is another Broken Bells disc in the works.  And I have to assume that they’ll feel more comfortable with each other and simply knock our socks off next time.  But in the meantime we have this really wonderful disc to enjoy.

[READ: October 21, 2010] The Broom of the System

It dawned on me sometime last summer that I had never read DFW’s first novel.  I bought it not long after reading Infinite Jest and then for some reason, never read it.  And by around this time I had a not very convincing reason for not reading it.  DFW seemed to dismiss his “earlier work” as not very good.  I now assume that he’s referring to his pre-Broom writings, but I was a little nervous that maybe this book was just not very good.

Well I need not have worried.

It’s hard not to talk about this book in the context of his other books, but I’m going to try.  Broom is set in the (then) future of 1990.  But the past of the book is not the same past that we inhabited.  While the world that we know is not radically different, there is one huge difference in the United States: the Great Ohio Desert.  The scene in which the desert comes about (in 1972) is one of the many outstanding set pieces of the book, so I’ll refrain from revealing the details of it.  Suffice it to say that the desert is important for many reasons in the book, and its origin is fascinating and rather funny. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–readings [audiobooks & downloads 2000-2005–David Foster Wallace]

Posted in Audiobooks, Boredom, David Foster Wallace, Death, Depression, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Harper's, History, Language, Short Story, This American Life on October 31, 2010| 1 Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 20, 2010] Readings

This (all too brief) collection of readings by David Foster Wallace includes several excerpts and a few shorter pieces.  I’ve noticed that there seem to be more and more videos (audios) of DFW reading on YouTube.  If I had time I would try to gather all of these videos (or even just try to watch them), but for now, I’ll stick with what’s at the David Foster Wallace Audio Project.

The Consider the Lobster reading is an excerpt from”The View from Mrs. Thompson’s”.  I’d never heard him read this piece before and it is a fascinating look at the events of 9/11/01 from Bloomington, Indiana.  I haven’t read the piece in a few years and it was quite affecting to hear him read it aloud.  The introduction was also interesting because he mentions that this is the quickest piece he has ever written (I wonder how many drafts he was able to do in that short period). (more…)

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James Joyce–Dubliners (Part II) (1914) [audiobook 2004–Jim Norton]

Posted in Audiobooks, Death, Drinking, Dublin, Ireland, Holidays, Irish Writer, James Joyce, Language, Marriage Trouble, Religion, Short Story on October 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 20, 2010] Dubliners Part II

This collection covers the last five stories from the book.  They are all longer stories, especially the fantastic novella “The Dead,” which runs well over an hour.  The titles included in Part II are:

A Painful Case
Ivy Day in the Committee Room
A Mother
Grace
The Dead

These last five stories look at (continuing the theme from my previous post) middle age and later life.  The protagonists are all older, and as with the first part, they all must deal with harsh realities and even death.

“A Painful Case” is the first story in the book where the title doesn’t directly apply to the protagonist (even  though, of course, it does).  Mr Duffy is a solitary man.  He goes out from time to time but is not really social.  At a concert he meets Mrs Sinico and they form a friendship.  Her husband approves of the friendship because he believes that Mr Duffy is really after their daughter.  The relationship grows stronger and stronger and Mrs Sinico feels closer to him than she does to her husband.  Then, Mrs Sinico make a gesture indicating she’d like a more intimate relationship.  Mr Duffy is immediately turned off by this and vows to himself to see her no more.  This leads to a quote that I assume is not original to Joyce, and yet it is still common today: “Love between man and man is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse.”  The strange thing about this story is that it then jumps ahead four years.  We learn that Mrs Sinico took the dissolution of their friendship very hard indeed.  And naturally, Mr Duffy is made to rethink his life choices.  It’s yet another story of despair. (more…)

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