Dale Peck interview at Gawker. In which he asks the musical question:

"how can i begin to make people look at my own books in the context i've created. not as another novel or memoir from the queen bitch of the literary universe, but rather as a book by someone who tries incredibly hard not to let his own ambitions and vanity (which are, admititedly, huge) infect my writing. how can i keep my books about their subjects, rather than about my place in the zeitgeist or the canon."

Well, gee, Dale, maybe you could start by not masturbating in public for five years. Metaphorically speaking, of course. If you don't want to be seen as "the queen bitch of the literary universe," maybe you shouldn't have built your reputation by acting like one, huh? I'm just saying.

If you wanted to create a critical framework that explains your aesthetic, that's fine. Lots and lots of lots of artists do that. But you didn't do that. You just made entertainment. You just spent a lot of time insulting other writers. That's not creating a context. That's defining your dislikes. He says that this was the process of figuring out what he didn't want his writing to be. Problem is, that ultimately doesn't help you all that much in figuring out what it should be, because there are a million thing it can't be and only one or two it can. So maybe you should get started on that, eh Dale?
posted by Mike B. at 2:03 PM 0 comments