[NP] vollmann in toronto ... (fwd)

[lorentzen-nicklaus]

Some of you might be interested in this -- kfl +

---Ursprüngliche Nachricht---
From: "j b sclisizzi" <sclisizzi at gmail.com>
To: <wallace-l at waste.org>
Subject: vollmann in toronto ...

hi ...

for all you vollmann fans out there (you know who you are) ... 

william t read in toronto last night, the second speaker on a bill
with a university of toronto philosophy prof who'd recently published
a book about the justifiable limitations on hate speech and
pornography.

vollmann read from the (unabridged) version of "rising up, rising
down" (as a bonus for those who'd bought the abridged version and
"wouldn't get to hear it otherwise").  the abridged version was on
sale, and looked like a nice volume, sans dust jacket.

the passage vollmann read was from a case study on violence in
columbia.  he then took questions after the reading.

i like vollmann as a writer.  i have 10 volumes or so of first
editions of his on my shelves, and i've heard him read before.  but he
still strikes me as insane.  brilliant, but totally insane.  kinda
like an escapee from a lobotomy factory ....

a friend of mine and a few others went out with him after the event,
and my friend met him again for breakfast this morning.  i declined
going.  he drew a nice illustration in my copy of "whores for gloria"
and then i took myself home ...

as for news, here's some of the stuff that vollmann mentioned to my
friend.  i don't know if it's true, but at least the saying of it
occured.

-- vollmann has had a bad year; he broke his pelvis in a bike accident.  

-- the accident put him back $22K, because he didn't want to go after
the insurance company of the little old lady who ran into him.

--  his carpal tunnel syndrome is getting better.

-- he's just started on another ambitious project -- this one on world poverty.

-- he had a stroke earlier this year, which affected his ability to
read and write for awhile.  he thinks he may have had a few smaller
strokes since then.

-- he's off drugs right now.

--  since the stroke, chunks of his memory seem to be missing, which
makes it difficult for him to answer some questions put to him at
readings.

that's about it for now; as for the rest, we'll have to wait for my
friend's memoirs ...

ciao,

brent ....


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