the future of fiction?

Sat Apr 21 00:34:58 CDT 2007

On Friday 20 April 2007 23:38, you wrote:
> I was wondering back in the fall why Ms. Pessl was being hyped so
> aggressively by the NYT Book Review. Now I feel better about not being able
> to get past page 12 of Special Topics. But its nice to know that the food
> at City Hall is clean. And that Nic is incredible. Hope he finds that
> k.
>
> D.C..

I got about a hundred pages into the hardcover late last year. It's a 
brilliant example of the kind of book the ubereducated narrator might write 
-- referenced and structured just like an AP English paper. But unless you're 
the kind of person who reads AP English papers for fun, it's a pretty dry and 
joyless endeavor. 

I may give it another shot now that it's in paperback, but likely I'll just 
skip it again. Those who enjoy her work seem to get a lot out of it, but I'm 
just left cold by the prose.

>
>   _____
>
> From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
> Behalf Of Billy Sprangs
> Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:13 PM
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: the future of fiction?
>
>
> what writer orders in fancy sandwiches? what a joke -
>
>
>
> Novelist Marisha Pessl Motivates Herself With Coffee, Rewards Herself With
> Cupcakes
>
>   <http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/food/07/04/18_nydiet_lgl.jpg>
> "Even though Im half-Austrian, I never really used to like German
> or Austrian food."Photo: Melissa Hom
> As Marisha Pessl has it, she got so carried away describing food in her
> best-selling novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics that certain passages
> had to be edited down. Its no surprise then that beyond the eight or nine
> cappuccinos she used to drink while writing (she's now down to two or
> three) and the  <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/wichcraft00/>
> wichcraft cupcakes she rewards herself with afterward, the author and
> Tribeca resident is a self-confessed absolute foodie. Now that shes
> between book tours and working on a second novel (the paperback of Special
> Topics comes out next week), she says she has a license to feed all the
> time. So how does she put it to use?
> Thursday, April 19
> I cannot eat breakfast. Today I had two or three cappuccinos I made for
> myself (I have this Italian cappuccino maker). I absolutely need them
> before I start writing. And its very easy to start steaming milk when you
> hit a wall.
> Wednesday, April 18
> I was meeting a friend at 71
> <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/71-irving-place-coffee-and-tea-bar/>
> Irving Place and had a toasted everything bagel and two cappuccinos. Its a
> really cute café where a lot of people are writing novels. For lunch I was
> back in the apartment writing. I usually dont like to interrupt myself so
> I order a roast-turkey sandwich from
> <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/wichcraft00/> wichcraft with avocado
> and roasted red onions, without the bacon.
> For dinner I was helping a friend with her film shoot. I had chicken soup
> at Square Diner at Leonard and Varick. We were in Times Square around
> midnight so I had matzo-ball soup at Roxys. Ive had matzo-ball soup five
> times in my life, but the waiter was carrying it by and it just seemed like
> the perfect thing.
> Tuesday, April 17
> I had banana bread at Pecan, one of my favorite cafés in Tribeca  and
> three cappuccinos. Lunch was at Blaue Gans
> <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/relg/> . I had moules frites. My
> husband, Nic, and I love going there on Saturday afternoons for brunch. On
> weekdays you can sit there by yourself, which is nice. Even though Im
> half-Austrian, I never really used to like German or Austrian food, but I
> came back from Germany and now we go there even more.
> Dinner was with Nic at Landmarc
> <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/landmarc/> . I had roast chicken with
> crushed potato, green beans haricot vert, and dijonaise sauce. During the
> week, my husband gets home late so we order or stop in there  they
> deliver, which is wonderful.
> Monday, April 16
> I had two cappuccinos. I was writing, so again I ordered the roast turkey
> from wichcraft. Dinner was City Hall
> <http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/city_hall/> , a huge restaurant with
> very clean, healthy food. Its nice to order in during the week when we
> dont have time to cook, which is most of the time. We had grilled salmon
> steak and Brussels sprouts.
> Sunday, April 15
> We stayed in finishing our taxes. We snacked at lunch  oranges and a PBJ
> sandwich. Nic cooked hes incredible and made spaghetti pesto dolive
> from a Mario Batali cookbook.
> Saturday, April 14
> I had lunch at Le <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/le-bilboquet/>
> Bilboquet. The poulet Cajun is the best chicken dish in New York. Dinner
> was at Pylos <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/pylos/> , where we got
> the saganaki and poikilia. Theyre appetizers that you share with
> taramosalata and melitzanosalata sauce. For the main course, we had baby
> lamb chops. We discovered this place through our really good friends who
> are Greek  its Greek traditional hardy food.
> Friday, April 13
> Lunch was a skate sandwich from Bouley Bakery
> <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/upstairs-at-bouley/> . Dinner was at
> Balthazar <http://nymag.com/listings/bar/balthazar00/>   saffron risotto
> with squid, shrimp, and roasted peppers. I like red meat, but I eat a lot
> of fish too. I eat everything!
> Pessl reads from the paperback of Special Topics in Calamity Physics
> (available April 24) on May 9 at the Chelsea
> <http://nymag.com/listings/stores/barnes_and_noble03/>  Barnes & Noble.
>
>   _____
>
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-- 
No reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred.
--Daniel Harper
countermonkey.blogspot.com