Franzen on Pynchon (sorta)

[John Bailey]

Sorry if this has been quoted, but I just opened Franzen's new
collection of essays (etc) at random and the name of a certain author
was there before me:

"I was ashamed of having married so early, ashamed of my guilt,
ashamed of the years of moral contortions I'd undergone on my way to
divorce, ashamed of sexual inexperience, ashamed of my longtime social
isolation, ashamed of what an outrageous and judgemental mother I had,
ashamed of being a bleeding and undefended person instead of a tower
of remoteness and command and intellect like DeLillo or Pynchon,
ashamed to be writing a book that seemed to want to turn on the
question of whether an outrageous midwestern mother will get one last
Christmas at home with her family."

Seems like a humblebrag - my flawed humanity is what makes me such a
wonderful artist, and perhaps more alive than some "tower of
remoteness". Ergh.