(np) Forward review of Bailey/Roth

[Mark Kohut]

Philip Roth did not believe novelists did either. Reading in general
actually.


When he responded to my fan letter---90s---just knowing that
I was in the book business made him respond in your way. (like so many
since he was not
online much, he may not have judged reading in general accurately if one
does want to count online reading.
(not of emails, etc. but of articles, stories, etc.)

It is a lament for me but I'm just an old-fashiones old guy.

But there will for beyond our futures always be some who stand out, who are
the geniuses and they will get done.
I would actually read a good biography of Willaim Vollman than try another
of his magic mountains.
We all want to read Pynchon's but it won't be easy or maybe much.
Does anyone want to read a Houellebec bio over another Houllebecq? 🌵
I'm in for the inevitable major Doris Lessing bio and maybe Nadine
Gordimer.
Paul Beatty's might be fun and informative outside my bubble.
 Coetzee as an intellectual biography?

Like that.

On Mon, May 31, 2021 at 9:18 AM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> maybe you're right, Mark. I'm more interested in the future of such
> biographies. I don't believe novelists have the same cache they used to.
> not necessarily a lament here.
>
> On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 1:42 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am afraid I disagree with that meme (from articles) going around that
>> he tried to control the narrative of his life post-life.
>> Bailey had full access but Roth had NO countermanding conditions....no
>> final read and edit.
>>
>> One of Roth's deepest themes is one CAN'T control one's life.....this is
>> what happens to his characters who think they, like all of us so, are in
>> free will "control' of our lives...
>>
>> All he did after he stopped writing was get his affairs in order as the
>> phrase goes, reconnect with a lifetime of friends and acquaintances, play
>> with other kids children, send
>> working people who could not afford it to school for the career they
>> wished they had; buy things for others......reconnect with his
>> past.....time every day just to actively remember
>> his past....
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 9:48 AM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> if there is any solace it's the fact that the time of the massive
>>> literary biography is probably near its end. Times are different. The
>>> number of worthy subjects is dwindling or voices have become so diffuse
>>> (not a bad thing) or the state of publishing, novel writing as a career,
>>> etc.
>>> I'm not talking of literary criticism since I gather there will be
>>> plenty of that for a slew of current writers in future. I mean a
>>> traditional bio. who will really warrant one?
>>> The irony of the Roth situation is his attempt to control the narrative
>>> of his life post-life so like what he wrote about in many of his stories
>>> while he was alive
>>> Begs the question about Mr P of course. captive audience I know but I
>>> cant think of another writer with potential for a trad biography. But like
>>> the chance of any further new work by the man I remain highly in doubt.
>>>
>>> rich
>>>
>>> On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 8:13 AM Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You probably knew the quote, I didn't. And I didn't want to support the
>>>> tenor, only give an impression of the climate. (A man shouldn't have
>>>> written this, if you ask me.)
>>>>
>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>> >
>>>> --
>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>