Re: Not P but DFW: Seinfeld’s retirement

[Mike Jing]

If that's the case, does that mean the name was not italicized here due to
oversight during the editorial process? I feel it's dangerous to
second-guess the original text unless something is obviously wrong. The
text makes perfect sense as is, at least so it seems to me. It's not
uncommon at all to refer to a well-known person by last name alone, and he
had effectively retired after the TV show. Moreover, referring to the
conclusion of the TV show as "retirement" seems at least a bit odd to me.


On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 12:35 PM Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think I agree with your proofreader. The last episode aired in May of
> 1998.
>
> Sent from an iPhone; pls xcse typos.
>
> > On Jan 29, 2026, at 4:58 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > The following excerpt is from David Foster Wallace's *Big Red Son*:
> >
> > (Harold Hecuba and Dick Filth, by the way, have heard Max hold forth many
> > times before and are now outside the circle of discourse—D.F. in the
> > bathroom for what seems like a peculiarly long time, H.H. on the couch
> with
> > the actresses hashing out the implications of Seinfeld’s retirement for
> > NBC’s ’98 lineup.)
> >
> > Alone and in a place of conspicuous honor on a wood-finish shelf above
> the
> > suite’s minibar is an actual AVN Awards statuette. The trophy resembles
> an
> > Oscar/Emmy/Clio except that the figurine’s arms are up and out (making it
> > also look a bit like Richard Nixon at the climax of the ’68 GOP
> > convention), and something slightly blurry about the casting gives it a
> > sort of cubic-zirconium aspect. Whether the statuette is heavy and solid
> > vs. hollow and Little Leaguish remains unknown—there is no invitation to
> > touch or heft it. One of the B-girls on the couch is now either laughing
> or
> > weeping into her hands at something Harold Hecuba has said; her bare
> > shoulders heave. It would be totally fantastic if the *Seinfeld* rerun on
> > the huge TV were the episode about everybody trying to refrain from
> > masturbating, but it isn’t.
> >
> > The name "Seinfeld" appears twice in this passage. My understanding is
> that
> > the first instance (unitalicized) refers to the actor and comedian, while
> > the second (italicized) refers to the long-running TV show. However, some
> > proofreader insists that the first one refers to the show as well, reason
> > being (a) Jerry Seinfeld the comedian didn't actually retire after doing
> > the TV show, (b) his full name is not given here, (c) the word
> "retirement"
> > actually refers to the non-continuation of the TV show. Of course, I
> don't
> > think that's correct at all, and I need some confirmation from native
> > speakers in order to convince my editor, who hasn't yet changed that part
> > back to my original translation.
> >
> > Not sure if attachments would get through on the list, but I included a
> > screenshot of the relevant page as well.
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>