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Ben Marcus

Goodreads Author

Born

in Chicago, Illinois, The United States

Website

http://www.benmarcus.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Member Since

May 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/mathgun

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Seemingly the most conspicuous aspect of Ben Marcus' work, to date, is its expansion on one of the most primary concerns of the original Surrealist authors -- perhaps most typified by Benjamin Péret, husband of the acclaimed painter Remedios Varo -- this being a very deep interest in the psychological service and implication of symbols and the manners by which those symbols can be maneuvered and rejuxtaposed in order to provoke new ideas or new points of view -- in other words, the creation of, in a sense, conscious dreams.

While Marcus' writing plays similarly with the meanings of words by either stripping them of their intended meaning or juxtaposing them with other words in critical ways, it also abandons the 'experimental' nature of so m ...more

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In a buzzing world of noisy entertainment material scripted and unscripted, and with people flipping rapidly through screens of messages and news and "content," what would you say that fiction is for?

Ben Marcus In the New York Times today (Nov. 7, 2014), the inestimably great writer Joy Williams, reviewing Denis Johnson's new novel, has this to say:

"A writer…moreIn the New York Times today (Nov. 7, 2014), the inestimably great writer Joy Williams, reviewing Denis Johnson's new novel, has this to say:

"A writer should write in such a way that nobody can be ignorant of the world and that nobody may say that he is innocent of what it is all about. ...Life is ludicrous and full of cruel and selfish distractions. Honor is elusive and many find the copious ingestion of drugs necessary. Our ignorance is infinite and our sorrows fearful. We have made an unutterable waste of this world, and our passage through it is bitter and unheroic. Still, the horror can at times be illuminating, and it is necessary that the impossible be addressed."

I don't have much to add beyond that.(less)

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Years after originally reading Waiting for Godot, I realized the influence that the Laurel and Hardy films had on Beckett. What are the unexpected influences on your writing that your readers may not expect? For what's it worth, I might guess the original Tron film. Thanks!

Ben Marcus Good question. Influences are always so hard to determine. I tend to know who I'd like to be *more* influenced by: writers like Jane Bowles, Borges, K…moreGood question. Influences are always so hard to determine. I tend to know who I'd like to be *more* influenced by: writers like Jane Bowles, Borges, Kafka, Ishiguro, Helen DeWitt. Filmmakers like Guy Maddin. Musicians like Nicolas Jaar or Valentin Stip. But I don't really know how to make this influence stick. There are too many unknown forces acting on us. And I've never seen Tron, but I would like an illuminated suit. I think that would be a nice thing to wear when I drop my son off at kindergarten.(less)

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Ben Marcus’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 90,514 ratings · 4,180 reviews · 67 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Flame Alphabet 2.89 avg rating — 5,411 ratings — published 2012 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Age of Wire and String 3.69 avg rating — 1,740 ratings — published 1995	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Notable American Women 3.82 avg rating — 1,098 ratings — published 2002 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories 3.94 avg rating — 929 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Leaving the Sea: Stories 3.35 avg rating — 1,044 ratings — published 2014 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Notes from the Fog: Stories 3.69 avg rating — 738 ratings — published 2018 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	New American Stories 3.88 avg rating — 567 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Father Costume by Ben Marcus (Goodreads Author), Matthew Ritchie 4.09 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Moors 3.94 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Por qué la literatura experimental amenaza con destruir la edición, a Jonathan Franzen y la vida tal y como la conocemos by Ben Marcus (Goodreads Author), Rubén Martínez Giráldez ((pinitos en pedantería)) 3.73 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Ben Marcus (?)

“Without sound, celebration and grief look nearly the same.”
― Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet

27 likes

“The true elitists in the literary world are the ones who have become annoyed by literary ambition in any form, who have converted the very meaning of ambition so totally that it now registers as an act of disdain, a hostility to the poor common reader, who should never be asked to do anything that might lead to a pulled muscle. (What a relief to be told there's no need to bother with a book that might seem thorny, or abstract, or unusual.) The elitists are the ones who become angry when it is suggested to them that a book with low sales might actually deserve a prize (...) and readers were assured that the low sales figures for some of the titles could only mean that the books had failed our culture's single meaningful literary test.”
― Ben Marcus

tags: literature

24 likes

“To refrain from storytelling is perhaps one of the highest forms of respect we can pay. Those people, with no stories to circle them, can die without being misunderstood.”
― Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet

tags: misunderstanding, storytelling

18 likes

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