Nathan "N.R."’s Comments (group member since Oct 28, 2012)

Nathan "N.R."’s comments from the William T Vollmann Central group.

Thanks for that link. I had lost track of what Bill was up to since Lucky Star. So sad about Lisa. 😞

Got mine!

Daniel wrote: "so apparently "Conversations with William T. Vollmann" is out today: go buy it and/or get your library to order a copy. Thanks!
https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-......"

Good to hear. amazon is doing weird stuff with release dates recently. Looking forward to this. Vollmann interviews are always of the highest interest.

T.R. wrote: "The Powell's one, my good man! "

Free in-flight bourbon to Powell's? Cool! [heh. somereason I only saw the city lights....]

T.R. wrote: "I know ATJG and NR will be there. I'm looking at plane tix right now. Who else is in!?"

I won't be able to afford that. Unless the in-flight bourbon is complimentary.

Griffin wrote: "Anyone else feel like the Vollmann article in Harper's was a little bit of a let down?? Though I love letting people speak to their own experience and giving place in a reputable and well-circulate..."

I've got my copy but haven't read it yet. What you say though sounds like about what I expect it to be. I'm curious though whether it might be part of a larger project we've not heard about yet.

Zadignose wrote: "Now it sounds as though this was a reference to The Lucky Star (discussed in another thread), which leaves How You Are... where? Limbo, I guess. "

Fingers crossed that it's down for 2021. Or if we're lucky, late 2020.

Tom wrote: "From Amazon, finally a release date, March 3, 2020, and a new title, The Lucky Star. (Thank God.) Supposedly 544 pages, though a page count this early is unlikely to be accurate."

I can breath again!!!!

[order'd]

T.R. wrote: "A set for $200!: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rising-up-an..."

Snap it up snap it up!!

Jonathan wrote: "Not sure if I have seen anyone post a link to this yet:
https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/o..."

Not see in yet. And this one from Dublin Review of Books I've not gotten around to reading ::

"The Biggest Question"
by Scott Beauchamp
http://drb.ie/essays/the-biggest-ques...

Tom wrote: "There's a lot to disagree with, though she does raise valid issues about use of "documentary" photography."

that's the part I disagree with. Vollmann simply doesn't work in the manner described in the article as 'docu photo' ;; definitely a methodological question. Vollmann's documatarianism is definitely of the participatory style.

Can't believe I've not gotten a Photo oriented thread going here yet! We'll start with this piece I don't believe I've seen before ::


" Prostitution, Activism, and Photography ::
The Photography of William T. Vollmann "
By Tricia Ingram
https://sites.duke.edu/prostitutionac...

[some of the claims of which of course I disagree with but that's par for this course]

A few comments on Vollmann in the context of the Difficult-Lit (Dif-Lit?) question ::

"Distant Visions: Putdownable Prose and the State of the Art-Novel"
By Mark de Silva.
https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-dis...

A new piece by Vollmann over at the Smithsonian, this time on WWI and its ending.

"Is All Still Quiet on the Western Front? :: A hundred years after the 'war to end all wars' ended, a journey to the front lines of World War I reveals the poignant battles and their tragic legacies"
By William T. Vollmann;
Photographs by Tomas van Houtryve
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...

[tl;haven't read it yet]

Reviewed in The Atlantic ::

"The Most Honest Book About Climate Change Yet :: William T. Vollmann’s latest opus is brilliant, but it offers no comfort to its readers."
by Nathaniel Rich
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

"The planet’s atmosphere will change but human nature won’t. Vollmann’s meager wish is for future readers to appreciate that they would have made the same mistakes we have. This might seem a humble ambition for a project of this scope, but only if you mistake Carbon Ideologies for a work of activism. Vollmann’s project is nothing so conventional. His “letter to the future” is a suicide note. He does not seek an intervention—only acceptance. If not forgiveness, then at least acceptance."

Alexander wrote: "Should I be e-mailing Penguin Random House / Viking whatever publisher?"

Totally. They 'should' have found it by now. But wouldn't hurt to clarify.

The suspected typo!

Here it is ::

“in each two days of 2009, the world burned the entire oil output of 1990”—
Information from George A. Olah, Alain Goeppert and G. K. Surya Prakash, Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy, 2nd rev. ed. (Weinheim, Germany: Wiley- VCH, 2009), p. 35."

[page 16 of the notes]

Alexander wrote: "Hey, not sure if this has been covered or answered by someone else somewhere else, but does anyone know where the sources and bibliography for these volumes are? Is there some online repository? I ..."

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ca...

I usually read every note in every one of his books ; but I just couldn't bring myself to read them online. Let us know what you find.

"No Good Alternative shows Bangladesh is a case study for the existential threat of climate injustice"
by Chris Juergens

http://www.iexaminer.org/2018/07/no-g...